Blog Post
Guest blogger Richard Trice
author of Act of Contrition
(see latest book recommendation)
ignoring my wife Typical Day of Productive Writing
by Richard C. Trice
10 minutes opening windows and doors to let the cool air in
1 hour drinking coffee, eating breakfast, watching news, and checking social media
45 minutes working out
10 minutes to close all the windows and doors to keep the now hot air out
20 minutes sitting down at my computer and staring out the window to see what the neighbors are doing
1 hour rereading my book outline and marking it up in red ink.
5 minutes coming up with a brand new title to Chapter 26.
30 minutes staring at the otherwise blank screen
45 minutes for lunch
10 minutes checking social media again and posting pithy memes.
45 minutes to walk to post office and back
2 minutes tossing all the mail into the trash because it's all junk
45 minutes deleting unwanted emails
2 minutes reading the desirable emails
1 hour and 55 minutes slugging through my editor’s most recent heavily notated changes to my manuscript
20 minutes cursing and kicking the furniture
5 minutes putting a band-aid on my toe because I forgot I was wearing flip flops
30 minutes to eat dinner
4 and 1/2 hours of pounding out non-stop, brilliantly conceived stream-of-consciousness writing, worthy of a Pulitzer Prize, all while calling out from downstairs, "are you going to be up there all night?"
1 hour of rereading what I just wrote, slashing it to pieces in disgust, turning off the lights and going to bed
(Note to self: repeat all the above tomorrow.)
If you have written anything for publication, you will find Rick's comments hit pretty close to home! I can't tell you how often I've walked away from my manuscript because I'm stumped on how to write something, and simply by taking my eyes off of the screen and starting something else, the answer will come. And distractions come easily....
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at today's post. I was a newspaper reporter for many years, and I did some of my best writing in the shower, mostly when I was working on packages of stories and had done weeks of research and interviews and needed a strong lead for the main story. The first time I'd sit down to write, after reviewing weeks' worth of notes, I'd write and delete enough words to fill a broadsheet, yet go home with nothing I expected to keep. The next morning, the perfect paragraph would pop into my head while I was washing my hair or soaping my legs. I'd hurry through dressing, rush to the newsroom and settle down at my desk . . . and the words would finally come pouring out. Then, nothing distracted me. My colleagues used to enjoy baiting me, asking ridiculous questions to see what I'd agree to. I'd agree to anything, apparently, since I never listened to a syllable they spoke. According to them, they'd practically roll on the floor laughing. I wouldn't know. I never noticed.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Rick's post, and MaryJo's review of his novel.
Oh, thanks for sharing that!
DeleteI wonder if after Richard finally goes to bed he ends up getting back Out of bed and sneaking down to his new manuscript because he had a eureka moment. It would be fun to find out some of the other authors' most insane moments of inspiration - and I'm positive they don't just sit down to the keyboard with ideas always rolling out of their fertile minds.
I've also been known to give thanks for red lights, because one of the best sentences I ever wrote came to me while I was stopped at a traffic light -- and I jotted it down in my notebook quickly before the light turned green . . . and the words got away.
DeleteYes. Yes. Yes. When it doesn't come, get up and stop thinking so hard. I am not an author in the same sense as all of you. I'm an amateur, never published but I enjoy putting thoughts into words on a page.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found interesting in reading Richard's "Typical Day" was what my day might look like if I wasn't also washing, cleaning, cooking, and shopping...I might get more written and join the professional ranks.
Linda, you write! You have a blog.
ReplyDeleteHousecleaning and cooking are times when sudden solutions may come from who knows where, whether it be for solving a problem in the latest story or what to bring to a pot luck. But then again it is also a time when the mind can wander too far, so you aren't sure if you put that baking soda in the mix for the cake yet....
My best ideas come at 3 in the morning. I used to keep a pen and paper on the headboard. Next morning I'd see something like: Elpeants. Flying over to coffee cup. Broom. Choco. Only more smudged. Over the years I've learned to get up and turn the computer on and type out a coherent scene or two if I expect to be able to use the brilliance of 3 am ideas.
ReplyDeleteHa, ha, Maria. Maybe you should keep a voice recorder at your bedside, so you
Deletecan just click a button and speak your brain storms. Is your husband a sound sleeper?