This is what my day looks like.
1. Pour first cup of caffeine and insert butt in computer chair. Sing "The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow" while waiting for the screen saver to fade and change to Desktop.
2. Hit icon, pour second cup of coffee, and write first draft of DEAD GUY blog.
3. Pour third cup of caffeine.
4. Finish electronic copy-edits on STARS OF FIRE (circa 1860-1861) by Mary Ellen Dennis, then tweak ancillary material: cover copy, author's bio (note to self: update Mary Ellen's photo). Cross fingers and toes that my publisher will obey my command. . .er, take my suggestion to use my favourite cover artist, Timothy Lantz.
5. Re-read revision email for my saga, HEAVEN'S THUNDER (circa 1893 to 1923, with an emphasis on Colorado's film industry).
6. Drink fourth cup of caffeine, scarf chocolate-chip bagel, and try to ignore sticky note that reminds me to re-format my two pending Sourcebooks novels.
7. Walk my chocolate Lab, Magic, in the park while my mind is still in creative mode. Throw ball and dummy for Magic (Magic loves chasing balls and dummies) and TRY to teach her that 5 short blasts on my whistle means "come" and one blast means "stop/wait." Ignore laughter from other dog walkers.
8. Eagerly check email to see if John Jakes has replied to my plea. . .er, request to give me a cover quote for THUNDER.
9. Squish Associate Editor's cap atop curls. Sing "It's a Send formatting guidelines to authors wanting to submit their completed manuscripts. Start reading the next submission in the queue.
10. Change to rehearsal clothes for ANNIE: loose pants, leg warmers, comfy sneakers, and an Annie T-shirt found on eBay.
Tomorrow I'll finish chapter 4 of my mystery novel, The Da Vinci Toad. . . I hope. No! I will!
In any case, the above is a fairly full day, and it started at 7 a.m.
But you know what? The most important part of my day is Number 1.
Because if you want to be a writer (and I do, and always have), you must take control of your life and your time and commit to writing. Let me repeat that: Commit to writing.
Writing takes discipline.
If your day job pays the bills, try to fit an hour a day into your writing schedule. Write one page a day! Believe it or not, if you write one page a day, by the end of a year you'll have written a book. Just one page a day.
The next time I guest blog, I'll repeat my "Walking the Dog" story. Sub-title: Procrastination.
Over and Out,
Deni
