The day in the life of a writer - is it as mysterious as it sounds? There's a meme floating around the interwebs that goes something like this: A seriously professor-like man is sitting at an old-fashioned typewriter, typing away. Written over this picture is: This is what people think of writers. The next picture is a monkey showing his teeth, standing in front of the same typewriter instead of sitting and banging away at it like it's a dodgy bug. The words over this picture is: This is how writers really are.
Which one are you truly? What's your day really like? Does your family/friends/coworkers think you're more like the monkey or the serious professor-type? Do you have a job? If so, how does it translate into writing? How do you work writing time in between work, spending time with kids/husband/wife, or dare I say a social life?
Karlie: I usually only get in about an hour of writing time a day right now, because we're right in the middle of busy season. Am I the monkey or the serious professor type? I guess it depends on who you ask, LOL. In the wintertime I'll get up to four hours a day in. But I'm constantly thinking about my plot/characters...so does that count?
As for my family? Well, they've become used to me missing movie time, or scribbling on a notepad during dinner, and randomly quoting my own characters. They haven't had me committed. Yet.
Deadlines are my best friend, and so are my critique buddies! I procrastinate all the time, so they push me into actually getting something done.
Caitlin: Well, I'm not like either of those writers because I don't use a typewriter. Heh. But seriously, I guess I'm more like the monkey. I bemoan how I never meet my ambitious writing goals and then I bemoan how I probably spend more time and energy bemoaning a lack of writing time than, actually, you know, writing. I also find myself at parties or hanging out with my husband thinking, "I should really be writing right now. There's so little time!" But I'm trying to stop that. Yes, we all have little time on this earth, but, as much as I like writing, I don't want my life to only be writing. Plus, if all I did was go to work and write I don't think what I'd write would be very interesting or authentic. Basically, I'm still working on striking the right balance, but I hope I'm getting there.
Dan: I have a day job, so I do my writing in the mornings (if I'm lucky) or at night. My mental image of the "writer" meme is more along the lines of a shabbily dressed individual half-hidden behind his laptop at a coffee shop. For some writers, that's probably not far from the truth. We love our coffee! But I do most of my writing at home, in between all of the other things like meals, family time, and endless home improvement. How is it that most (aspiring) authors have full-time jobs, families, and still manage to find time to write? Some of us sleep less, but for the most part I think that we do it by giving up other things -- reading time, hobbies, video games, television -- to make time to write. And we have writer friends, critique groups, or (if we're lucky) deadlines to encourage us to keep doing so.
Lisa: I guess I have to be honest here and group myself with the monkey. If I didn't, someone would come on here and argue with me. I don't get to write every day - but almost every day. And on those days I get a good bit of solid bit of writing/editing time. The monkeying around comes in when I'm plotting. I'm a little crazy/excited/emotional...all kinds of things. And while editing, it's a calmer time. Editing...I'm an editor, and that's what pays the bills right now, and that definitely bleeds into my writing life.
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