The Routine

Okay this week’s post is about the writing routine.  I’m going to cover questions like:  How important is the routine?  What is my routine?  Should I have a routine?  And possibly others.

First off how important is a writing routine?  Some writers I’ve met/read about couldn’t write unless they were in specific situations; like sitting at home in a completely silent office, or in a local coffee shop with a cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate.  I was sort of like that at the beginning.  Now that I’m a stay at home dad I find I can write whenever I can.  Usually that’s when my son is asleep, or at least not hungry.  

That isn’t to say that there aren’t things I do or don’t do when I write.  I pretty much always have music playing while I write (even when I’m writing these posts).  What I listen to changes according the scene, the book, my own mood, and so forth.  However I would like to point out that I can write without music playing.

The point is it is as writers it is important that we don’t get hung up on a perfect routine in order to be able to put words to page.  The most successful writers write whenever they can.  A good friend of mine, who is a successful self-published author, is still writing through some pretty painful health issues, and while being a stay at home parent.  Another example is Brandon Sanderson.  I follow him on Facebook and Twitter and when he was flying to Dubai he took the time to write.  And I believe it was Terry Pratchett who wrote a certain number of words a day, no matter what.  If he finished a project and was shy of his total he would start another book in order to reach his total.

This kind of dedication is what it takes to be successful.  We can’t be dependent on certain factors in order to write.  If we are waiting for the “perfect” time to write we’ll never write.  This is something I’m actually having a struggle with now as a stay at home dad.  It’s too easy to let my son be an excuse not to write.  He sleeps at least two hours every day.  I know in two hours I can get about three thousand words, so if I’m not writing it’s my own fault.

This also leads me to the idea of writer’s block.  I understand completely the lack of ideas, the lack of forward momentum in a project.  For me the answer is always going to be the same; work on something else.  I have multiple works in progress.  Yes I would love to get the sequel to my first book finished and published, but it doesn’t do me any good to sit and stare at the blinking cursor if the ideas aren’t there.  I can always put something together for my writer’s group, or do research for another project (I’ll write about research later), or work on another project entirely.  What is important is making sure I’m actually putting words on paper, so to speak.

Ultimately the routine, or lack thereof, is dependent on each individual writer.  The only caution is to don’t let the routine be the hang up.  We can’t get hung up on the idea that we need a routine to write.  We don’t, all we need is a means and ideas.  And if writing is your passion the ideas are there.  Just put them on the page.  That and find a good editor, or a good writer’s group to help you.