Thank
you, Michelle, for letting me hang out on your blog today! You'd asked
about my typical writing day, and I'm happy to describe it for you and
your readers.
I
am a full-time writer, but that doesn't mean I write from 9-5. I wish I
could, but I have found that I've got about 3-4 hours of solid
heads-down writing in me and then I'm done for the day.
Here's
how I generally work my schedule. In the morning before breakfast I
figure out what I'm going to work on for the day and answer all of my
email. (I don't go back into email except in emergencies until the next
day - it saves me a ton of time for other things!)
After
breakfast, my husband leaves for work and I get started too. I like to
do my hardest work (the full-on creative part) in the morning when I'm
fresh, so I usually spend around two hours either planning or writing
the first draft of a new book.
At
lunch I need to clear my head, so I usually watch an episode of some
television show I've seen a million times. I don't have to strain my
brain trying to keep up, and I feel like the visual aspect of it works
better to relax me than reading does at that point. My favorite shows
are nearly all no longer running, but I love them anyhow: the great
Canadian series Corner Gas, the cancelled-far-too-soon Firefly, the
wonderful Futurama, and the "as a child of the 70's/80's I am legally
obligated to love Jason Bateman" Arrested Development.
Then
it's time to edit. I am nearly always working on two books at once,
because of how I like to schedule my days, and so I will now spend
around two hours again on either the second or third draft of a
different book. All of my books get codenames because of this process,
so for example at the moment I am writing the first draft of Mango and
editing the second of Llama.
An
interesting sidenote - because the books go by codenames right up until
I find their titles during third draft, in my head they still get
called by their codenames long after their release dates. I have caught
myself during get-togethers with readers referring to "Eaglet" and
"Jasper" instead of "Blank Slate Kate" and "Everybody's Got a Story",
and I appreciate how willing my lovely readers are to put up with me. :)
At around three to three-thirty,
I am done for the day writing-wise. I do occasionally push further, but
then I find it almost impossible to do four hours the next day.
Instead, I spend the rest of my day doing things like writing this blog
post, formatting my books for release, and investigating promotional
opportunities. And of course I make dinner (if my best friend the
crockpot hasn't taken care of that for me) and give the house a quick
tidying since I am one of those horrible "walks away and leaves her
stuff everywhere" people and my husband is not.
It's
a constant juggling act to make sure everything gets done without
letting the administrative things take too much time away from the
writing, but I'm pretty happy with my schedule at this point. It's
literally taken me years to get to this stage, and I think it's been
worth the trip. :)
Author Bio:
Growing
up, I was an avid (rabid?) reader. I am a natural speed reader,
regularly clocked at about 1200 wpm (I read Harry Potter 5 in just under
three hours), and always have several books on the go, nearly all in
e-book form on my Kindle.
I
have always made up stories in my head, but never considered becoming a
writer. Instead, I intended to be a high school music teacher. I was
sidetracked by my enjoyment of my psychology courses in university, and
ended up with a psychology degree with a concentration in computer
science.
This
took me to a major Canadian bank as a software developer. I stayed
there for just over four years, and then went back to school to become
an elementary school teacher. After four years teaching elementary
school computer science, I took up the National Novel Writing Month
challenge and attempted to write a novel in a month.
I
succeeded, and the first draft of "Life, Love, and a Polar Bear Tattoo"
was the result. I realized I love writing. I left teaching, and I
haven't looked back since!
In
my non-writing time, I read, run, swim, crochet, take care of my 55
gallon aquarium and my cat Trinity, and play drums and clarinet.
Generally not all at once.
Connect with Heather!
Buy the Book, Everybody's Got A Story!
§ Sony (for their ebook readers)
If you prefer print, you can get "Everybody's Got a Story" at:
§ CreateSpace.com
