What's My Writing Routine

Because I have kids, my writing routine is hap-dash. I wrote my first manuscript with a spiral notebook and a pen. With no rhyme or reason, I jotted down bullet points of ideas--what the characters looked liked, dialogue, scenes--during stolen moments. Twenty minutes here while the boys watched a good night cartoon. (We allow them to watch 30 minutes of tv before bedtime on school nights. That's it.) Sometimes, I would jot down notes while I cooked risotto for dinner. Stir. Write. Stir. Write. Toss the veggies baking in the oven. Stir. Write. Surprisingly, I would have a scene fleshed out and I would be one scene closer to the end of my manuscript. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. 

After the boys went to bed, I would sag into the quiet of the house and type up my notes.  I tried to dedicate two hours a week to typing up my notes.   

But because I wrote my first manuscript with very little structure, it required a lot of revision. A lot. So much so that the final manuscript doesn't really match the first.  I actually got more writing done during the revision process that the actual writing process, if that makes sense.  It was like I wasn't a writer, but a reviser.   

Writing without much structure--no outlines, no plot map--just writing to see where the writing will take you--that's called writing by the seat of your pants.  Panster for short. And there are two writing style camps in this world: panster or a plotter.  

No matter. The panster writing style matched my busy mom lifestyle and it's how I completed my first manuscript. I'm rather proud of myself for completing a manuscript instead of just dreaming about it.  

Now, I'm trying something new.  I've been getting up at 5:30 to write before the boys get up because I've been too tired to write in the evenings once the boys go to bed.  During these bleary eyed morning sessions, sometimes I write a blog post (like now). Sometimes, I ramble in what Julia Cameron calls The Morning Pages, which are supposed to be three pages of stream of consciousness style writing.  Although I've practiced these morning pages, I haven't written unbidden for three pages.  So far, it has helped me create a list of blog post ideas (like this one.) 

I'm not a morning person by any means. I'm very grouchy and groggy first thing in the morning. I'm slow to wake up. Like I've been sitting at my desk for over an hour now, alternately writing my morning pages and this blog post, and I'm just now feeling awake. And it has nothing to do with the cup of tea at my elbow.  Seriously, I'm a slow waker upper.  

As the sky lightens up and the birds begin to sing, I hear the bus for the high schoolers rumble by.  I'm committed to finding a new writing routine.  One that isn't as inefficient as the panster style but one that isn't as structured as a plotter.  Somewhere in between.  

Come along with me on this adventure.