My Writing Routine While Working A Full-Time Job
*Taps keyboard* Is this thing on?
I have thirty minutes to write this.
So here goes nothing.
And now I have fifteen minutes because I’ve been absently staring at the screen thinking about what I’m going to make for dinner tonight (and jamming to Fleetwood Mac — The Chain, to be exact).
I wish I was joking. I’ve been sitting here watching the cursor blink menacingly at me, which is how it goes on most days. After being out of the house for almost twelve hours a day, five days a week, my mind is fried, and all I want to do is curl up in bed and binge-watch Dexter or Criminal Minds.
I’m really not sure what my excuse is today, considering I’m not working.
(The word I’m looking for is procrastination, but I call it creative meditating)
*sips coffee*
Okay, now it’s time to get serious.
Let me break my routine into two separate sections: Weekdays and Weekends. As I mentioned, I work a full-time job and have been for the last year and a half.
It has also taken me that year and a half to design a routine that works for me— trial and error, baby, trial and error.
Weekday Routine
5:50 p.m. — Home from work
Freedom. Sweet, sweet freedom.
I usually walk into the house a little before six and my sweet Bella — an eleven-year-old Pekingese with more pep than I have at the age of twenty-five — greets me with the sloppiest of kisses.
There isn’t any writing during this time, but I always pop on an audiobook while preparing dinner and showering the day away. I find that reading a book (or listening to it in this case) helps get my creative juices flowing.
It’s an essential part of my routine, and if I don’t do it, I’ll procrastinate — excuse me — creatively meditate until it’s time for me to hit the hay.
Note: Very rarely, and I mean very rarely, do I wake up before the sun rises to write. The only time I will is if I have to be somewhere after work, and even then, I find it hard giving up my beauty sleep to get a few words down.
6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. — Let the writing commence!
*Taps keyboard* is this thing on?
Now is the time I sit in front of my laptop and let the real world melt away.
During the pandemic, I tried my hand at copywriting and hated it. I didn’t find any joy in researching and writing about topics that bored me. I didn’t care if I needed the money; I wasn’t going to continue something that didn’t bring me happiness.
I much rather write in the fictional world. I spend too much time in the real world; I need a place to escape to after a long day at the office, and nothing feels better than writing about (fictional) murder.
(Joking…maybe).
I’m a thriller and true crime junkie — I eat that sh*t for breakfast.
I try to aim for 1,500–2,000 words. I use an app called focus and set the timer for 90 minutes. I find that setting the timer disciplines me to sit at my desk and smash out those 1,500–2,000 words.
I also disconnect my internet and put my Scrivener in full-screen mode. I find this helps keep me focused so I’m not distracted by the icons huddled at the bottom of my MacBook.
When I’m all set up with a cup of warm tea and dark ambiance, I’m ready to write.
8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. — Unwind and Relax
Now it’s time to unwind. I save my work, close my laptop, and curl up in bed with a good book (currently reading The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson), or watch an episode or two of Dexter.
I value this time of night. It’s my “me” time, and without it, I’d probably burn out like a candle in the wind.
It’s important to take time for yourself, especially as a creator. We often worry about the next project before finishing the one we started. So I ask you to take a step back and breathe. I promise you’ll feel a whole lot better when you do.
Weekend Routine
My weekend routine isn’t as structured as my weekday routine. I often find myself writing at different times throughout the day and don’t put as much pressure on myself to get those words out. I write when I feel like it and often take those two days to edit what I already wrote.
But when inspiration calls, I come running.
I’m currently working on a novel — a thriller/horror. I have 60,000 words so far and plan on writing another 50,000 more. It can be exhausting and uninspiring to stay in one story. So when I find my tank is running on empty, I turn to short stories and flash fiction.
Writing short stories is a great way to fuel your creativity, especially when you feel like a bug stuck on a spiderweb.
I have written many short stories — most unpublished — and it has helped me grow as a writer. When I look at my previous work, I can’t help but cringe.
As the wise Katya Zamolodchikova once said: “If you’re not embarrassed by your previous output, then you’re not making any progress.”
And I live by that motto every day.
To sum up a rather mundane writing routine, I do what is best for me.
I would be lying if I said it was easy. Writing can be a very lonely job, and there are many nights when I don’t feel like doing it. I used to beat myself up for skipping a day or deviating from routine, but I’m only human. I have my good days and bad days, and that’s okay. I’ll get it done when the time is right.
I hope there will come a day when I don’t have to worry about rushing home and getting those words down. I hope one day I can wake up, crack my fingers, and get typing without a full-time job looming over my shoulders.
But for now, I’ll just take it one day at a time.
