Debut Author Interviews

What is your writing schedule?

• Joni Sensel on...Writing Schedule
• Paula Chase on...Writing Schedule
• Kelly Bingham on...Writing Schedule
• Melissa Marr on...Writing Schedule
• Carrie Jones on...Writing Schedule
• Marlane Kennedy on...Writing Schedule
• Heather Tomlinson on...Writing Schedule
• A.C.E. Bauer on...Writing Schedule
• Stephanie Hale on...Writing Schedule
• Eric Luper on...Writing Schedule
• Ruth McNally Barshaw on...Writing Schedule
• Sarah Aronson on...Writing Schedule
• Jo Knowles on...Writing Schedule
• Tiffany Trent on...Writing Schedule

What is your writing schedule?

I try to write daily — well, nightly, because my hottest streaks usually come after 7 p.m. and as late as 2 or 3 a.m. — but sometimes the day job or the sweetheart gets in the way, and that’s a good thing, because I find that a little time off recharges my creativity, especially when I’m revising. I can almost feel my subconscious working out problems when my conscious finally lets go of it for a few hours.

What is your writing schedule?

It’s always my goal to write everyday. But I rarely meet that goal.

Two things drive my writing schedule:

1) Deadlines imposed by my editor or agent
2) Inspiration

Lately, I’ve been a slave to deadlines and have had to write daily to stay on top of them.

When not on a deadline, it’s a challenge to write daily - even when inspiration strikes - because I have a full-time job. A majority of my writing is done late into the night. As I get closer to book release day, I’m finding it harder and harder to juggle day job, writing, family and the other things I’ve made a commitment to.

Going forward, I’d like to establish a block of time for writing. I’ve tried and failed this method before. But I believe it’s like trying to fit exercise into your schedule - it has to be done even if you’re forcing it in there.

What is your writing schedule?

All various attempts at a regular schedule have survived and been successful for short periods of time, then they crumble up and go away. In the past, “Two pages a day, every weekday,” has worked wonders. Now, I simply write when I can, and let go of the guilt when I can’t.

As for writing every day no matter what, forget it! We have lives after all, and writing is not supposed to be some kind of chore.

Having said that, if I only wrote when inspiration hit or I was in a creative mood, I would rarely write. Much, much, much of completing a novel is about discipline. And time in front of the computer writing stuff that may or may not be good, when you’d rather be doing something else. Anything else. This is the plain truth.

By the way, I count research related reading or internet surfing as writing time, too!

What is your writing schedule?

My writing schedule changed after the deal. For the first novel, I wrote at night and all day Saturday & Sunday—unless I had grading to do, lectures to draft, or other tasks that had to get done for my paying job. Now, writing is my job so I write whenever I need.

Even so, I don’t write every day. I’m a believer in the theory that one must live in order to be able to write. I wander as much as possible—museums, city streets, parks, desert, ocean, forest. I read daily. I meditate. Then when the story strikes, everything stops. I write 14 hours at a clip. My family brings me food & coffee at the desk, and I don’t leave the office for a couple of days.

That said, I don’t think writing is just that act of fingers on keyboard. The wandering, mediatating, reading, exercising—those all are part of my process too. They are the actions that feed Ms. Muse so she’ll let me have my 14 hour writing days.

What is your writing schedule?

I write Monday through Friday after I take the dog on our daily run/walk/sprint/stop-totally-and-smell-the-scary-things-by-the-side-of-the-road. I usually sit at my computer around 9 am.

Then the dog looks at me and passes out at my feet.

I write in the mornings for a couple of hours and then take a shower. Sometimes I write until 1. Sometimes I write until 11.

If I get stuck I go on the cross trainer in my basement or out in the kayak for a half hour. Or else I switch projects. Instead of writing a literary YA, I’ll go hang out with a funny MG.

This schedule does NOT work in the summer.
This schedule does NOT work every single day.

This schedule makes me sound organized. I am not. I have no corkboards. My laptop sits on a table in a corner of the kitchen. The table is wedged between the piano and the hutch-thing that holds wine glasses.

The thing is if I don’t write I feel like I’m slacking. I have an amazing ability to feel guilty. That’s what keeps me writing.

What is your writing schedule?

There is a famous quote by Dorothy Parker—“I hate writing; I love having written.” That’s me! I almost always have to force myself to write. But usually, once I start it is hard to stop. I am not the most disciplined writer. I tend to write in spurts. Sometimes I will do marathon sessions several days in a row. Sometimes weeks will go by without me working on a project. But I have had a little one at home these past six years. She’s off to first grade this year, and my older ones are in high school, so I’m hoping to get into a regular writing routine!

What is your writing schedule?

My writing schedule tends to be deadline driven. I sit down at the computer and look at the calendar.

Hey—that critique group meeting is coming up! Better get the next chapter whipped into shape. SCBWI contest? Polish up those first ten pages. Retreat? Conference? I definitely want to bring a better draft than the one I’ve got now. Oops—my writing buddy is going on vacation, and she said she’d critique the latest version… Maybe I want to go on vacation? Hey, look—the next round of edits is due to the publisher iin two weeks. Excellent (rubs hands together)—a new deadline!

What is your writing schedule?

My schedule has changed from year to year, season to season. There was a six month period, about five years ago, when I did no writing at all. Generally, when the local school system is in session, I write after I’ve gotten the kids on the bus, I’ve walked the dog, and I’ve checked my e-mail and favorite blogs. I may write at home, or go to a local cafe, or to the library. I’ll write until hunger pains are distracting, eat lunch, walk the dog again, do another e-mail check, and then the kids are starting to come home from school. If I’m creating something new, then I’ll be done with fiction writing for the day. If I’m in the middle of edits, I might squeeze in another hour while the kids do homework—as long as I’m not chauffeuring one or the other around for an after-school activity. I often get online in the evenings—but I generally am too tired to get any creative writing done. The schedule gets knocked for a loop if I have an appointment during the day, or if one of my kids gets sick, of if we are having guests for dinner and the house is in shambles, or I get sick, or the schools have a snow day/half day/vacation day/etc. I rarely write fiction on weekends. This is the first year I’ve been able to get significant writing done over the summer without hiring a babysitter.

I do try to write something, if only a few lines, each day. But it won’t necessarily be fiction. And it doesn’t always happen every day.

What is your writing schedule?

Every morning I walk four miles, during this time I rehash scenes or plot twists that aren’t coming together and try to get everything figured out in my head before I sit down to write. My actual writing time is done when my 1 & 3 year olds are taking naps or have gone to bed. I can’t really do anything if I don’t at least have an hour though. And it has to be absolutely quiet. It’s getting a little harder now that my 3 year old doesn’t feel the need to nap.

I try to do something writing related every single day. If I’m too tired to actually write I’ll research websites or price promotional items, etc. Something that would still need to be done eventually so that I don’t feel so unproductive. After revisions I always take a few days off because I get really burnt out. When I come back I’m refreshed and I think, a better writer!

What is your writing schedule?

I own a business, work full-time, own a house that need maintenance, and have two kids under 5. Needless to say my writing schedule is not ordinary. Yeah, I’ve read the articles by those full time writers who get up at 6 in the morning and write 5 pages a day after working out and meditating. These are the same folks who have an office with cork boards and outlines and maps all over the place.

That is not me.

I try to my best to write three or four times a week and I try my best to be productive. As it turns out, I end up writing during my lunch hour or after the kids have gone to sleep into the wee hours. I don’t have an office devoted to my writing so anything pertinent gets jammed into a folder labeled with the title of whatever I’m working on. I open my laptop wherever my family isn’t and keep many of my files on a flash drive so I can use almost any computer when my muse decides to mug me.

Often, I’ll print out a few chapters and carry them around on a clipboard so I can sit down and edit whenever I am struck with inspiration. And I always carry around a pad to jot down any ideas. Of course, when ideas strike I usually can’t locate the pad so I just jot on any slip of paper I can find—a receipt, a corner torn out of a magazine, etc. Once I called my own cell phone to leave myself a voice message about an idea that struck me. I tried to text myself once, but I can’t seem to get the hang of that keypad!

What is your writing schedule?

I do some sort of writing, illustrating or self-promotion work probably every day of the year.
And my ‘play’ looks conspicuously like my ‘work.’ I guess I’m on the job, 24/7.

I have four kids and I have to work around their schedules, which sometimes isn’t easy.
Too often I stay up late working on something, and have to get up a few hours later and be functional for something for one of the kids.

The schools are used to seeing me bleary-eyed and goofy-haired for morning events. Often I wear a silly hat to hide the hair.

Because of my background in advertising, I am deadline driven. The revisions process for ELLIE McDOODLE reminded me that I don’t mind working 16-hour days to meet important deadlines, if I love the work. And I love this work! :)

What is your writing schedule?

I have a full time job. It is a fun job, and I talk to many people every day.

I keep a notebook handy so I can write down anything that makes me pause: names, comments, news items, funny stories. If I trip on something in the parking lot, I write it down. If the burrito is spicy, I write it down.

I drive home without the radio or music. I try to think about the day and the place where I’ve left the story.

When the kids start their homework, I get right to work. (This is new for me. My last job started at ten, so I worked in the morning.)

My office is in the living room. It is painted bombay red on three walls. There will be wallpaper on the fourth. The floors are hardwood. My kids’ art work is on the wall. We just moved into this condo. Everything is shiny.

I write either two new pages a day, unless I’m revising, in which case, I try to keep working for two full hours. No posting allowed!!!

What is your writing schedule?

I have a very unpredicatable job as far as hours go (I never know when my next freelance job will come in, or how long it will take me to complete). I also have a child who seems not to need sleep. So I don’t have a schedule. I write whenever I can find a half-hour here, an hour there. Some days I might have a window between freelance jobs which I try to take advantage of. Of course, usually those are the days my car needs the oil changed, we’ve run out of milk, or my son gets sick and stays home from school.

Evenings tend to be the most productive for me. I have two friends I check in with via e-mail every night and we set goals together and then get to work, only checking in again (usually) when we’ve met our goals. We’ve been doing this for about a year now and I can’t imagine what I’d do without their positive peer pressure. It’s great to have a writing buddy (or two). Even on nights when I have to do freelance work instead of my own writing, I check in and tell them my goals. This helps me finish the project sooner and get back to the writing I love.

What is your writing schedule?

Right now, my schedule is a bit more fluid than I would like. I have very tight deadlines, so I really need to write about 10 pages a day to stay on top of it. Some days, I get 14, some I’m lucky to get 2. My process is very organic, which can be somewhat problematic. I like to write by scene, so it’s sometimes hard to push myself on to the next scene if I’ve completed one. The other problem is that I also have a full-time job (teaching at Virginia Tech) which requires much of my attention and energy during the regular school year. So, usually, I feel that I’m doing well if I can just write *something* every day.