The format of a writer’s day totally depends on where the writer is at in her current writing project…
Her Mother's Secret
If I’m near the beginning, I might be plotting and planning (in which case I’m probably taking long walks along the Dorset cliffs waiting for the characters to start ‘talking’ to me. Yes, I must look like a crazy woman).
Or, I might be travelling to the setting for my next story. So, for ‘Her Mother’s Secret’ I spent time on the magical island of Belle-Ile-en-mer off Southern Brittany, exploring, getting to know the place and walking the walks that my characters would soon be doing on the page. As I walk, I make notes and my husband takes photos. Some months later when I’m writing up a scene I’ll try to piece these journeys together to – hopefully – create an authentic sense of place.
If I’m already into the novel, I will take myself off at some point in the day to a place where I can be alone to write – outside, if possible. I write my first drafts in a notebook, so I’m not restricted to my office at home. When I say ‘alone’ I can write in a busy café, but I can’t write when someone is likely to butt in and disturb the flow. When you’re in another world and are pulled out of it by someone wanting to know what’s for dinner, then it’s hard to get immersed into that world again - you lose the flow...
Once I’ve written a scene in my notebook, then I might sit and think about it for a while. Thinking is very underrated. It’s part of a writer’s job to think, and although others might assume we are simply staring into space, there’s a lot going on under the surface…
After this, I might go back home and write up the scene on to my laptop, working on a big screen in my office which doesn’t quite mask the glorious view. But I’m good at focusing. Sometimes I spend whole minutes not staring out of the window – honest. Then there’s another edit – or five. Eventually, the scene makes it to the ‘first draft’ of my novel, and then I can move on to thinking about the next one. (But that’s another day).
At other times of the year, I might be focusing on publicity for my new book, and then my day will be very different. I might have finished my ‘first draft’ and be revising and editing, or even beginning to plan my next novel or doing initial research. I might be checking the copy-edit, proof-reading, discussing the cover or the blurb or even working out a teaching programme for one of the workshops or writing holidays I run during the year.
On a good writing day, I’ll achieve all this and more. I will answer e-mails, write features, be active on social media, go for a walk, cook dinner and have long conversations with my husband and offspring. On a bad day, I won’t!