Writing Routine

I get up at 6 am. Take the dog out, come back in, turn on my computer, feed the dog, push the cat off the keyboard, grab some chips, check email, check FB, do my online charity stuff-- and open the manuscript. I work on it until I get stymied or have to leave the computer.

I can't you how much time I do any one thing because it varies from day to day. Some days the writing flows, some days it's constipated. I don't crit right now because I'm trying to have my first draft done by mid-Sept. Don't read, don't watch tv either. The main thing is working on the WIP. Everything else pales in importance.

I used to research a lot. This time I'm doing the bare minimum until I get the 1st draft done. I'm a research junkie. I edit the day's previous work when I first sit down just to get it so I don't hate it when I read it again. Market research et al isn't writing to me so it comes later. When I hear from my beta reader that's when I work on those scenes-- they're topic specific, and he's got a good eye and ear for what's missing or off.

Hope this helps.

I focus on writing until I have something (short story or novel) that is polished enough to be worth submitting. Then I take a few days to research markets/agents/whatever until I get a list together of places/people to submit my work to.

If I need to research info for the story (history or clothing or whatnot) I make a list of things I need to research and I set aside time to look into those things.

If the piece is something that requires a query letter I start working on that before I get the story/novel completely polished.

As far as I'm concerned you have to have something finished before you can sell it so I focus on writing and less on researching (except for what's necessary to the story) until I have a finished product.

As far as day to day routine, I write an hour or two in the afternoon if I have a chance. I write several hours every night and try to average 2-3k words a day and 5ish chapters a week. The actual amount achieved isn't always as important to me as having clear goals.

I typically wake around 2:30-3 A.M.
I drink my coffee, catch up on news and AW, and then write until 4:30.
At 4:30 I run 5 miles. Then I walk my dog.
Write until 9. At 9, if I need to run errands I'll get it out of the way early, if not, I keep writing until 11 or so when I'll have lunch.
After lunch I'll write another couple of hours, then put that project aside and work on something else. Sometimes it's another story, sometimes its editing. It varies depending on what needs doing.
I'll break for dinner, and then through the evening I'll play around with that second project, usually until bedtime which is around 10:30-11.
Research happens in the afternoon or evening. I don't tend to do random crits anymore, but I'll work on my crit partner's piece in the evenings. That's my most flexible time.

I don't understand why people run when no one is chasing them.

Wayne K said:

I don't understand why people run when no one is chasing them.

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My ass is chasing me. That's reason enough.

What's important is finding the routine that works for you. You might have to experiment a bit to find a way of working that is productive.

For my part, I've always found the simplest method best: write first. Get the pages done, then worry about crits and other stuff. If you don't get the words written, none of the rest matters anyway.

I tend to write first thing when I wake up, then again before bed. At least that's what I've been doing lately.

I am a rather structured person, however my life is not structured. My day is filled until 8pm. After putting my kids to bed I do the following.

Weekday
- Spend 1 hour on book promotion
- Spend 1.5 hours on writing

Weekend
- Spend 2 hours on book promotion
- Spend 4 hours on writing

These are some ways I sneak in writing. I carry a notebook with me everywhere. As I get ideas for my WIP or a new WIP I jot down or outline it in my notebook.

Editing, I do at my kids sports practice. I have to be there and wait for them so I may as well edit while I do.

TNWriter said:

How much time you spend writing? editing? market researching? critiquing others work? ect.

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Here's my ideal routine:
WRITING-5am-7am
Work on next novel. Goal-1 page of rough draft.
EDITING-Anytime I can get to it throughout the day and evening.
Working on editing a short story, not the novel.
MARKET RESEARCH-Weekends
Researching short story magazines, submitting short stories, researching agents, querying my completed novel.
RESEARCH-Holding off until rough draft of novel is completed, but will use AM writing time when necessary.
CRITIQUING OTHERS WORK-Before bedtime
I print out the pieces and read them in bed before going to sleep.

Having said all that, I've completely fallen off the wagon this week. I'll try again next week. Good luck. And, "Just keep swimming."

I write in the mornings, from about 7ish to noon. That includes editing, research or whatever needs to be done. If things are clicking and I don't have anything that has to be done after that, sometimes I write longer. If I'm on deadline I write every day, but I prefer two or three days on, one day off. I need breaks or I get burnt out. I critique in the late afternoons before I end my day, or on the days when I'm not writing if the mood strikes me.

How much time is spent on what varies per project. Some take a lot more research or editing, and some take more writing. There's no set format for this.

Try a variety of things to see what works for you. I can edit in the afternoon or evening when I have to, but I'm at my best creatively in the mornings. I usually read the last chapter written before I start to get back in the feel of things. If I'm starting a new chapter, I read my notes and think about what I'm going to do first. If it's a really sticky chapter, I might discuss it with my writing buddy to hash out the details and motivations.

Then I write. I don't worry about it being pretty on the first draft, I just get down what's in my head. Once the chapter is done, I go back and start fleshing it out and polishing it. After it has all the pieces in place, I move on to the next chapter.

What you should do depends on what your goal is that day. If you're trying to finish a first draft, get words down, even if they're ugly. If you're revising, pick a chapter and polish it. If you're looking for specific things, like an adverb hunt or checking continuity, do that. Decide "today I'm going to do X" and spend time on that. Trying to do it all or too much can be overwhelming sometimes. Small bites makes the whole process easier.

I don't have a set routine for my writing; my day-to-day stuff varies too much but I can tell you this for free - the only thing I never do is write first thing in the morning. Whether I've slept or not, I'm no use to man nor beast that early.

It's the same for me as most of the replies here have shown...early morning.

I get up around 5:00 or 5:30, turn on the pc, make coffee and then sit and write for about 3 hours, until breakfast. I have no set rule as to the quantity (certainly not quality) of the output, just sit and write. That changes during November and NaNo where I write something more than the 1700 words necessary to make the 50K mark by the end of the month.

Mornings are best for me. The rest of the day is filled with normal tasks that take quite a bit of time...building a wood-strip canoe, sitting in the hot tub, pounding out Morse code on my amateur radio equipment, and sometimes baking bread.

Life can be tough, eh?

ps...some time is spent reading AW.

Haha! I'm a night person! Here's what I do just to add some variety

Wake up at about 2pm.
Cook dinner, eat, shower and at work at 3pm
Work until 11pm
Come home and turn on computer at about 11:12
If one of my friends is on yahoo messenger, I'll talk to them while I do things like edit query letters and synopsis and stuff.

At around 1:30 or 2 am, I open up my WIP and write.
If I'm not really feeling the mood to write, I come here. Browse forums and begin reading and that usual stirs up the urge to write. I may do one or two critiques (I heard doing them makes you better at your own editing) before I open up my WIP and start writing.

I enjoy writing at night a lot more than the daytime. Just...kinda relaxing

I've recently settled into a writing routine. My days usually start about 7:30 or 8 depending on the persistence of the cat on being fed. Once I'm up and moving I catch up on emails, job listings, and other time wasters till about 9. Then I start writing. At about 11 I get up, clean the kitchen again, and poke about for lunch. Start cooking things in the crockpot or prepping dinnery things. Recheck emails. Back to writing. I usually finish with the writing by 4-5. My husband gets home and we talk, progress to projects, or other socially things. Cook dinner. Usually I'm in bed between 10:30 and midnight.

Right now I do this for 4 days out of 5 and the fifth I run errands. Weekends are usually spent traveling for business so not as much gets done.

'Nise

How long do you spend on editing? What steps do you take?

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It depends on whether it's a short story or a novel.

With short stories they tend to come out mostly fully formed. I can keep passages of dialogue and action in my head but only up to about 1500 words. Two weeks ago I slammed out a 1500 word short story in under an hour. Because I'd already written it out in my mind while I was doing other things. It's gone through one revision already (which effectively doubled the length and smoothed out the narrative) and I think after one more round of tweaks it will be ready for submission. On the other hand I have a couple shorts that have been just sitting for weeks/months while I try and figure out exactly what I want to do with them.

Anyway, the short answer here is that short stories (for me) require less time editing in relation to the first-drafting because they are more compact and usually come out as a more or less cohesive thought. (Novels take much longer. I can write a first draft in about eight weeks and then spend the next year editing.) However, the basic process is the same.

I start with the big things. Are all the scenes that need to be in the story actually in the story? Are there scenes that can be removed/combined for greater effect? Is there a beginning/middle/end? If not, what needs to be added/removed to get a beginning/middle/end?

Then I start looking at smaller arcs. Do my characters act the way they would and not the way I would like them to? Subplots (if there are any) must be cohesive and not overwhelm the central plot. What about theme? Does every scene move the story forward in some way?

Then I study the smaller stuff. Is there a good balance between dialogue and description/narrative? Are my descriptions visual enough? Am I using the strongest descriptive words?

And then I spell check and let someone else point out all the sentence fragments and erroneous comma-splices and semi-colon abuse.

Some stages I revisit (especially the first one) as I go. Some writer's have a very specific editing process. I try and go a little more organically, while remembering that nitpicky issues (like spelling) can wait until I'm pretty sure all the major areas have been addressed (and the MS is pretty much not going to change any further.)

Wow, some great stuff here. I would love to write in the am, but I work full-time and am a mom, so its night or nothing...

Editing -

I usually write nightly, and edit throughout the day. I print out a hard copy (get it binded at Staples), and read it while watching kids sports, riding in the car to kids sports, or at my lunch break. I redline everything and have extra pages with notes regarding what I need to write as fillers. I usually then only do editing on the weekends, and write my new novel during the week.

I write and ONLY write until the draft is finished. When that's done, during my regular writing time I edit until the editing is finished. When that's done, during my writing time I do any kind of "research" that needs doing (searching for agents, at this point in my "career.")

If I allow myself to get distracted by too many options, I never finish anything.