Lara Santiago.com - Home Page

Friday, March 16, 2007

A Day in the Life of an Author...

Santiago style. :)
And yet another requested topic from earlier this month. :)
I start my day with coffee. Lots of it.
It's the crutch I use to engage my brain every day.


I have a cup with my husband before he goes to work.
I balance another in hand when I wake the kids up and a third as I push them out the door to school. :) (Just kidding. I swear they leave willingly...okay perhaps 'willingly' is too strong a word. I'm simply grateful that they go without too much rebellion.)
I consume the remainder of the carafe once everyone is gone as I check e-mail and lurk on a few loops to see what's going on.
I also make a list everyday for what I want to accomplish. This is very important to me.
If I don't have a list...I tend to meander through my day until the kids and my husband come home having accomplished very little.

I try to write something each day and I'm analytical enough to keep track. :)
So far this month I've written 11,500 words towards the manuscript I'm working on.
Yes...it should be more. It's barely 1000 a day based on a five day work week.

My excuse for this month? I'm still working my way through contest entries. :)
I started with 13 due this month. As of today I have 3 1/2 left.
I'm very proud of myself for getting through the contest entries, but I wish I'd written more.
Of course, I 'always' wish I'd written more. :)

As a popular commercial is fond of saying...Life gets in the way.

If I'm working on a particular manuscript, I don't write on any other manuscripts until I'm done with the first one. One at a time is really the best way for me.
I endeavor to complete the first draft as quickly as possible.
After I've made my list and lurked on loops and checked e-mail...again.
I write.
The following pretty much is every day for me.

I have a bite for breakfast. I like oatmeal, cereal, or bacon and toast.
I sit butt to chair and write.
Then I have a snack.
Then I write more.
Then I eat lunch. Unless my husband comes home. Then I watch him eat. :)
Then I write more.
Then I eat an afternoon snack.
Yes...you guessed it...then I write some more.
If I get stuck on a scene I'll go watch some television or read something different for half an hour or so to allow my brain to figure out why I'm stuck.

Additionally, another question asked was 'What do you do when the words don't come?'
Usually I try to relax and take a break from writing for a day to cleanse my mind.
The halt to my flow of words doesn't happen often, thankfully.
My problem is the opposite. I have several stories running through my brain at any given time and if I stop to ponder the current story for a day...the others try to get screen time. :):) I beat them back...or make notes for later on.

Then the kids come home. I hang with them and chat for a while. (I'm grateful they still allow me to interrogate...I mean ask them how their day at school was. :) )
Then the husband comes home. I let him vent about his day.
There is dinner and evening activities almost every night.

After everything settles down...I write at night too.
I write until I can't stay awake.

Then I crawl off to bed. I'm always resentful that I have to sleep at all. :):)
I'd rather be writing.

That's it.
A day in my life.
I'm sorry it's not more glamorous. :)
L

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Free Counter
Free Counter