Do you have a writing routine?
I do now: I have a room above the garage of our house that I use as an office and I tend to go there to when I’m at home. You can see my desk here. Unfortunately I can’t seem to take a shot that shows the view, which is lovely. So you’ll just have to take my word for it.
But for years there was no possibility of a writing ‘routine’. I couldn’t be fussy about getting peace and quiet, or a particular ‘atmosphere’. Prior to German publisher Oetinger buying the German language right to Mistress, I funded my writing by working four days a week for an digital advertising agency. ‘Agency life’ (as it’s known) is frantic; think 12 hour days, cancelled holidays, phone calls at the weekend, the lot. But it paid well enough for me to only do those four days, and on the fifth I wrote. It was the devil’s pact I made to get a novel finished. So time was my scarcest commodity, and when I found some I just had to get on and write: in the past I’ve been known to snatch writing opportunities on ferries, in cars, even a teacher’s staffroom once …any place where I had room to open a laptop.
These days (for the minute) things are a bit different. But basically, when I’m writing I start at 9am and finish at 5pm. I haven’t managed to break the habit of eating lunch at my desktop, but perhaps that’s because it’s the winter and there are so many fascinating articles about Charlie Sheen to read these days. I saw today that fellow author Stephanie Burgis (who seems lovely on Twitter) always writes wearing a tiara. I like her style, but I don’t have a tiara. I’m wondering if my sons’ fireman’s helmet will do instead?
