A Hard-working Author's Daily Schedule

[Peg Herring]

I start work early, being an early riser. By 7:00 am I'm at the computer, planning a full day's writing. Here's how it goes.

7:00am Check email, write blogs and post

8:00 am Still trying to think of what to write on the dumb blog.

8:15 am Got it! Now to answer the email.

9:00 am Sent email to publisher and several businesses. Also replied to friend in Chicago, sister, daughter, daughter's friend, people at church, and one fan.

10:00 am Down to work. Read last few pages to pick up story-line. Think about where we're going with this.

10:15 am Maybe I should look up eleventh-century France again.

11: 45 am Wow! Is it lunchtime already? How long was I sidetracked on that site about Brigitte Bardot? I haven't even gone out to the mailbox yet. Oh, well, I can take my walk while I'm at it. I'll be ready to work after that.

12:45 pm Lunch was great, mail was pathetic, walk was uneventful but nice. Now to work.

12:55 pm I'd think more clearly if I took a power nap. No sense nodding in my chair.

2:00 pm Okay, now it's time to get to work.

2:10 pm Look at how dusty that table is! You can only see it from the computer chair, but still, if I don't take care of it now I'll forget, and it's embarrassing.

2:30 pm I really should call my mother-in-law. She'll be telling people (again) that I don't care about what happens to her.

3:00 pm Okay, where were we? Right, William the Conqueror...

4:00 pm I suppose I should have gotten something out for supper. I could still make a stew if I peel some potatoes and carrots quickly and use the pressure cooker.

5:30 pm I should do up these dishes. Can't stand a cluttered kitchen.

6:00 pm The evening news is on. Don't want to be uninformed.

7:00 pm I can move to the laptop and write; then Hubby won't be lonely in the living room all by himself.

9:00 pm Hubby asks, "Are you playing cards on the computer again?" I reply, "Yes, I worked on my writing all day, but it's just not going well."

[Jana Oliver]

Oh, how true. Minus the mom-in-law call and the walk, substitute Victorian sex scandals for Bardot and you got my day down pat. Procrastination Thy Name is Author.