My Daily Routine: Balancing Full-Time Work With Full-Time Writing Dreams

Because it’s all a means to an end.

Over the weekend I hosted The First 50 Pages, my literary salon where I boldly claimed my stake in the creator profession: I am a Writer who is currently drafting her novel-in-progress. It was equal parts terrifying and thrilling, what I imagine skydiving or bungee-jumping to feel like. In a room surrounded by my local community, I felt insulated in a cocoon of love. I trusted that whatever feedback I received - good, bad or in between - was from a place of love which yielded vulnerability. I was not wrong.

An immense thank you to all who came out to support me this evening! A dedicated post to come, after I’ve had more time to process what this event has meant to me.

It also served to hold me accountable. But accountable, to what?

To consistently write. To finish what I started. To have a completed manuscript and graduate degree a year from now. And to have my word mean something.

So now that I’ve stepped onto this ledge in front of my community and Internet audience to declare I’m officially doing this thing, how does it get done?

1) See the vision.

2) Create a system.

2) Execute.

My Drexel writing mentor recently requested I complete a 500 daily word count goal. This assignment kicks off August 1st and wraps up at the end of the year. We’re talking quality here, nothing half-assed. If done correctly, it will garner 50,000+ additional words to my manuscript. And with my share of grad school tuition clocking in at the 5-figure range, I would be a fool to not give it my all.

I am not in the business of cheating myself.

So, beginning this Friday I plan on getting my daily writing done in the early morning hours, before clocking in for my manic days (a la The Artist’s Way… IYKYK). In reality, 500 quality words requires roughly 60-90 minutes for me. After brewing a hot cup of coffee, I can see myself slowly sipping as I explore fleshing out scenes while crafting accompanying witty dialogue. I will remember that when I get stuck, I don’t have to stay trapped there - I have permission to step over it to continue the momentum of that session. With space and time I can revisit those passages later, after the story has had time to breathe.

As for my day job, it will continue as business as usual. Thankfully, after this many years in the role, much of it feels like clockwork. Nearly one year at my current company, I can predict the pace of my work day and will continue to balance it with the demands of grad school.

As the stakes get higher, I will rise to meet them.

Cheers to the journey!