L.A. Garnett – Author

I’ve gone through many iterations of a writing routine throughout the years, and every time I experience a major life development my process changes drastically. There was a time where I relied heavily on the giants of the industry – Neil Gaiman gets himself into a low-tech environment and says to himself “You don’t have to write. You have permission to not write, but you don’t have permission to do anything else.” Ursula Le Guin, meanwhile, had the following process as of 1988 (which I love):

• 5:30 a.m. – wake up and lie there and think.
• 6:15 a.m. – get up and eat breakfast (lots).
• 7.15 a.m. – get to work writing, writing, writing.
• Noon – lunch.
• 1:00-3:00 p.m. – reading, music.
• 3:00-5:00 p.m. correspondence, maybe house cleaning.
• 5:00-8:00 p.m. make dinner and eat it.
• After 8:00 p.m. – I tend to be very stupid and we won’t talk about this.

There are hundreds of videos of aspiring artists and writers attempting to stick to creative schedules, and most end with the same message: this is great for them, but it doesn’t really work for my life. After a while, I became comfortable enough with my own skills to be able to move away from strictly copying what other, more successful authors do to achieve greatness.

I thought I’d share with you how I do what I do. I have a full-time day job and a family that needs my attention, so while writing is important to me it has become something that fits into the cracks in my schedule, rather than something I am able to mold my entire day around.

• 5am – wake up to write
• 6:30am – get ready for the day
• 7:30am – drop off my daughter at daycare
• 8-4pm – my day job
• 4:30-6pm – chores, snacks, & naptime
• 6-8pm – dinner, playing, & my daughter’s bedtime
• 8-10pm – a bit of writing or editing before a bit of tv before bed

I tend to be trapped for naps (which you’ll never hear me complain about), so that has become the time I create visuals in Canva for my social media posts, or browse Pinterest for inspiration. Lately it’s where I’ve been spending a lot of time on Threads, which has quickly become my favorite form of social media.

Right now, I write when I can, for as long as I can. It’s been working so far – I’ve written and edited more in the last six months than I did in the last two years. While I will no doubt tweak this routine as I go I do feel like I’m finally reaching something sustainable.

Let me know if this is something that resonates with you! I’d love to hear about your routines (for writing or any other creative ventures) and how you make the time to do the things you love.