The Routine

I probably talked about this before, but for me one of the things that really helped my writing to take off was getting into a routine.

Yes, I wrote three books without a daily routine. I look back on that time over ten years ago and wonder how I pulled it off. Young children, lots going on with sports and church activities for all the kids, a job I didn’t like, training for marathons…yeah, no idea how I managed to fit writing into my schedule.

Whereas it took me 6-7 years to write those three books, this time around I’ve written three in less than 18 months. Although I’m still editing the third and technically you could say I haven’t finished it yet. Whatever.

The key for me was establishing a daily routine. Usually within a half hour of waking up I’m sitting in front of my computer with a mug of coffee. That timeline gives me about 75 minutes to do the writing thing. The thing about a routine is that you also learn the routines of other people.

My office is at the front of the house; therefore, I see the people walking their dogs, the kids driving to school, the guy across the street leaving for work a little before 7:30 every morning, and on and on.

Routines. It’s how we get stuff done.