This is writing life now

Sisyphus

The Punishment of Sisyphus Titian, Prado Museum, Madrid

Wake up. 6:07 am. I really must finish that workshop plan today. So many notes I don’t know where to start. What will they expect? Will I meet it? Must put geranium cuttings in before I go on event trip to UK at the weekend. Gods, my back aches. Tea. Lean over and click the kettle on. Determine to read another half-hour’s worth of ‘duty book’. Maybe it’s me, but I just can’t get into it. Despite the beautiful writing, I have no sympathy for any of the characters – self-indulgent flaneurs, stereotypes or ‘monstres sacrés’.

Reach over and check social media on my iPhone. 100% more interesting. Oh, look a lovely RT from A Famous Person, lots of Likes for a photo of my garden. Spend half an hour chatting on Facebook re books, literary fiction, herbs, history, cats and weather, but see only three books sold overnight on KDP. 🙁

Tea drunk, I head for the shower. Scales or not? Oh, okay, why change from what I do every morning? Gods, despite two hours sweating in the garden yesterday, still the wrong side of the ‘You are fat’ figure according to all the health websites. Pulls stomach in. No breakfast for me.

Coffee, downstairs to office. Pitiless ‘To do’ list – write own blog, write guest posts, pitch others, order vitamins, take tax return in, phone doctor re back, write event proposal (includes spreadsheets), check overnight misdemeanours and membership applications on Facebook groups I admin, read emails, read critique partner stuff, run errands for events I’m helping with, update website page about latest book and… Oh, yes, scribble a few words of my current Work in Progress.

Have mopped floor, emptied dishwasher, zapped naughty posts, chatted with reasonable people, answered emails about future events and projects, written this blog post. Can I please have an hour to write my WIP now?

Ah, no, I still have the workshop to sort out. And it’s only 10.30 am.

 

Alison Morton is the author (when she can carve out the time to write) of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITASSUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, was published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…

7 comments to This is writing life now

  • LOVE this post, Alison!-altho’ sorry you have so much to do :-(, hope you catch up with everything soon, and that the back improves x

    • Alison Morton

      Thanks, Anita. I would love it all to be floaty dresses, visits from the Muse and sun-dappled verandas, but this is how real life works. Somehow, it all gets done!

  • I guess the flip side would be having little to do, and lots of time to wish you were busy! Was life ever this complicated before social media? It seems to add an atmosphere of urgency, and not in a pleasant way!

    • Alison Morton

      Yes, it would be very boring otherwise, but I wanted to dispel the rather romantic view people have of the writer\s life. 😉

  • This is an excellent example of a day in the life of an independent creative. My days are similar indeed, just switch out working on WIP with designing a book cover. Ha! When I started tracking my time, I was shocked at how little time I actually design and how much time I spend doing admin, emails, marketing and laundry. Ha!

  • […] with a huge fan base, and has written five novels in the Roma Nova series in three years. She also blogs energetically and offers advice and help for writers. I bought her book The 500 Word Writing […]

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