A Day in the Life of a Writer
By the time you read this, I will have returned from a writer's retreat to a small condo in a small Ohio town. I take these a couple times a year to focus on a particular writing project. No cable, no working TV, no wife or kids. Not even an Internet connection. The town is so small, there are only two coffee shops, and I don't know anyone there. In short, no distractions.These writing weekends are where I get huge chunks of work done in a short amount of time. This time, I thought I would keep track to see how efficient I was with my time.
2:00 pm - Arrive at the condo. Set up the computer. No time like the present to start writing.
2:05 - I really hate to leave my bag packed up. Sure, no one will see me, so my clothes can stay wrinkly, but I've never liked it. I'd better unpack.
2:20 - I'll want a nap pretty soon, so I'd better make the bed.
2:22 - I wonder who created hospital corners. They're so efficient, and keep the bed so neat. I should look that up online.
2:23 - Oh yeah, no Internet. That's okay, I need to write anyway.
2:25 - What to write, what to write? Hmm. Maybe a writing exercise. I haven't done one of these since college. Let's see if I can remember how it goes.
3:17 - Whoo, that's a lot of writing. Two thousand words on what life would be like if gravity shut itself off for 10 seconds a day at random intervals. It's not what I'm supposed to be writing about, but it's a good start. Like warming up before a run.
3:18 - I'd better fill in my writer's diary. I want to see if I can find where my peak productivity times are.
3:19 - You know, that gravity piece was kind of interesting. I should polish it up so I can put it on my blog.
3:35 - I wonder how many people have visited my blog in the last 30 days. I should check.
3:36 - Dammit, no Internet!
3:37 - Ooh, the coffee shop down the road has wifi. I should go there. I always work better in a public place anyway.
3:45 - Nothing like a hot mocha to get the creative juices flowing.
3:48 - I should have gotten a biscotti.
3:53 - Better check my email.
3:54 - What's happening on Twitter?
3:55 - Ooh, another email.
3:56 - Ooh, another tweet.
3:57 - Ooh, another email.
3:58 - Ooh, another tweet. (This continues for another 20 minutes.)
4:18 - Okay, time to get some writing done.
4:19 - Writer's diary update
4:23 - I really need to clean out some of these folders. All these videos are clogging up my hard drive.
4:59 - Okay, NOW I'll get some writing-what?! The coffee shop closes at 5:00.
5:15 - Back to the condo. Down to some real writing.
5:16 - Writer's diary update.
5:18 - I'm hungry. There's nothing in the fridge. I'll go online and see if there's a pizza place nearby.
5:19 - Dammit, no Internet! I wonder if there's a phone book around here.
5:25 - Success!
5:30 - Good thing this is a small town. I don't know where any of these places are. I may have to drive around until I find one. I wonder if there is a map around here.
5:40 - No map. Wait, I have a map program on my cell phone.
5:42 - I could have looked up pizza places on my phone. Duh!
6:30 - Back home with a pizza. Nothing like a good pizza and a Coke to get the creative juices flowing.
7:00 - I'm tired. Maybe a quick nap on the couch.
7:02 - There's a DVD player. I'll fall asleep to a movie. That should recharge the batteries.
9:13 - Man, I love Die Hard! I never even fell asleep. That's okay. A good solid three hours of work, and then I'll go to bed.
9:14 - This couch is so comfortable.
10:02 - Must have fallen asleep. I needed that. Okay, NOW I'll get some writing done.
10:05 - Where's my outline? Shoot, did I leave my outline at home? Maybe I can get someone to email it to me.
10:06 - Dammit, no Internet! I don't even know what I'm supposed to write about. The coffee shop doesn't open until 9:00 tomorrow.
10:07 - What else can you watch after Die Hard except Die Hard 2? I'll get my outline emailed tomorrow, and I promise I'll write all day.
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