It’s About Time!

Heed the advice of some literary heavyweights to create an ideal writing routine.

The perfect writing routine! Every writer dreams of it, and every writer knows, deep down, that there is no such thing. There are simply too many variables at play—ambition, temperament, material circumstances—to reach a one-size-fits-all solution. But! Could one identify the building blocks of the perfect routine, to be applied to individual writing practices on an ad hoc basis? Here is an attempt, with copious supporting examples.

RULE NO. 1: SCHEDULE DISCRETE FOCUS BLOCKS

Writers with day jobs may fantasize about having long expanses of unstructured creative time, but let’s be honest: there is no greater drag upon a writing practice than having the full day available for it, which practically guarantees a long, flabby drift rather than a focused effort.

In a practice that is all about increments of labor, the first step is to define your daily dose.

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