As the buzz continues to build on Finders Keepers and as I get ever closer to landing an agent–and a book deal–I’m getting ready to start writing book No. 2.
And let me tell you, just the thought of it really has my juices flowing. I’m excited. And every day that goes by I get just a little more revved up, as I’ve got ideas galore. This baby’s gonna be fun …But there’s one little, itsy-bitsy obstacle standing in the way right now (other than I’m not quite ready; go time should be Oct 1)As the buzz continues to build on Finders Keepers and as I get ever closer to landing an agent–and a book deal–I’m getting ready to start writing book No. 2.
And let me tell you, just the thought of it really has my juices flowing. I’m excited. And every day that goes by I get just a little more revved up, as I’ve got ideas galore. This baby’s gonna be fun …But there’s one little, itsy-bitsy obstacle standing in the way right now (other than I’m not quite ready; go time should be Oct 1):
I’m not in shape.
Sounds weird to say it, even to me, but experience has taught me that to undertake such a massive project isn’t simply a matter of sitting down to write (although that’s a nice first step). I have to physically, emotionally and psychologically prepare myself to do it, as the next book will take me about a year to write, although hopefully less.
I kinda feel like Rocky in the first movie, when he signs on to fight Apollo. Rocky’s alarm goes off at 4 a.m. He’s groggy and miserable. It’s cold outside. He can barely get going, he struggles to complete his work out. But by the time the big fight comes … cue music–Bum bub-ba bum bub-ba bum bub-ba-bum …
And he’s in great shape, running down the streets, jumping over benches, doing on-armed push-ups and lifting crazy weights.
Well … I’m not saying I’ll be jogging through downtown Queens at 4 a.m., but I have to adjust my sleep and morning schedule to get ready to write for the next year.? By the time Oct. 1 rolls around, my schedule will something like this:
Monday, Wed., Friday (a.m.):
4:55 – alarms goes off
5:05 – shower
5:20 – get dressed, small breakfast
5:45 – feed cat
5:50 – open files, start writing
7:15 – go to work
8:30 – 10 pm – regular life stuff
10 (pm): go to sleep
Tuesday and Thursdays:
same as M, W, F, except I work out instead of writing
Saturday and Sunday?
7:00 – alarm goes off
7:30 – work out
9:00 – write (3 to 4 hours)
1 pm – 10 pm – regular life stuff
Which should amount to about 10-12 hours total writing time per week.
In all fairness, I don’t stick to this schedule every single day. Some days I’m just too tired to get up at 5 a.m. Sometimes, I’m sick, sometimes I’ve had a late night. Sometimes regular life just gets in the way. I estimate, however, that I stick to this routine about two-thirds of the time, which is pretty good, I think, all things considered.
Without this routine, I simply can’t get my writing done. I’m a chronic insomniac, so I can’t write at night (more on this later). Plus, after work is my down time, and the time I like to spend with my wife.
So I get up at 5 a.m. And when people first hear that, they tend to cringe. But here’s the thing. I find that many people get up at 6 a.m. So what’s one hour earlier? I go to bed at 10 p.m., which means that if I get right to sleep (sometimes yes, sometimes no), that’s 7 hours sleep. I’ll take it.
But it is a grind. Keeping this pace up over a long stretch isn’t easy. But for me, it’s worth it. And since I’m not at a place yet where I can write to pay the bills, I make the sacrifices to make what I love possible. Because my writing is so important to me, because I’m different without it.
At this point, I’m getting up at around 5:20 a.m. on a semi-regular basis during the week, and then "sleeping in" until about 7:30 a.m. on the weekends. So I’m not quite where I need to be, but I’ve got another month to go. And when October 1 rolls around, I’ll be in game shape. I’ll be ready.
And when that happens, look out.
I’ll be ready to roll.
Post edited by: rcolchamiro, at: 2007/08/26 13:51
Post edited by: rcolchamiro, at: 2007/08/26 13:52
