You may have wondered what it’s like to be a full-time writer? A major benefit is you get to organize your day as you want. The problem is you have to self-organize, and that takes discipline.

I write on average six to eight hours a day and try to hit that mark every day. Don’t think that you can blow off a few days and catch up. Writing is mentally taxing, and you want to produce your best work. Sometimes a four-hour day is all I can do, and I take a break away from the computer screen for an afternoon.

My morning starts around 10:00 am. I’m a night owl and like to sleep in. I make cowboy coffee so strong I need heavy whipping cream to cut it. Caffeine is wonderful. I will write until noon and break to walk the dog and have lunch, more or less like a late breakfast.

Around 2:00 pm, I’ll start back by making another pot of coffee. I try to work on separate projects. For example, I may edit a novel in the morning session but write a blog post midafternoon. After a few hours, I’ll take another break and come back for a third session on one of the projects.

Production

Production goals are important, but be careful not to let a schedule affect the quality of your writing. If you need two more days to make the final edits of your novel, take the two days. The world won’t end. It could, but not because you were two days behind on a schedule. I do the same for blog posts. I may spend a few hours on one and not be completely satisfied. I won’t send it to my editor until I take another look at it the following day. The key to robust writing production is time and effort. Make the time. Make an effort. It’s all up to you.

Hobbies

If you don’t have a distraction from writing, get one. For those writing part-time, it’s not an issue. Your job is the likely distraction, but you need something to distract your mind between work sessions if you work from home and write novels, blogs, articles, or ad copy. You will burn out unless you’re superhuman. Get a hobby that has nothing to do with writing.

I walk my dog several times a day (see My Best Friend blog), and I have parks nearby if I need more of a distraction. I’m also the family taxi. Get out of the house and do something. Take a drive. See a show. Go shopping for dinner.

I learned to ice skate at age 51. Many of the rinks near me have an open skate session in the afternoons. It’s great exercise, and I can think about things as I take laps around the rink.