Back to Routine–Day 4

I’m on day 4 of back to my writing routine after taking most of the summer off. That said, I didn’t really take it “off,” but deviated from my usual routine… okay, I completely abandoned my routine. There, I said it.

Back-to-school season has always given me renewed energy and motivation long after I graduated from high school and college. When I see kiddos with their parents shopping for school supplies, see the kids waiting for the bus in the mornings, most of them still half asleep, and getting off the bus in the afternoons, it’s invigorating!

What I discovered about myself over the summer is that, instead of being free of a schedule, ironically, schedules and routines to me are freedom. I love getting up in the morning knowing what I’m going to do. Also, if something is on my calendar, I will get it done rather than fritter away the day. Productivity = energy and motivation; motivation and energy = productivity.

In four days I completed revisions on the preliminary galley of book two, Inn the Dead of Winter, in the Spirit Lake Mysteries. (Stay tuned for a cover reveal in late fall.) Also, I completed two projects that have been hiding in my inbox, getting pushed further and further into the abyss as the summer went on and new emails piled on top of them. Woo hoo!

My husband and I went for an early just-after-sunrise walk around the lake yesterday morning before my writing schedule started. Fall is definitely in the air. It was cool and stunningly beautiful, and there’s nothing quite like the silence of early morning before most of the city wakes and hums to life. We even stumbled upon some goats temporarily used for brush and weed control. I’m typically not a goat person, in fact, they creep me out. But even these little guys were adorable on our walk.

Two things I’m undertaking in my writing routine–in addition to, obviously writing, LOL!–are using a new writing software and studying elements of the craft to strengthen my writing. Full disclosure, the software isn’t new, in fact, it’s been around a long time, but it’s new to me–Scrivener. People who use it swear by it and it has a lot of bells and whistles, which ultimately means a large learning curve, but I’m not only up for the challenge, I’m enjoying it. I’m also going through a course on Udemy on writing better scenes, and reading Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. An oldie but a goodie!

Oh yeah! And I’m learning Spanish on the Duolingo app on my phone. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? 🙂

And I’m off to do some of the said education. See you next month!