Writing space and a routine

Currently, I am on Chapter 14 of my novel with just above 50,000 words. When I first started, I just wrote on my laptop anywhere and whenever I could make time. However, some of the articles I read on how to write a book, suggested that I create a daily routine for writing. Now as I have gotten older, I’ve become a morning person. So, on many days I am up between 4:30 and 5 am.

 I have two dedicated spaces in the house for writing. The home office and the kitchen island. Both spaces are quiet, clean and non-distracting. I find that early in the morning I have no distractions because no one else is up.

After several months of writing, I’ve found a routine that works. I get my coffee and start writing. This first part of the morning is dedicated to ‘new writing’ where I just work on new material. After a couple of hours, I switch to editing and going through ideas.

I take a break to have breakfast with my wife and we try to work-out together in the morning. Afterwards, I do some work on my blog posts and look at social media (because I was advised to increase my social media presence). If I’m not too tired, I go back to editing for a while longer. However, when every sentence looks the same, I stop and play some video games. On warm days, I go to a nearby 1200-yard rifle range or I try to go for short rides on my motorcycles.