I’ve sat in the glow of published authors-as much glow as fluorescent lights can cast in a meeting room. From first major breakthrough to New York Times (NYT) bestsellers, “What is your writing regime like?” is the most frequent question from the audience.
Kathryn Coulter, NYT bestselling author of the Savage and Sherlock mystery thrillers, adheres to a disciplined early morning routine with first attention to social media and emails followed by writing. Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club juggles her writing time between online news and emails, writing in mid-afternoon. She admits that it takes a long time to finish a book with her method. James Warner, author of All My Father’s Guns, says “I only write when I have nothing else to do.”
For blogs, short stories, handouts for speaking events, or edits to my mystery manuscript, I follow a single concept: Meet the deadline. Like Coulter, but not as often, I click computer keys before the glow of sunrise. I postpone lunch and dinner, alternating between my projects and emails like Fowler. Most of the time, I follow Warner.
Near midnight I blink my eyes as words on the screen morph into the image of Cinderella robed in tattered clothes staring at a pumpkin.
“Didn’t you learn anything from my experience?” she asks.
My answer is the frantic sounds of my fingers hammering out words to beat the deadline.