A Day in the Life of a Writer
I would love to be able to say that I’m a full time writer, with an agent, PR officer and secretary to manage my career, organise promotion for me and type up stories I’ve dictated onto a voice recorder whilst sipping cocktail on a balcony (or reclining on a chaise longue Barbara Cartland style). However, the truth is a little more prosaic.
In reality my life is a complicated juggling act of work, kids, homework, housework, social time, relationships and writing. I don’t have any of the staff listed above. I’m pretty much a one-woman show (although there is an amazing team at HarperImpulse working tirelessly on my behalf, and I couldn’t survive without the input of my lovely editor Charlotte).
I have a day job working in Employee Relations, full days over a nine day fortnight, meaning I have one day off every two weeks to have some concentrated writing time. On that day, I get the kids up, do the school run, get home and clean the house and then write from around 10.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Then I spend some time with the kids, cook dinner, wash up etc.
Apart from that, during the working week I write either from 6.00 – 7.00 a.m. before I get my youngest up, or after he’s gone to bed from 9.00 p.m. until I fall asleep over the laptop. I try to do this at least three times per week. I tend not to write so much on weekends as I want to spend time with my children and the lovely boyfriend, as well as friends and family – but I did manage to spend last Saturday afternoon writing in the garden as it was beautifully sunny.
Occasionally I fling food at the kids, tell them I’m neglecting them for a few hours and slope away to my study for a few hours straight after dinner. If I’m really pushed for time I take my laptop to work and write during my lunch hour. I used to be really precious about writing time i.e. I can only write if I have a three hour block available etc. but since becoming published last year I’ve learnt to grab time whenever I can, no matter where / when / how long for.
If I’m at home on a day that a new book is released then I tend to spend the whole day on social media interacting with people. If it’s a work day, I spend a couple of hours on social media first thing in the morning, check in during my lunch break, then spend the evening catching up with any missed emails, tweets, Facebook messages, blog comments etc. Every release day is exciting whether I’m at work or not, and I always make sure to take ten minutes out (usually with a small glass of champagne to hand) in the evening to savour the moment, before getting back to the hard work.
My front room is my writing room and contains my jam-packed bookcase (my reading tastes range according to my mood so it’s full of romance, crime thrillers, police procedurals, commercial fiction and non-fiction), plus my filing cabinet and laptop.
The covers of my #LoveLondon series are hung up on the wall to help with timelines and focus for the current work in progress/next new release. I generally try to write in there but it can be a bit cold sometimes so I take my laptop up to bed when I need to snuggle up warm!
When I’m writing or doing writing related activities, sometimes I focus on the work in progress in terms of adding to word count, or editing, but as often as not its articles / blog posts for promoting a new release or touching base with bloggers or readers via email, Facebook and Twitter.
Networking on social media is an expectation of all published (and even pre-published) authors now and I love it, but you have to balance it with the actual writing, because it can be a real time sucker. However, I have to say that my iPhone has been a godsend – the ability check emails and Tweet on the move is great, as I can squeeze bits of work into odd moments here and there.
These aren’t daily – but a few highlights of my writing life are the social / business events for the Romantic Novelists Association http://www.rna-uk.org/ that I’m a member of. These include the annual conference over a long weekend in July which is filled with workshops, talks and panels along with the opportunity to meet with agents and publishers, as well as the Summer and Winter parties.
This year’s Summer Party later in May will be particularly exciting for me because the winner of the Joan Hessayon Award (for new writers) will be announced, and my debut novel is on the shortlist. I don’t expect to win but it will be a very glamorous evening with a chance to catch up with friends and industry experts over a glass of wine J
My dream is to be a full-time author but I can’t see that happening for a while (if ever, with the disappearance of large advances) so I will keep going as I am for the moment… what I would say is that I couldn’t be isolated from the world too much, as to write about people, love and life you have to be in touch with those things. Writing in a darkened room with no human contact isn’t going to give me that, so I’d have to be doing something else too, perhaps HR work for a day a week, or volunteering in a school or working for a charity.
Hope you’ve found this interesting – maybe it’s pretty much what you expected or maybe I’ve surprised you? Would love it if you left some comments and I’m happy to take questions!
Nikki lives in beautiful Dorset not far from the beach with her two gorgeous children, and very happily has a lovely boyfriend too. She has a day job in Human Resources and very supportive colleagues. She loves writing romance and does it as often as possible, but can also be found reading and consuming white wine in hot baths on a regular basis.
Nikki’s next release – Strawberries at Wimbledon, the fifth in the #LoveLondon series – is out on 14 May and available from most eBook retailers including Amazon
Amazon UK – http://amzn.to/1GuGOxT
Amazon US – http://amzn.to/1O9IUsB
Nikki loves chatting with readers, bloggers, writers and aspiring authors about books, writing, wine, love and life in general. Find her on Twitter @NikkiMoore_Auth or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NikkiMooreWrites
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing
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It’s so hard to have a day job, kids/spouse/partner, and still have time to write/edit/hang out on social media. There are times of the year that are worse than others. I work in higher education, so my crunch times are August and late December/early January. Add in my love for vegetable gardening and the need to preserve all that summer goodness for winter, and suddenly, I am about 50 hours short in a day.
I, too, grab writing time when I can, but it sure is hard to find a balance in there somewhere!
Hi Nikki Love Your Blog post- resonates on many levels with me – having just published in my name & voice for the 1st time in 20 years ‘Shattered Dreams & Scorpions at Midnight- a search for sanctuary with mPowr publishing – I too do not have an entourage of helpers in all the Marketing & PR platforms I need in raising my profile. Remember dreams do come true- Keep putting it out there to write full time- Big thank you
Hi Miriam,
thanks so much for leaving a comment. I’m really glad you enjoyed the post. That’s what writing is about I think – making a connection with a reader, writing something that resonates with them…
Good luck with your book. Yes, we’ll both keeping going and living the dream 🙂
All the best, Nikki x
I love this article, I find it most inspiring.
Thank you.
Jane Harris
Hi Jane,
thanks so much for leaving the comment. I’m glad you enjoyed it, I aim to inspire 😉
Take care, Nikki x
I, too, can say that I am a writer, but I also have another job that allows to supplement my income as well as provide great stories. I lead travel tours. Next week, I will be leading a tour through the Hawaiian Islands. I have spent more than 100 days in Cuba, bungee jumped in New Zealand, and will be going to Greece, Italy, and Australia later this year. It is 24/7 work while I’m on tour, but provides the needed “only writing” time when I return. Last September, I released my debut, When All Balls Drop. This September the sequel will be out, With New Eyes.
BTW, I loved your cover wall. I have something similar but with pictures of where readers have enjoyed When All Balls Drop. See this pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.com/heidisiefkas/when-all-balls-drop-spotted/
Hi Heidi,
Only just seen your comment – sorry.
Wow – that sounds amazing! I wish my day job took me to such gorgeous places…
Great news about your debut and good luck with the sequel, I hope it does really well.
The covers on the wall keep me motivated, but after checking out your pinterest wall, I’m inspired to do similar with posters of the #LoveLondon covers – it all looks fab and is a brilliant idea.
Keep writing, Nikki x
Thanks for having me on the blog, and thank you Tracey for leaving such a lovely comment 🙂
It’s a delicate balance juggling everything but if you’re passionate enough about something and don’t mind hard work, I think you’ll find a way to do it. I couldn’t imagine not writing. Even if I wasn’t published, I’d still do it just for the sheer pleasure it gives me.
Nikki x
What a lovely insight into your writing world, Nikki. I was impressed with all the book covers on the wall too – excellent idea for keeping motivated and organised.
It certainly sounds as though you’re juggling the whole shebang with work, family, writing etc… which just shows it really can be done.
Where there’s a will… Good luck with your new novel and thanks for sharing! 🙂