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A Multi-tasker’s Approach to the Writing Life

Like a lot of folks, I’m a multi-tasker – and good at it, too, especially when it comes to writing. For example, to come up with an opening to this article, I fed the cats, did the litter, let out the dogs and turned on the dryer. Sitting in front of a blank screen with that little cursor winking at me…nothing’s more deadly. But get me moving, doing mundane chores, my mind is whirling, writing, revising – it’s cooking.

I’ve read interviews and articles by all sorts of authors about their own ‘writer’s schedule’ and there’s a myriad of routines out there. Some need to be up before the sun (and the rest of the house), others tap away into the midnight hours, and those strapped-for-time-writers somehow carve out ten minute increments during their day. But each shares one common factor: every writer has a routine. Doesn’t matter what it is, doesn’t matter when it is – it just is.

Like Billy Crystal says in Throw Mama from the Train: “A writer writes.” Don’t expect a book or an article to materialize by simply clearing your calendar for two straight weeks and turning off the phone. Writing is something you should do each and every day regardless. But sitting in front of your computer or at a table with paper and pencil is not the only form writing takes. As I said at the start, for me, writing is multitasking.

Take this article, for example – by this paragraph, I’ve already left the computer twice. I’ve poured my usual bowl of cereal (Cheerios mixed with Frosted Flakes topped with soy milk…hey, it works for me, okay?) and am on my second Diet Pepsi. Eating breakfast allows me to re-read the sentences I’ve just written while going into the kitchen gives me that necessary time to be away from the page and come back fresh. That little glucose/caffeine rush doesn’t hurt either.

Admittedly, a major part of my writing routine is leaving the computer. When I’m stuck or need to figure the wording of something, I get up. Making the bed or doing the dishes is usually just the ticket to get me through that sticky sentence. If I need even more time, I’ll bring up that load from the dryer. Or let the dogs out again. Or have another Pepsi. But regardless, I’m writing. My mind is going over form and function, it’s trying on sentences and word choices like outfits for that upcoming first date, changing and discarding them into a messy heap until discovering the perfect one.

And even after my official writing time is “done”, I’m still at it. As a high school teacher, my physical time at the computer for writing is limited to weekends and vacations. But that doesn’t stop me from stealing great lines from my students’ journals to slip into conversations my characters may someday have. It doesn’t stop me from jotting down an idea when I’m in the car. I know, I know, you hear from everyone: “Don’t write while you drive…” Though I’m convinced these are the same people who say you should floss daily, I can’t help when the ideas come to me. So, yeah, I have a little book that I leave in my car to scribble in occasionally. And that’s the operative word for you Floss-Fanatics out there: scribble. I can keep my eyes on the road, jam to the radio and even scribble a semi-decipherable sentence or two. It’s a gift.

But your writing routine shouldn’t stop there either. After all, like children’s author Robin Friedman says, “Writers live in the same world as everyone else. They just pay attention.” So do that: pay attention. To life’s day to day moments, your wandering thoughts, others’ hushed conversations. And for goodness sake, read. The couple hours a day I spend reading anything and everything I can get my hands on is the cornerstone of my writing routine. If you’re calling yourself a writer but can’t call yourself a reader, I’ve got some bad news for you.

So what is that elusive, magic writing routine formula? Well, there is no right one, but there certainly must be one. And it has to work for you. Think of it like exercise: it doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as you’re doing something. Let me belabor this metaphor a moment. The whole point of exercise is to keep the mind and body strong, right? Work the muscles, better your heart. You feel good, look terrific and are ready for whatever comes your way. Same with writing – if you do it everyday, your creative muscles are getting stronger. Your writing gets easier, the end result better. You’ve become a stronger writer. Training mind and body go hand in hand.

My typical weekend ‘writing’ day consists of waking up around 7 a.m. from cats pouncing on my head. Then the first half hour goes to the dogs – literally. I get them up and out while I feed the cats and do their litter (such a glamorous life), then turn on my computer and eat a banana while watching the weather forecast. After corralling the dogs and doling out bones, I grab a Diet Pepsi and sit down to check my e-mail. I have to, it’ll drive me nuts if I don’t, and I look at it this way – the notes I jot to my students and friends serve as my writing warm-up exercises. I know a lot of writers whose goal is to be at the computer in that half-awake, fugue state of consciousness. And I admit, I did try that for a while, but it didn’t work for me. I found that any writing I’d done in that first hour or so was downright awful. So now, by using that time to get a few chores out of the way (with my mind racing), I’m ready and raring to go.

Then I write. Get some cereal, write some more, get more cereal…you get the idea. But I don’t set a page limit. Tried that, too. Didn’t work for me. I write in blocks of time, about four to five hours at a stretch. Now, that time often includes those bed-making breaks I mentioned earlier, or a session with the breakfast dishes. But what’s really neat about my multitasking approach to writing is that, when I’m done at the computer for the day, most of the housework’s done, too. How’s that for efficient? The rest of my day always includes a chunk of time for reading and working out. The winter season is great because I simply prop a book on my treadmill and get both done at once. I told you, I’m the Multitasking Master…

So read what other writers do, and try the method that seems to fit your lifestyle. But only commit to the routine that works for you. Trying to conform to someone else’s writing routine just because it sounds productive is like trying to force yourself on the Atkin’s diet when you’re a pasta lover. No way is it going to work. Know yourself and make writing a part of every day. Your life’s probably not going to get less complex, but that’s okay because some of the best stories out there are complex. If you’re going to call yourself a writer, though, know this: you have to write – everyday. You have to read, everyday. And, above all, you have to pay attention…

Always.

First appeared in Institute for Children's Literature April 2004

All speeches and articles are copyrighted by, and are the property of, Laurie Thurston, and may not be reprinted without permission of the author.