Instead of the routine of a successful writer, here's the routine of someone who might end up becoming a full time writer if he's really lucky but will likely remain primarily a technology worker. But why would someone want to read about probable failure when they should be trying to learn about and mimic success? Let it serve as a warning.
I don't write every day but when I do write I stumble out of bed around 8:30 or so when I hear Sarah close the door on her way to work. I don't take a shower or eat anything and I usually just put on the clothes I wore yesterday or whatever is lying on the floor next to the bed. I slip on $8 Walmart shoes I bought years ago and throw on my yellow Fat Tire baseball cap. If it's cold I put on my stocking cap instead. I grab my pen, keys and wallet off the coffee table and put them into my pockets. If I'm lucky I remember to bring my notebook before I'm physically outside the apartment. I then head out the door and walk down the block to the coffee shop. I find my way groggily to the counter and mumble something to the barista that she recognizes as an order for a regular 12 oz cup of coffee to stay. I remove the coffee from the counter, sit down at a small table by the window and begin to wake my mind by reading the nonsense I wrote on previous days.
About 10 to 15 minutes later I actually start writing. I start by thinking about how I want to work on microhistorical fiction or the sci-fi novel but by then I'm already thinking about philosophy so I write just to get it out of my head. I keep thinking about or writing philosophy until I finish that first cup.
I go up to the counter and get a 50 cent refill while internally rededicating myself to writing fiction or sci-fi. I sit back down and start to write in earnest. When I really get into writing I don't drink the coffee as fast but I always start getting hungry and shaky somewhere in the middle of the second cup. I keep working in spite of the shakes. Sometimes I start getting anxious and just down that second cup of coffee and head home. I generally get back sometime between eleven and eleven forty-five. Depending on the day the second session ends up being wasted thinking and writing philosophy as well. Today I was lucky and actually got four journal pages solely devoted to the sci-fi novel.
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