I’ve cheered up now. A friend of mine saw this and thought of me, or thought it might make a decent blog post.
http://dailyroutines.typepad.com/
It outlines the daily routines of some well known writers.
One thing that struck me is that they all get up at the crack of dawn. I can’t wake at 6am. I only ever see 6am by getting there the long, dark way. I have three routines:
1) The “Beginning a New Book and No Deadline in Sight” Work Routine.
9:00 am – 12:30 pm.
Get up. The time depends on the night before.
9:15 am – 5:30 pm
Coffee. Answer some emails. Put others off till later. Ignore all the hugs, prods, bings, blams and whoopies from Facebook. Shower. Pick up the mail and look through it for anything interesting. Big packages are good - books from publishers, manuscripts, sometimes a DVD or toy I bought. Everything else is usually bills or vacuous statements concerning credit cards I never use. File them in a big messy heap in the corner of my desk. Open the BT bill, and note the overcharges (11 months out of 12 now). Sigh. I’ll harass them later. Get on the phone and pay everything that needs paid.
Lunch. I want a freshly made chipped-steak burger from the local butchers, which I want to fry and then slap on a roll with cheese, gherkin and jalapeno relish but I’m going to have soup because I promised myself I’d watch my cholesterol after the New Year, stop smoking, get to bed earlier, eat bran and all that.
Think about looking for any new reviews on Amazon. Decide not to. A bad review would just depress me. There’s no point trying to write what everyone wants anyway. It’s a bad idea to try and please everyone. Focus groups give us bland cars, bland films, and bland food. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
No deadline in sight. Play a game of Risk on the computer. Force myself to open my accounts, because I need to do my tax return. Gaze at accounts for an hour. Sigh. Close spreadsheet. Have another game of Risk. Open word processor. Look at empty page. Close word processor. Why don’t I live in the south of France?
5:30 pm.
Do the washing up and make dinner, if it’s my turn.
6:30 pm.
There’s nothing on TV. Open a bottle of wine. Somehow it’s 11:30pm.
11:30 pm.
Open word processor. Look at empty page. Write another beginning for another new book. Notice that I have 27 of these openings now. Close word processor. Answer emails. Have a ten minute game of online poker. Win 83p. Open word processor. Start all over again.
1:30 am.
I must have decided to work tonight. I can’t sleep. Thinking about new book. How do I combine this idea with that idea? Or should I ditch those ideas, and concentrate on this other one? What would waves sound like if they broke against a mass of metal shrapnel? Back to the word processor.
2:30 am.
Still can’t sleep. Read for a while. Switch off light. Lie there thinking about the book. Switch light on again, and go back to the word processor. There are five opened books on the floor, but I haven’t managed to get into any of them.
3:30 am.
I’m never going to get to sleep. Have a glass of whisky to wind down. Should I just delete all that stuff I’ve written? Is it any good at all?
4:30 am.
Oh god, it’s half past four in the morning. I even forgot to finish that glass of whisky. I’ll need to TRY to sleep. Lie down. Get up. Type a few words. Lie down. Read some more. Reach for the light switch. How many emails did I forget to answer?
2) The “Getting into a New Book and Deadline is Ages away” Work Routine.
9:00 – 10:30 am
Get up. Coffee. Wash. Answer emails. Open “Chapter #” on the word processor. Have at it for an hour or so. The phone rings. Bastards! I’ll ignore it. What if it’s important? Argh. I’d better go downstairs. “Hello Madam, you have been specially selected to...” Slam the phone down. What the hell? Sod it. My concentration has been blown. The moment has gone. I am entirely justified in not doing any work for the rest of the day.
10:31 pm
Realise I'm being an arse, and go to back to work.
12:30 pm.
Lunch. I’m feeling pretty good. One burger isn’t going to hurt. Go out for a walk. Look in the charity shop for any first editions or other interesting books. Offer to take Tess for a walk up the hills. I like it when she stops to let me pull the fence wire up so she can scramble through to the next field, and when there are rabbits pelting all over the place and she stands there wagging her tail and doesn't notice any of them.
1:30 pm
Keen to get back. Have at it for the rest of the afternoon.
5:30 pm.
I’ll make the dinner after I finish this chapter.
11:30 pm.
I’ll call it a day after I finish this chapter.
3) The “Deadline Looming” Work Routine.
9:00am - 6:00pm
Work
6:00pm - 7:00pm
Eat take away food.
7:00pm - 6:00am
Work
6:00am - 9:00am
Stare at the screen, red-eyed and broken, until sleep comes.
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Reading over this, I think I need to get out more.
19 comments:
I love the label. It cheered me up no end!
I does sound like the journal of any self-employed person; or perhaps just those, like myself, in love with brinksmanship.
Any news on the publish date for God of Clocks??
Cheers. I think it's out in March/April/May sort of time.
I actually know people who swear they're not lying when they say they start writing at dawn. I'm not sure they're human. I'm lucky if I get started by three in the afternoon.
I'm one of those crazy fools who gets up early, like 5AM early, to write. Really it's the only time I get a quiet house to myself (3 kids under 5) since I have a day-job as well. My brain doesn't work well late at night--that's the time for drinking and catching up and watching movies or what have you.
But any way you look at it, 5AM still hurts.
There are some things I wanted to say, but I never quite got around to doing it. First I'd like to say Scar Night is one of my favorite books, and the only one I reread in the last four years (I read a lot, about 5~15 books every month). The reason I did it is because I was going to start Iron Angel, which I kept safe in my bookshelf waiting for a "I'm feeling really bad, haven't read anything good for some time" moment. I wanted to remember exactly what happened. I've written a review for Scar Night on amazon.co.uk, you might have read it, but I doubt you'd remember it as you must see thousand such reviews. Anyway, I;ve been trying to find the time to write a review for Iron Angel, but what with my trying to listen to my 15GB of songs, read the 15 books on my bookshelf so my mother allows me to buy some more which are coming out in January and February (I'm seventeen, and live with my parents in Brazil), playing all the video games I've bought some years ago and never had time to play... Oh, and I'm trying to write a book. I think I lost my train of thought... Anyway, just really wanted to tell you three things; 1- I loved Iron Angel, though I found it slightly confusing given the many words you invented (all those hellish entities...)(" What's a Non-morai again?" "Oh, those spirits/devils from book one, right...") 2- Any idea when the UK cover will be released? I have to say the british covers are most likely my favorites, and I really don't like the american covers (not only for your books, but for the great majority of fantasy works out there). 3- It's quite reassuring to know an author I judge accomplished (yes, that's a certain Alan Campbell) has an incredibly similarroutine while beginning to write a book (exchanging cigarettes and alcoholic drinks with video-games and apple juice). This is not the first time I've attempted to write something, but I think this time I may really finish it (lots of unfinished books/ideas...). Anyway, I believe I'm sort of ranting... Have a nice... new book?... day?...life?
P.S. I might have gotten it wrong, but it seemed by your post that you are trying to stop smoking. I'm all for it, smoking can kill you, and there's nothing I hate more than an author whose work i like dying while in the middle of a series/writing career. So stay healthy and as "cancerless" as possible, if only for your fans. (Sorry for that, I just really hate smoking...)
I'm usually on the computer at about 8.00, then after pissing about on the Internet for too long, get down to some writing. After 10 years in industry and 15 years self-employed and having no one to push me but myself or annoyed customers (at a job other than writing) I still feel guilty unless I'm working every week day. Still can't get past seeing the weekends as rest days either. But I'm glad of the self-employed thing - drives home that even when you stop to have a cup of coffee you're not earning.
Sounds like a more sensible routine, Neal. It is nice being your own boss, until tax return time. That's the bit that almost drives me over the edge. My appointment with the accountant is in half an hour. I don't know what I'd do without that man.
Hey Stefano,
Cheers for your comment, and for writing those reviews. Writing is a lonely profession, so it's great when soeone gets back to you and says they liked a book.
Have you checked out absolutewrite.com for lots of good writing resources? That's a pretty good site.
The UK Iron hardback is out now, but the paperback should be coming in a month or so. The new book, God of Clocks, will be out in the UK in 2/3 months.
Best,
Alan.
"Sod it. My concentration has been blown. The moment has gone. I am entirely justified in not doing any work for the rest of the day."
Your entire blog was greatly amusing, but I have to admit that I choked on my drink when I read this line. Hurrah for justifications, haha! ;D
That "pessimistic" sense of humor you have is very amusing.
So God of Clocks will be out soon; I am ecstatic. I was suddenly overwhelmed with so much free time that I've been wasting my days playing video games and whatnot (not to rub it in or anything ^_^).
Also, I support you quitting smoking. Keep at it!
Looking forward to the next book.
I have an Award for you!
I've been checking Toruk.com every day I had a chance, waiting for the cover to come out. Today I was pleasantly surprised by seeing the cover there (I mean the british one, as it is TorUK we're talking about). I found it beautiful, as I have the other cover arts (british, don't like the american ones, but I've already mentioned that before). I believe it will, as have the other two, show the spirit of your work. Hurrah for God of Clocks!
P.S. I'm sure most fans who visit your site would love to see the full-size cover in the blog (I mean front, back and the rest of the stuff) if you could. I for one would appreciate it enormously.
P.P.S. The release date of the british edition sucks though... Have to wait until July to get my hands on that...
P.P.P.S. Seems something is wrong with my Google account, dammit...
Yep, the UK cover is great. I'll post it as soon as I have it. Cheers.
Tried to post this comment earlier but it disappeared into cyber oblivion. Anyhow, I've just finished Scar Night and thank you for the most enjoyable novel I've read in a year or so.
Sorry to ask this question but I just skimmed down the blog and my eye couldn't help but catch on you mentioning you'd written for Dr Who, as I had been wondering about that while reading SN. I'm not sure when you wrote it, but if you don't me asking - chicken or egg?
There was that bit with the demons who only get into your mind if you close your eyes, although nobody mentioned that it was best to avoid blinking. Then there's plenty of fun and plot revolving around a chopped-off hand along with a general interest in angels, a recurring RTD Who theme, along with a bottomless pit with a chained god at the bottom. Then when I checked to see if the next book was out all I could find was an american version on ebay picturing a giant metal man who looked a bit like the cybergod, or whatever that thing in the Xmas episode happened to be.
Anyhow, as a matter of interest, who's homaging who?
Ha!
That's brilliant. Well, the books were written long before those Doctor Who episodes were, so I think I'm quite safe. The Doctor Who writing I've done was just a comic - and it's not out yet.
I watched the Two Doctors episode at Christmas, and I must admit I did think the huge cyberman did look a bit Iron Angel-ish. I also thought that the demon/blink story was spookily similar to what I'd written in SN, although I didn't make the connection with the abyss episode.
But I don't believe for a second that SN or IA inspired any Doctor Who. Maybe it's just a case of great minds thinking alike?
Let's face it, you can't live in dreary old Britain without thinking - at some point - about a vast automaton smashing up a city.
I noticed you mentioned book signing in previous blog so with God of Clocks on pre-order will there be any opportunities prior to May this year?
I'm asking as I read a paperback of Scar night left in a corridor of UK barracks in Kandahar back in early 2008. I passed the book on once I was finished but to avoid taking the food from your table. I have since bought available hardbacks and now want to replace them with 1st edition signed copies. Hopefully my hours of trawling will be successful on books up to date but back to my one question, will there be a signing prior to myself returning to Afghan this year
Scar Night made it to Afghanistan? Wow.
There's no signing planned, Mark, but if you send me the books I'll gladly sign them and return them to you. I think the UK release date is now June.
mail me at alanmcampbell at gmail dot com.
You are a genius with your words, with selective meaning and brilliant verse. I hope the part of Deepgate which rest in your soul is healed. As a writer myself I know any story or world created is a part thereof it's creator; you are brilliant, multi-faceted, complex, and bewitching in a marvelous way. May the wildest muses whisper their sweet inspiration in your ears and you feel the twinge of renewed drive and reason.
Be Blessed
Shade Hollis Embers
All right, I have to admit that I'm a little confused as to when God of Clocks is to be released here in the U.S. I checked on amazon.com and it says April 14th (which would be great since it's 12 days away...not that I'm counting), but in the paperback copy of Iron Angel I bought over spring break, it says that it's being released in May. Either way, I can't wait! I LOVE your books and I've recommended them to several people recently who love them as well. I'm so excited for the conclusion of the story, although it's a little bittersweet as well because I've grown to love Carnival and Rachael and Dill. You've got a gift when it comes to storytelling and I'm so glad I listened to that little voice in my head that told me to take Scar Night home from the library with me last summer!
Lots of love,
Gizmo
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