When I was growing up, I didn’t know any authors. I had to completely imagine what their daily routine would be, what their writing habits were – and when I used to read about classical authors, their routines seemed to involve a lot more money (and alcohol!) than I wanted.

So I wanted to share my own writing habits: not only for my readers, so that you can get a snapshot view into my life, but for all those future writers out there of all ages.

Caveat – this isn’t the only way to be an author! There are so many ways to be an author, and I don’t want you to think that if this approach doesn’t appeal to you, you therefore can’t be a writer. Definitely not!

Let’s dive in.

I am definitely a morning person, which is when my brain is most active and most creative. Because of that, I try to get my words down before 11am or midday, because then I know they are going to be the best I can create.

When I say I’m a morning person, I mean I naturally wake up just before 5am and crack on pretty much straight away. That gives me around 5 hours of writing time a day.

Some people might be surprised by that, especially as I am a full time author – but remember, there is so much more to being a writer than actually writing!

After I have finished getting my words down, I clear my head by clearing my emails and social notifications. Then I have lunch and go for a walk. I try to always make sure that I get outside at least once a day, preferably into sunshine, though being a Brit that’s not always possible.

When I get back to my desk in the afternoon, I spend some time working on my strategy and business decisions. What books do I want to be writing over the next 6 months, 12 months, 18 months? What are my five year goals, and how am I working toward achieving them?

By this point it’s about 2pm, and this is when I have any calls – when I’m still fresh, but I can be confident that I have my words down. When all calls are done, I do my admin: any invoicing, paperwork, chasing up the last few emails, writing my newsletter, that sort of thing.

And then I’m done for the day! This is usually around 3pm.

I am so fortunate to do a job I love, and I hope you can see why!