"The Writing Life" by Christy Mihaly

"What do you do all day?"

A few years back, I quit my day job to become a "working writer." That means (to me, anyway) that I'm trying to make a living by writing. Some people, however, harbor certain misconceptions about my routine. 

"What's your schedule? Do you just write an hour in the morning?"

No, no, no, I don't just sit in my frilly blouse overlooking the scenery and write deathless prose for just one hour in the morning. For most of my waking hours and some of my sleeping hours, I'm writing, thinking about writing, or doing work related to writing. It's my job! It's a job I love, but it's full-time work.

So, what's a typical day? There are three main types.

1. Looming-Deadline Days: These are the times when I have an upcoming deadline for a book, article, or other project. I wake up thinking about it and sit down first thing in the morning to work on it. I turn off e-mail and stay off social media and let the phone ring, to concentrate on checking facts or drafting or doing my seventh revision. I write nonfiction for educational publishers who specify the target reading level and word count, which means I may need to cut words or review word choices to assure an age-appropriate vocabulary. This may sound tedious, but I'm usually so engrossed that the hours fly by. On these days, I'm lucky if I remember to brush my teeth and walk the dog before dinner.

 

1. Between-Contracts Days: When there's nothing due immediately, it's a different kind of stressful. The challenge then is fending off the anxiety ("I'll never get another contract! And nobody will ever read anything I write!"). Oh, and I have to avoid filling the day with deferred tasks from laundry to cleaning the cat's litter box.

 
On these days, I often start on projects that are due in a few months. This is also time to catch up on the less pressured (but equally necessary) aspects of the writing business.
 
I'm still experimenting with the best order of action for these days: Start writing while still half-asleep? Do 15 minutes on social media before writing? How many breaks for exercise? Short breaks or long ones? But I never lack for things to do. Here's my list:

1. Poetry: I want to write more poetry, and scribbling a poem is a wonderful way to start the day. Some days I'll follow a prompt from a website; others I'll just doodle around until a poem takes shape.
2. Critiques: I belong to four critique groups, so I often have manuscripts to review and critique.
3. Social Media: I read and post on Twitter and Instagram and participate in writing-related groups on Facebook. I write blog posts, and I read and comment on kidlit blogs.
4. Revisions: I never know what I'll discover when I pull an aging manuscript from a drawer. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised that a forgotten draft is almost ready to submit. More often, with fresh eyes I see new problems—and potential solutions. I experiment with revision techniques. Revise on the screen: check. Print out and revise in paper, using pens of different colors: check. Print out picture book text and cut up into little pieces and fold them into a book dummy and check out the page turns: check.
5. New stories: It's fun to take an idea that has been percolating and turn it into a new story. I may start with a rough outline or beginning that I wrote down long ago . . . somewhere. Sometimes (but not always) I dig up these promising bits and pieces in my file labeled: "IMPORTANT: Ideas and Beginnings."
6. Proposals and pitches: To snag those work-for-hire writing contracts that pay the bills, I pitch ideas to magazine and book editors. I keep track of announced themes for magazines. I send educational publishers updates of my resume and writing samples. With a picture book coming out this fall, my thoughts are also turning to proposals for book festivals, story times, book signings, and author visits.
7. Organizing: I keep spreadsheets of submissions (and rejections!), assignments, deadlines, income, and expenses. And sometimes I update them. J
8. Webinars, podcasts, and online learning: I always have a backlog of videos or other recordings to catch up on, mostly related to children's literature.
9. Reading: Reading children's (and adult's) books is an important—and pleasant—aspect of the job. I particularly love to plow through piles of picture books. I also participate as a school reading mentor. My mentee and I read kid-friendly books that I might not have chosen on my own.

 

1. Soaking-up-the-Inspiration Days: These are the working-without-writing days, the ones when I leave my desk and laptop behind. I might take a research field trip, or attend a poetry reading, book launch, or nature walk. Regardless, I'll be taking lots of notes!

Typical? I guess my typical writing day is working all day at some aspect of writing. Although occasionally I meet another writer for a "work date" somewhere with good internet service, usually I work at home. It's lucky that I have a dog that needs walking, and a post office box that needs checking, because otherwise I might not feel a strong need to get dressed.

Which, may I add, is one of the perks of being a writer.
 
Christy Mihaly – HEY, HEY, HAY! (A Tale of Bales and the Machines that Make Them) by Christy Mihaly and illustrated by Joe Cepeda
Holiday House, August 14, 2018. Available for Pre-order now.
​http://www.christymihaly.com/
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