By Sharla Rae

In my head I have a perfect schedule for making the most of my writing time.  

Writing is sedentary so exercise is important. I set my alarm for 5:30 I leap out of bed, and change out of my jammies into shorts, exercise bra, socks and tennis shoes. Then it’s 25 minutes on the water rower and 25 to 30 on the tread mill. Around 6:30, I’ll hop into the shower. By 7:30 or 8:00, I’ll be at my desk, spend 20 minutes on e-mail while I have my morning yogurt. Then I’m writing until around 3:30 or 4:00 when I run to the kitchen to make sure everything’s ready to cook dinner when hubby gets home between 5 to 6.

We’ll that’s how it’s supposed to go.

This is how it mostly goes:

1. 5:30 am the alarm goes off. I hit the snooze button & finally crawl out of bed by 6 or 7.
2. Perform morning ablutions.  Stare into the mirror – is that really me? Lord have mercy!
3. Make the bed – I don’t like to make it after exercise. I’m too tired and this is another great procrastination task.
4. Rummage through drawers, find the workout clothes, and dress—glad no one can see my rear in shorts so short they ought to be outlawed. 
5. I decide I need the yogurt for strength “before” I exercise so I head for the fridge.
6. Then I remember something really important that I need to check on my computer.
7. I realize I’ve been on the computer a whole hour and fly upstairs to exercise.
8. Turn on some music really loud—I get bored
9. Turn on the fan. I don’t like to sweat too much
10. Exercise only 30 minutes -- because I’ve piddled away too much time on the computer -- shower, and get decent
11. Sit at the desk by 9 or 10 and hate myself for getting such a late start.
12. Work for an hour, get up to give my tired, flat rump a chance to plump up while I lay out frozen food to thaw for dinner.
13. Write for another hour.
14. Take a break and wander the house working out a scene and how it should go down on paper.
15. Pretty much repeat #13 and #14 until around 4 pm when I start dinner.

In my defense, when I’m hot on the writing trail, I’ll work all night long without blinking.  And I’m almost always writing in my head. I get my best ideas in bed – no, not “those” kinds of ideas.” What I mean is that I solve most of my writing problems in that twilight time, when I start to relax, but I’m not quite asleep.  I keep post-a-notes on my bedside table. I’ve gotten good at writing in the dark. After all, I don’t want to disturb hubby. Many a morning, I discover I’ve wall-papered the lampshade.

I’m also fairly well organized. I don’t attempt to write on Mondays. I clean house, pay bills etc. If that kind of stuff doesn’t get done on Monday, it’s left until the following week. If you mess up my Monday plans, heaven help you because the rest of the week I write, and I get cranky if someone or something interferes.

So goes my writing day.

The point is, it doesn't matter much how the writing day goes, as long as you do write something every day. Well, almost every day. A gal's got to get out of the house once in a while to get the stink blown off, right?