Welcome! Please gather your belongings and take your seats. I'm your hostess, Dawn Metcalf, and this is A Day in the Writing Life! Specifically, mine.

My day begins! *Bleurgh.* I am no longer a morning person. I believe late nights and two kids have sapped all my bushy-tailed-ness, which is kind of a good thing because all writing life must be put on hold like the coveted snooze alarm while I gather the children to be washed, brushed, clothed, fed, lunches packed, homework cached, backpacks zipped, car driven, parked, and unpacked, escort my two lovelies to their classrooms for good-bye hugs and kisses (or prying as the case may be) before jumping back into the driver's seat to begin my day as an author-to-be. My first thought is always, "Okay. I can make it home by 8:30 and start writing!" Believe it or not, I look forward to this every day.

This is also when my world goes quiet. The kids' voices are gone. The radio is off. There is only the purring white noise of the car cruising on asphalt and the whoosh of air (or rain or snow) sluicing off the windows. I am on a mission: I'm off to write! Sometimes, though, the drive isn't quick enough and it hits me: I'm INSPIRED! This is when I'm grateful for my little hand-held recorder where I can dictate whatever my muse, Maggie, has whispered in my ear at this precise moment specifically so she can watch me freak out at the wheel.


I think better than "Lo" might be the words "Don't Panic."

As you can see, today's gift of insight was timed for maximum-hilarity as my batteries are about to die and I couldn't record. Ah, Maggie, you're a pistol! (So often pointed at my head...) This results in either my reciting whatever nonsense aloud ad nauseum the rest of the way home or scribbling it down on any stray bit of paper while careful not to veer off the road. Has anyone ever mentioned the off-road hazards of random creativity? I think we authors should have yellow warning signs in our windows. Point of fact: I *adore* warning signs. I have a collection of faves on my filing cabinet:


I think "Warning: Skewered by Unicorn" and "Warning: Squashed by Giant Foot" are my favorites.

I rush home clutching the newest treasured bit of torn-off-back-of-envelope-hastily-scribbled-in-pencil in my grubby little hand and run to my desk. This might explain why my office looks like this:


Before you ask why I didn't clean my office...I *did* clean my office.

I like to think of my clutter sort of like other writer's playlists: it surrounds me with an ambient background humming that sets the tone for my brain this morning. Admittedly, a lot of these papers on the wall are kids' school notifications or crayon drawings or daily reminders for the rest of my life, but many of these Post-Its and scribbles are important bits of information, insight, research sites, character sketches, reference lists and gritty details that I find important for my writing process. (I know. That *is* a Mac on the desk and I swear I'll invest in Scrivener when I've got the guts to switch from my trusty MSWord. I'm very slow to adapt. I don't even own a laptop!)

Some of the scraps and notebooks I have next to my desk:


A notebook conversation with my editor, some printed feedback emails, character sketch, plot timeline, and a few random Muse-giggles like "sigh and rattle of ancient swings," a "squeal of metal on metal as (something) turned in the wind," and "I absolutely forbid you to fall in love with this girl and go harrying off to save her from a fate worse than death! Do you hear me?!"/"Yes, father..." Note: I have no idea what these are *for* just yet, but I'm eager to find out!

I have a document reserved specifically for such one-line randomness, having unearthed a number of short stories and one MG novel from revisiting this document over the years. (As you can tell, I don't like to throw anything away.) So I type these into the computer and then click through my Bookmark bar checking out industry blogs, marketing gurus, and a few favorite friends as well as answering email and posting Twitter/FB/GR updates. I treat this like my morning paper for news, opinion columns & favorite cartoons. Okay? Now I'm ready to work!

So: writing. I sit and I write. I don't know how other people do it, but for me it's Sit. Write. Stop. I will sit and write for hours and when I come up for air, it's because I am hungry, thirsty, or need to go somewhere. I write roughly 2000-3000 words a sitting. I am very diligent because I had to be: I used to get 45 minutes in the morning and 2-3 hours at night while the kids were sleeping. (Sometimes I even fudged that: I wrote my second MG novel during 4am feedings. ... What?! I couldn't turn pages, but I could type!) Now with the luxury of all this time while they're in school, I've somehow grown lazier. I think it's due to the whole "online presence" thing masquerading as goofing off on the web. I like "researching" almost as much as I like chatting with folks on Twitter, iChat, Livejournal or Facebook. Unfortunately, this doesn't add to total word count.

Sit. Write. Stop.

I pause somewhere around noon or one to eat lunch. This is the toughest part of my day. I'm pulling myself reluctantly out of the cocooned world inside my head to blink around at the real world outside my glowing box. Here there be no dragons, but this break is loaded with shiny distractions because I *love* to cook and I *love* to eat.


Exhibit A: My kitchen.


Exhibit B: My backyard.


Exhibit C: My cat, Tigris. (Euphrates did not want to have his photo taken. Vain critter.)

Before I eat lunch, I get my brain moving by shaking out the cobwebs. I have small sets of free weights in my office and I do a sit-up routine every day (200) and light weights while I'm warmed-up; this gives me a little mental and physical pick-me-up before I indulge in foodie stupor and other errata. Sometimes I blow through this whole routine if I'm *really* writing on fire and grab something simple to eat at the keyboard. (I usually don't like to eat at my desk as 1) it risks crumbs, 2) it necessitates I stop typing & 3) there's not a whole heckuvalot of room!)

But I do drink tea. Lots of tea. Herbal tea. (Because me on caffeine would be a *BAD* thing.)


Even broken tea mugs find a home in my office holding all sorts of stuff.
In fact, one of these random objects features as a prominent role in my upcoming debut! (Can you guess what it is?)

I now have roughly an hour and a half before I go to pick up my kids and launch the Mommy part of my day filled with kid-commitments, appointments, extra-curricular activities, playdates, karate classes, dinner, washing, brushing, bedtime books and tucked-in-good-night. At the "end" of the day, I have another 2-3 hours before my husband comes home from work which I fill by writing (often a different project than the one this morning; currently this is brainstorming titles for the Book To Be Formerly Known As SKIN & BONES) or participating in various online group chats such as #kidlitchat and #yalitchat on Twitter or with my writerly friends on Verla Kay, Inkies (over at The Enchanted Inkpot) the Tenners and the Elevensies.

The end of the day is marked by the buzz of the garage door opening which means that I can give my husband a kiss and ask him how his day went before going to collapse around midnight with a good book for company. The curtain closes on another day where I can't believe that this is my life and I think my birthday card ala Margaret Atwood says it best:


Shhh! Don't tell!

So there it is: A Day in the Life of Writer Me!


"Keep writing!"
(Because sometimes you need to give yourself a bit of encouragement.)