Daily Rhythm & Pace of Author Activities

Often it feels like I'm taking one baby step at a time,
without a clear path more than a step or two ahead of me.

Ever since my spectacular bicycle accident I have been developing new habits around writing. I pay attention to when and where my body needs to stretch and elongate. Doctor's orders. Sometimes I stand to write. Sometimes I speak into an audio recorder while I pace and voice recognition software translates my spoken words to text. Right now I'm at a regular height desk on a bouncy chair made of bungee cords, but I know I cannot sit for long at any one time. So, I pace myself and throughout the day I integrate my hands-on research into my daily actions.

I take care of a short section of a stream,
picking up trash and keeping a log of water quality.

For example, this morning I took my dog Lucy for a walk with my writerly friend, M., in our favorite local park. We catch up on family and home remodel stories, and often discuss how we're handling a particular rewrite or a breakthrough in how we've found to connect with our readers.

When we crossed the creek I saw how low the water is right now. We've had rain all summer, so the partially dry creek bed exposed all sorts of trash. I'm an adopt-a-stream volunteer for our Parks Department and this section is mine, so I got my trash picker, bag, and badge and did my civic duty.

Three Sisters is a classic southwest
American Indian combination of
squash, beans and corn

Then I came home and  prepared a bowl of Three Sisters, dancing while I heated and stirred. After my brunch and a short burst of writing (the first draft of this post), I managed several pieces of business communication and scheduling.

The pattern of a typical writing day for me includes:

• Move - dance/swim/walk
• Cooking meditation
• Write for a short burst 
• Connect with other creative partners and champions
• Hands-on research
• Eco-warrior actions
• Read 
• Repeat, with loose variations 

What I look for in each day is a healthy balance. I write about eco-warriors and scientists, so each day I incorporate activities that at least honor the spirit of intention of the heroes in my adventure stories.

To learn more about why I write sci-fi eco-adventures, and to find out more about my work-in-progress and how writing Mission to Blue Grannus requires my research into fungi and myco-remediation, tap on KHBrower.com.