Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today, I thought I’d share an overview of a typical day in the life of… well, me.

A Day in the Life of a Writer

When some people hear the word ‘writer,’ they often imagine someone lounging in a cosy café, sipping espresso, and casually tapping away at a masterpiece on a laptop (which may be typical for some). But the reality? It’s a little messier than that—but every bit as rewarding.

Here’s what an actual day in my life as a writer looks like:

6:00 AM—Medicate and Caffeinate
My day starts with my blaring alarm, which I try not to snooze. I’m one of those people who thrive on routine, and I hate feeling like my day has started on the wrong foot. Anyway… Once I’m upright (barely), I head to the kitchen for my meds and that first sacred cup of coffee. While sipping, I check my emails and complete my daily Duolingo (I’m learning German: Ich heiße George, wie gehts?)

7:00 AM—World Check-in
Once my brain has been sufficiently powered by caffeine, I’m ready to check in on the state of the world—only briefly, though. It’s dangerous to stare at the news for too long; you can become stuck in a cycle of doomscrolling. I briefly scan through and read anything that jumps out as majorly interesting.

7:30 AM—Begin…
…Well, almost. I look through my notes from the day before, highlighting any information I know I’ll need for the day and adding any ideas or potential lines that come to me in the moment.

8:50 AM—Breakfast!
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. As someone recovering from Anorexia, I can tell you that if you don’t eat, you don’t write… or read… or think very well, for that matter. So, breakfast. I eat my pot of porridge with some nuts and dried fruit and drink another coffee before I brush my teeth, wash and change.

9:20 AM—The Warm Up
While my brain absorbs the energy from my food and the caffeine from my coffee, I help to prepare it for the day’s work by taking a snippet of a scene I worked on the previous day and rewriting it from another character’s point of view. This is an excellent warm-up exercise; I find it helps to stretch my imagination further if I use a character with no real bearing on the scene and channel the action through their perspective.

For example, if your main character is having a row with someone in a coffee shop, a great option would be the barista. It’s merely a way of getting your creative brain in gear and allowing yourself to see the scene from multiple angles.

10:00 AM—Start
Now comes the actual ‘proper’ work of adding new words to a work in progress. Every day, I hope the creativity flows like crackling magic out of my hands and onto the page. Invariably, however, it never goes that smoothly, especially since I have a procrastinating brain, so I must stay away from TikTok and Twitter (I can’t call it X).

11:00 AM—Coffee Break
I say ‘break’, but I still work while I’m sipping.

12:00 PM—Refuel
Lunchtime! Time to refuel my brain with some food and, yes, more coffee (my last for the day 😔🫠). While eating, I try to catch up on an episode of whatever show I’ve been watching or read a chapter or two of whichever book I’m reading.

1:00 PM—Editing
Now, I switch gears: editing work from yesterday, reviewing outlines, or making tweaks.

This part requires a different brain: one that’s sharper, more ruthless, and willing to murder a few darlings, which I must admit, I’m getting better at.

2:00 PM—Admin Time
Now for the less fun side of being a writer: answering emails, querying agents, scheduling social media posts, updating my website, planning, or prepping for upcoming deadlines that I will surely miss.

It’s not fun or exciting, but it keeps the machine running.

4:00 PM—Prep for Tomorrow
Around this time of day, I start to put together my plan for the next day, which includes making a list of all the things I need to research for blog posts and sketching out a shaky to-do list in order of most to least important, knowing full well that this order means nothing as I tend to just do the easy stuff first anyway. I mean, doesn’t everyone?

6:00 PM—Winding Down
By early evening, my brain is usually mush. I’ll eat and drink some water, and while doing that, watch a favourite TV show, read, or listen to music.

Rest is part of the process, too, and many writers forget that. I’m still learning to incorporate it properly into my day.

Final Thoughts
Every writer’s day looks different, and this is just an overview of one of mine—some days can be a little different from what I’ve described but often vary widely depending on the project.

While some writers stick to a strict schedule, others work in bursts of frantic inspiration. However, inspiration doesn’t always come when we want it to, or else we’d all have bestsellers and be super successful. No, you must get your bum in a chair, cultivate a routine and do the work—inspiration or no inspiration.

And don’t get too hung up on having the ideal routine because that’s a myth. For me, the magic isn’t in having a perfect routine. It’s in building a life where writing has a permanent, honoured place — messy, imperfect, but just as vital as any other part of your life.

What does your day look like?

Thank you, as always, for spending some of your time with me today!

Until next time,

George

© 2025 GLT

Categories: life, Staying Motivated

Tags: a day in the life, coffee, inspiration, writers, writing, writing routine