This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on June 17, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, use the form on my homepage: KathrynHolmes.com.
When it comes to productivity, are you an early bird or a night owl?
I've never been someone who gets my best work done at the end of the day or in the middle of the night. I prefer to start strong so that I can relax (or collapse...) later. That said, I wouldn't necessarily call myself an early bird. I admire writers who get up at 4:30 in the morning to work while everyone else in their household is still sleeping, but that's not me. My sweet spot is from about 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. That's my daughter's school day—hooray!—but I've actually preferred that work schedule since before I became a parent. Mid-morning to early afternoon is simply when my brain is at its best.
Now, before I go any further, I have to state that I am lucky. As a full-time freelancer, I have more flexibility than someone who is fitting in creative pursuits around a 9-5 job. I have the luxury of being able to build a schedule that works for me.
(Barring surprises, of course, like I talked about in my last newsletter. For example, my daughter woke up on Tuesday with a puffy eye. Luckily, after an 8am trip to urgent care to get it checked out, she was on her way to school with a doctor's note and some prescription ointment...)
So, in many ways, my lifestyle is a gift. It still took some finagling to figure out.
I left my last full-time office job, managing editor of Dance Spirit magazine, in the summer of 2008, just before I started graduate school. I knew I would freelance during school. The question was, would I return to a more structured job after graduation, or would I stick with the freelance hustle?
I stuck with the hustle. In the past fourteen years, I've been a dance journalist, a marketing copywriter, a copyeditor and proofreader for fiction, nonfiction, and academic manuscripts, a ghostwriter, and of course, a novelist. I've done work I loved. I've also done work that bored me to tears (but paid either too well or too steadily to give up).
When I first committed to freelancing, I hadn't yet sold a novel. I was confident a book deal would happen eventually, but I was also very aware that until it did, I was getting paid zero dollars for every hour I spent on my manuscript. Thus, I told myself I had to complete my paid work first each day; fiction would be my reward for finishing everything else.
Creative writing as dessert. Seems reasonable, right?
What ended up happening was, many days, by the time I got around to opening up my novel manuscript, I was already burnt out. I'd given my prime brain hours to writing SEO-optimized press releases and website copy about appliance repair and HVAC installation (yes, this was a job I did for several years). My creative work got the dregs of my focus and care.
One day, I realized I'd gotten things backwards. Creative writing didn't have to be merely dessert; it could be the appetizer, the main course...maybe the entire meal! (Did this metaphor get away from me?) Basically, if I cared about my creative writing, I had to put it in a place of importance in my routine. It had to come first.
And so, I switched things around. I started each day with an hour or two (or three) of fiction-writing before I jumped into the day's paid writing or editing gig. To fit everything in, I learned to budget my time more effectively. I had to really think about how long each activity might take. If I had a lot of freelance deadlines coming up, maybe my manuscript would only get 20 minutes in the morning—but it would still come first.
Sometimes, I'd have to switch gears before I felt ready, which was inevitably disappointing, but often ended up being a blessing in disguise. I'd find myself thinking about my plot and characters all day, and I'd be raring to go the next morning. (Author and editor David Levithan, who was one of my professors at The New School, actually gives this piece of advice: stop each day's writing or revising in the middle of a scene or sentence, so the next time you sit down to work, you can pick up right where you left off.)
Putting my creative writing first has become one of my guiding philosophies. When I jot down to-dos for the day or week, my creative work sits at the top of the list. Then—unless I'm so busy that it's absolutely not possible—I work on my writing before tackling anyone else's. And yes, some of my fiction writing is now under contract, meaning I have been or will get paid for it—but those projects that haven't (yet) sold don't get short shrift. Giving my best, most productive hours to my creativity pays dividends in every part of my life. I feel happier and more whole when I make time for the work that matters most to me. When I put it first.
This is something you can think about no matter what shape your life takes. When are your most productive times of day? (If you have a full-time job, are you at your most creative in the early morning, on your lunch break, or before bedtime?) And then, what matters most to you? How can you create a routine that allows you to come as your best self to those things that matter most?
Photo from a recent trip to Riis Beach, which is our go-to summer spot these days. Can you believe that is still technically New York City?
I wanted to remind you that next week, you'll get the second installment of Creating While Parenting, the short interview series I'm running this summer with fellow parents who work in creative fields. I hope you enjoyed hearing from Lauren Gibaldi last week. I've got another amazing author lined up to answer my three questions next Friday!
What I'm:
Reading: Rainbow Rowell's Attachments, which is a reread for me. Attachments was Rowell's adult debut, before she became a YA sensation with books like Eleanor & Park and Fangirl. It's about Lincoln, who works in IT at a newspaper in 1999; his job is to monitor his colleagues' emails and to prepare for Y2K. While scanning messages, he encounters multiple conversations between friends Beth and Jennifer. Not only do those candid conversations shake him out of his rut, but he also finds himself developing feelings for Beth. The problem is, she doesn't know he exists. (Never mind the rather blatant invasion-of-privacy issue...) This book is quieter than Rowell's more recent work, but I like it quite a lot.
Watching: "Ms. Marvel" on Disney+ is amazing so far. We finally started the newest season of "Stranger Things," and whoa...it's dark. To bounce back from the darkness, we're also watching the new episodes of Netflix's "Floor is Lava," which is a game show where teams have to cross a room along a series of slippery, wobbly obstacles without falling into...well, you can probably guess. It's mindless, silly fun.
Listening to: I can't seem to get Harry Styles's "As It Was" out of my head.
Dwelling on: My daughter turns five next week. She has one more week of PreK. I almost have a kindergartener! My mind is blown.
Loving: This drawing the kiddo made. It's a cat named Sadie. I am completely obsessed with it.
