How Do I Do It?

I have gotten a couple of comments recently on the rate which I've managed to write my latest, still-requires-an-ending-so-I'm-just-writing-until-I-find-one story, and train in Martial Arts for three hours a night, four nights a week, and teach Kung Fu on the weekend, and still have time to eat and sleep and breathe.

It's really very simple. I can write roughly 3 000 words a day because work lets me. I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but work is incredibly boring. I was told as much when I was hired. The words literally were:

"It's a really boring job, I be honest with you. So if you want to bring a book to read, feel free."

At the time, I wasn't anywhere near finished The Great Man, so my thought was:

'Great! I'll bring a book to write.'

I didn't quite realise just how little there was to do. I answer the phone, make the occasional pot of coffee, pick up the mail in the morning, and place faxes that come through to the fax machine directly behind me into the appropriate folder immediately to my left. That leaves me with plenty of time to daydream, read and write. Since this is the case, 3 000 words a day is nothing. I probably could write more, but I set my target at 3 000 per day.

I'm certainly not complaining about my job. I LOVE my job for these reasons exactly:
1. I earn enough to pay my bills, rent, groceries and even have money left over for fun.
2. They let me write.

My father gets a little crotchity with me. He thinks that because I am content to stay in this job which, let's face it, isn't the highest paying or the most challenging, that I have absolutely no ambition in life (he knows that I want to be a published author). The thing is, this job pays me to write. It's a steady income while I await success. I'm happy with it. Dad doesn't quite understand my lack of drive for more material comforts (= higher pay-cheque).

So essentially, this is my day:

• 5:00 am get woken up by a hungry Persephone. Ignore her and go back to sleep.
• 6:00 am get woken up by a hungry Persephone. Ignore her and go back to sleep.
• 6:30 am get woken up by a hungry Persephone. Ignore her and go back to sleep.
• 6:45 am get woken up by a hungry Persephone. Ignore her and go back to sleep.
• 7:00 am get woken up by a hungry Persephone. Ignore her and go back to sleep.
• 7:10 am get woken up by a hungry Persephone. Ignore her and go back to sleep.
• 7:15 am get woken up by a hungry Persephone. Ignore her and go back to sleep.
• 7:20 am get woken up by a hungry Persephone. Ignore her and go back to sleep.
• 7:25 am get woken up by a hungry Persephone.
• 7:30 am feed said hungry Persephone. Get dressed. Put on war paint (read here: makeup). Pack gym back. Pack lunch. Have breakfast.
• 8:00 am leave house to go to work.
• 8:50ish am arrive at work. Make coffee. Drink coffee. Check emails. Write blog entry. Participate in online discussions.
• 9:30ish am wake up. Begin writing.
• 5:00 pm. Work's over. Go to training.
• 10:00ish pm. Arrive home. Make dinner. Chat with flatmate. Have shower.
• 12:00 am (most times). Fall into bed. Sleep.

I live in constant awe of those writers who work in a busy place all day, come home to cook dinner for the family and look after the kids, and still manage to write 1 000 a day. You people are heroes, and I completely recognise just how easy I have it.

So I'd like to give a great big shout out to my workplace, simply for being so awesome! Thanks everyone! You rock!