Writer, Author, Creator

Day in the Life of a Writer

Writer, Author, Creator: These are things I do, not who I am.

Laura Jevtich’s office has three desks: one for writing, one for creating, and one for the business of being an author. The picture has very colorful books, planners, index cards, pens, and stickers. The bookshelves are on the far right.

Getting Out of Bed

My husband and I made a sustainable home in the Mojave Nevada desert. We live an hour away from Las Vegas. Our small home, “casita,” is inside a large metal building I designed. We each have an office.

Getting out from a warm duvet and comfortable bed to face the morning is not always easy. I find I am ruled by the sun. If it is shining, I am focused on the morning. If it is grey outside, I am not so focused.

It was grey this morning.

Time to Wake Up

I spent part of the morning on games. Not very inspiring, I am sure, yet it is a way to stay in contact with friends. I have a few in a farming game of actual people I know. Then I move to check my email, still in bed. I found an article in the Washington Post about Substack, a newsletter-type social media. I read it and thought, time to get off Substack; there is no way I am giving money to an organization like that. Of course, I have to remove what I have, so that task goes on the back burner.

I delete a bunch of junk, donation asks, shopping, and restaurant emails. I keep the newsletters that fill me with joy. One newsletter takes me to Facebook, another to TikTok and Medium.

Yikes! It is 10 am. My alarm went off hours ago!

Shower Bound, Ideas Percolate

I had laid out my clothes last night after hearing the weather report. Not that I plan to go outside. Well, maybe I will stick my head out. On a cold, grey day, I look at my colorful office and lose myself in writing or reading.

This morning, I luxuriate in a clean shower stall. I cleaned it yesterday with a product I got through Amazon Vine and Simple Green. The product makes it easier to scrub the shower stall and shower head. We have many nozzles, and the shower-head resembles a warm rain falling. They need to be cleaned, and once a month, I do that.

I set up my cleaning chores in my Commit30 Planner for the month. I set it up two months before the year started. Yes, that sounds crazed. I know. But this way, I feel in control. My planner is telling me what to do and when to do it. I do not have to think. I look on Thursday, see that this week I do X chore, and do it. It is the habit that I am trying to create for myself. Ben Franklin would be proud of me.

Once the temperature is right, I step in. I wash my hair and body with the shampoo I got on Amazon Vine. I remind myself that I need a haircut. Gray hair color means cut short even though it keeps my head warm when I go outside.

Onto conditioner, also through Amazon Vine. I grab the washcloth made for me by a knitting friend I met through a creative planners’ group and use Dr. Bronner’s soap to get a lather. That reminds me, I received a newsletter, one I kept, from the soap company. They are having a sale. That reminds me to get the soap and clothes soap.

I let my brain wander. Thinking of clothes and the factoids I learned about my ancestors last night, three brothers were clothiers. One was a tanner, where they used leather the way we use plastic now. He would have been wealthy and needed sons to carry on the business. The neighbors’ sons went in a different direction, building ships. Their family were merchants who knew math, navigation, building, and surveying. Bringing clothing back and forth across the Atlantic was something that the father wanted to do to make more money for himself.

This is the breakthrough I needed to tie the two families together.

There is no pen and paper in the shower. I must continue thinking about these thoughts until I can get to my phone. I rinse off, thinking. Reaching for the towel, I dry off. My mind is racing now, trying to get the thoughts down on paper. But no.

Chores Before Fun

I need to do only a few things before I sit down to write. Getting dressed, I head to the dishwasher and empty it. Friday is a free day of little chores, finishing up the ones I did not complete at the beginning of the week. Putting the dishes, glasses, and silverware away, I move to the shiny refrigerator, taking pride that I cleaned it last Thursday, even though I did not feel well. I get out the iced tea made with green tea and hibiscus raspberry tea I made on Tuesday, along with the lemon slices cut on Wednesday. No ice as the tea is plenty cold.

I open the drapes on the sliding glass doors. It is, as I feared, gray, and ice has formed on the concrete patio. I notice the wind on the neighbor’s trees and shiver without even looking at the temperature gauge. I am glad for my slippers and sweater that hang on my office chair.

Morning chores done, I reach for my phone.

Writing on an iPhone

I know my husband will wake up soon; it is past 11 am. We have been fighting off colds for the last two weeks. I am feeling better, without coughing and taking medicine. I started writing this article after I took the picture. I write in Notes; the article can be copied and pasted into software on my computer. Once I get past the first two points and write reminders on my Laurel Denise Undated Planner, I can type the story or article away.

My grammar could be better. I use two wildly different software, both paid for. ProWritingAid and Grammarly help me, but they sometimes fight with each other. One software highlights in red and the other software highlights in blue. This past sentence threw them into a tizzy.

My Day Begins

Anyway, I time-blocked writing this article. I will now go in and use those softwares to make my words make sense. Then, add links to the stuff I bought with affiliate links. If you buy using these links, I might get a commission. Or not. Cookies are notorious for breaking during a buy. I am OK with that.

Then, this article will go onto Medium, with sharing to social media. The picture will go into Canva, where I will make it pretty. It will be resized to fit Instagram and Facebook, read out loud, and recorded as a video to place on YouTube and TikTok. And then, only after I get something to eat will I write my historical romance novel.

Wait, what time is it? Almost one pm? Yikes!

Catch up with and follow our WE PAW Bloggers contributors here on Medium: Andrea Hewitt, Carrie Ann Golden, Bob Metivier, My Alter Ego and Me, Deon Christie, David Perlmutter, Suzanne Hagelin, Harry Hogg, Kelly Santana Banks, Brian Lageose, Maryan Pelland OnText.com, Mason Bushell, Michael Embry, Samantha Bryant, Patrick Metzger, PJ Mann — Author, Pjmaclayne, Subhasinghe SPS, My mind, PhilAndMaude, Priyanka Priyadarshini, Jason Provencio, Stephen Providenti, Janerisdon, Robert Trakofler, Shoreditchpoet, Nikolaos Skordilis, Stuart Aken, Dr.Titus Varghese, Tomas Ó Cárthaigh, Author, K.D. Thorne: brutally raw life stories, Fildy Bejaoui, Oksana Kukurudza’s Sunflowers Rarely Break, Julia A. Keirns

This e-zine is an umbrella publication for members of the Facebook group of the same name. All writers for this publication are members of the group on Facebook. WE PAW Bloggers group is a writers forum — it is a family of writing creatives supporting one another through networking and reciprocal interaction on our journey of growth as writers.

If you wish to contribute to this ezine, please join the group on Facebook. Be sure to answer all the membership questions when you apply to join. All writing creatives are welcome.

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D. Denise Dianaty, Editor and Graphic Designer for the WE PAW Bloggers E-Zine. Administrator for the writers forum “WE PAW Bloggers” group and its sister group “Pandora’s Box of Horrors” on Facebook. In addition to being a self-published author and poet, artist, art-photographer, and administrator of the group, “WE PAW Bloggers,” Denise is a graphic designer with 25+ years experience, predominately in print media.