A Week in the Life of An Aspiring Author

I was tired this week, but we got things done.

I knocked out both of the big things on my to-do list for the month this week but the big theme of this week was getting started while feeling tired and unmotivated. I had a deadline to meet on Monday and I really struggled to get there. But I got there in the end. I also had a deadline to meet on Tuesday, and in some ways that was easier. That was the day I submitted my new visa application and sometimes gathering six months worth of bank statements and six pieces of mail from three different sources is an easier thing to do that face the behemoth that is writing a novel.

A programming note, I’ve been working on a few essays for Substack. One of my goals for 2025 is to actually start posting them. I’m starting with one a month, to give myself space to ease into a new form of writing, but on the lookout for those as we go forward.

Monday

Normally I head into town on Mondays to meet up with my writing group, but due to a nasty cold making the rounds we didn’t meet this week. So I made my tea at home and got to work on a excerpt from my novel for a contest that was closing on Monday night. Or tried to.

Sometimes the hardest thing is just starting. One of the things I like about Mondays is going in to meet up with my writing group because it gets me started. Running around trying to get out the door on time, getting into town, and finally sitting at a cafe with a nice hot drink surrounded by writers working is the perfect way to get the ball rolling. Both for the day’s work but also the week. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. It’s way too easy sat at home with only self-imposed deadlines to just scroll on my phone.

Even when I have real deadlines. Like the deadline for this contest. I found a writing contest for excerpt from novels by unpublished writers — a perfect fit. And I have more than 10,000 words written on this novel, I just needed to edit it a bit and write a killer synopsis. And here I was on Monday, with the hours stretching before me. Plenty of time to knock this project out. And yet.

I thought “I’ll just sit down at my desk and this will be easy.” It was not easy. It was like pulling teeth or squeezing blood from a stone or any one of those other metaphors. I discovered something new lingering underneath this frozen state.

It was fear. I was scared of putting words on the page or looking the words already there because I was scared of them not being good enough. Being scared to actually write is a thing I thought only really applied to other writers. I’m the one who’s won Nanowrimo every time she’s tried because if there’s one thing I can do, it’s put words on the page.

And here I was, not wanting to look fully at what I had written because I was..scared it wasn’t good enough. I don’t have any inspired advice to deal with this sort of anxiety and fear in general. I’m certainly not qualified to give that sort of advice. But I can tell you what worked for me. I set a timer and telling myself I’ll just write down this one thought and then I can scroll until the end of the timer. This works for me because it removes the pressure. I’m not trying to write anything brilliant, just two or three words, good or bad.

I’ve used this method in the past when I just didn’t feel motivated to work, but it also worked in this scenario. I got the excerpt done, I sent it in with a synopsis. I even think they were both rather good.

There was one other thing going on that wasn’t helping my attempts at finishing the excerpt and submitting it to the contest.

Tuesday

I, like a lot of people, have struggled with procrastination and getting started. But one of the specific hurdles I faced this week was the mental drain of the visa application. Worrying about a million tiny details and paperwork for an application that if I get it wrong could mean I get my entire life ripped out from underneath me really drained my mental energy.

The application is done and turned in [insert screaming here].

I worked from home on Tuesday, focused entirely on finishing that application and sending it in. The group of friends that we go to a pub quiz with sometimes decided to go this week and it was a perfect week for a pub quiz. We haven’t been in a while but it was great to get out of the house and drink a couple of Guinnesses and try to answer questions about British pop culture icons I’ve never heard of.

Wednesday

I gave myself a “day off.” I didn’t try to work on any of my big projects, having submitting my visa application and the novel for the excerpt contest, I gave myself some time to just exist. And deep clean the bedroom. And read.

Thursday

I spent a very pleasant couple of hours sat in a Nero’s with a tea and scribbling away in my notebook about what sort of world this novel takes place in. There’s no right way to write a novel, in part because it doesn’t matter how much outlining and brainstorming you do before you start, you’ll always have to do more. As I was working on editing that first 10k words for that excerpt contest, I realized there’s some things about the world that I don’t fully understand. And if I don’t understand it then readers are likely to notice. So back to the drawing board we go.

This is the sort of world building that helps give realism and continuity to the novel. All of this background information probably won’t make it into the final draft, but it influences the little decisions about what I include, what the details are, to give the story a more grounded feel.

I turned this into a reel, but when I was taking some of the videos I was really struck with how hard it is to translate feelings and moments to other people. I actually think words are easier than video, as unintuitive as that might seem. I can tell you that I felt like a writer, sitting there in my chunky knit gray sweater, leaning my arms on the table, and staring out the window. I can tell you that the pen flowed perfectly on the paper of the blue notebook. I can tell you the time of day, the angle of the sun, was at a perfect angle to make the light in the coffeeshop magical. And maybe all of that paints a better picture than any aesthetic video I could take.

Friday

I woke up feeling like I’m catching a cold. To return to the theme of the week, I struggled to get started. And the trick that worked today was to indeed set a timer and tell myself I just have to work until the end of the timer. But also I’m working with my computer propped on a mountain of blankets as I sit on the couch.

But I got on a roll now. One of the things I’ve learned is not to worry so much about whether I’m meeting the aesthetic parameters — working out, doing my makeup, sitting down at a neat desk before I get started. There’s something to be said about working in a specific spot when you work from home, but some days it’s better to just get going than it is to wring hands about the fact I’m working from the couch.

Which is where I spent Friday, hanging out on the couch and slowly picking my way through what I needed to get done.

Saturday

And now it’s Saturday morning and I’m definitely down with another cold. So it’s going to be another day of sitting on the couch with a pile of blankets and green tea and slowly picking my way through what I need to get done. Which is this newsletter. And then after that I’m just going to alternate between reading my book and taking naps.