how to rebuild your creative routine
The time has come to spring clean our habits.
I’m obsessed with writers’ routines. I love learning about them. I think about Haruki Murkami going for morning runs and swims before sitting down to work, I think about Maya Angelou escaping to a hotel to focus. I love the writer YouTubers (writertubers?) who post series about trying writers’ routines, creators like Christy Anne Jones and Lynn D. Jung (fun fact: Lynn is another 2026 debut author!). There are so many ways to get the work done.
The old advice of “write every day to be a writer” doesn’t quite work in this era, a time in which capitalism has ballooned to engulf nearly every aspect of life. Most people can’t write every day because we literally cannot afford to. Instead, we have to get creative.
I’ve written about my writing routine before (see below!) but I wanted to update it because a lot of things have changed, including my writing routine itself. Last time I wrote about this, I was in my first (and easiest) semester of grad school. I had a lot of free time and I didn’t have a book deal. I, honestly, only had to answer to myself. Now I have a two-book deal, a revision deadline to meet, and my final semester of school—which means I’m facing graduation plans and working on finding a full-time job.
It’s a lot to balance.
When I was a child with too much free time, I wrote for hours after school and sped through novels. Now, as an adult in school and working part-time in an internship, time is a little more…sparse. If you’re a writer with a day job, or if you have small children (or any other number of responsibilities, honestly), this is a truth you understand quite well.
As a debut author, I’m also facing my first deadline for a novel. Have I had deadlines for short stories? Sure. But a whole novel? That’s a little more anxiety-inducing. People are paying me to have my words done on time, so I’d better have them done on time.
(For anyone curious about the details: my debut sold as an RNR, which stands for “revise and resubmit”. I wrote fifty pages to prove that I could and explained the rest in a synopsis. Essentially, I sold NECROGENESIS on a promise. It’s a deal that says, “if you buy this book, I will write it like this”. Well, the book sold. Now I have to “write it like that” by my deadline.)
I think, in adjusting your routine to fit your needs, you need to think about A) what your needs are and B) what your goals are.
For example, I need to socialize. I’m extroverted! Strange for an author, I know. But I love spending time around friends, meeting new people, and yapping over coffee. Every weekend I need to have at least one social outing to remain sane, but writing is a solitary pursuit. I like to write alone.
What I also know about my writing needs is that I work best in short bursts, with breaks in-between. I can work for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, but rarely can I work for over two hours straight. I need something to distract me so I can recharge before I return to the page.
My goal is much simpler: finish my book by my deadline.
So, in terms of goals and needs, my goals are to finish revising NECROGENESIS on time. My needs are to socialize, to get outside of my apartment, to have breaks so I don’t burn out.
What I’m currently doing is café hopping on the weekends, as a means to kill two birds with one stone. I wake up in the morning, settle down in one café for about two hours, and then pack up and go on some sort of social adventure. Sometimes it’s shopping, sometimes it’s getting lunch with a friend. And then I find a new café, sit down, work for two hours, and do it all over again.
I’ve tried this for a few weekends now and it’s been both fun and productive—I only consider something a new routine when it ticks both boxes. After all, I don’t see any purpose in doing something productive if you’re miserable the whole time. As I write this, I’m in a cafe and they’re playing Laufey over the speakers. The vibes are excellent. (It’s still cold here in Boston so lingering outside isn’t really an option, but its getting warmer every day. I’m looking forward to writing outside when the weather is kinder.)
And of course, your routine will need to shift and grow as you do. I always talk about this, but knowing your own habits as a writer is so helpful for knowing how to strategize when building a writing routine. What are your current goals? How can you marry them with your needs? Is this plan sustainable? Questions worth pondering, if not questions worth answering.
Maybe someday I’ll be a full-time writer, and maybe someday I’ll be a mother and not just a daughter. Someday I may be a therapist in my own practice and not just a student, an intern, still learning. Life is as strange as it is long. Adaptability and balance are both key. As I grow, my writing will grow with me. It always has. I’m sure your process will too.
recommendations.
I just brought Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me by Glory Edem. I was compelled by the title, especially because I, too, have been saved by books time and time again. What’s even more compelling is the fact that the author is the creator of the Well-Read Black Girl book club. I’m really excited to dig into this, especially since it’s been a while since I’ve read a memoir!
In terms of things to watch, I’d like to recommend This is A Robbery on Netflix! I love art thievery! It blends my interests in crime and nerd shit. This documentary covers the 90’s art heist that resulted in some key paintings being stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Who did it? Why? Wouldn’t you like to know? You gotta watch the documentary to find out. I’ve been watching it in the background while I get ready for the day in the mid-afternoons and it’s been captivating!
Next up: Girls by Cat Burns, both the song and the music video. Floaty, sapphic, fun. Burns’s voice is also so addicting. The perfect song to get you in the mood for the approach of spring. It’s an especially good recommendation if you’re hungry for something a little more inclusive than what Lucy Dacus attempted to do with Best Guess (sorry).
Please read Novae. It’s a webcomic I have become obsessed with. It’s a queer romance following a necromancer and the boy he falls in love with (very necromancy-focused vibes going on over here in my brain lately, clearly). I won’t spoil anything else about the story, but the art is absolutely beautiful and the worldbuilding is intricate. I’m officially back on my webcomic kick!
Tis the season for the wardrobe refresh! One of my favorite activities! Does it eat up about an afternoon or so? Yes, but it’s so worth it to actually go through your clothes and figure out what still sparks joy, what still fits, and what can be donated to have a second life somewhere else. Strangely, I tend to hoard clothes despite the fact that I get anxious when I’m surrounded by too much “stuff”. I love an excuse to clear stuff out, especially stuff I don’t reach for regularly.
This Aeon essay by Ellie Robinson about Mary Midgley, a female philosopher who pointed out that many of the great philosophers were bachelors, but was dismissed for this “irrelevant” observation. In the 50’s, Midgley argued that this homogenous identity might have skewed the way modern philosophy has grown (by which I mean, it most definitely did impact it). Interesting stuff!
where to find me.
Website: ashiamonet.com
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