People always ask writers “What’s your writing routine like?” Especially if they are budding authors themselves. With this in mind, I will remind you that everyone has their own style and their own nature–what works for one person won’t work for everyone.
But back to my own routine. I try to get up at least 30 minutes before I have to leave for work every day. I use this time to post on my social media and check up on my email. I post on Facebook and Twitter every day. and I also have a Patreon site I update on weekdays.
Depending on when I get home, I may put in an hour or two of writing in the evening (unless I’ve got chores that need doing). What I write depends on what’s up in my roulette wheel. I’m currently trying to revamp the historical fiction novels as novellas, churn out some short stories and try to sell them to a variety of anthologies, edit the sci-fi novel into shape, come up with some romance plots for a ghost writer (it’s for peanuts, but every little bit helps, right?), and whip up some copy for a blog (also paying customer). I do more writing on the weekends, which I have off. Another writing-related chore is participating in my writing critique groups. I’m a member of my state writing association and the local chapter meets twice a month to discuss our stories. I’m also a member of the League of Utah Writers (their online-only chapter), which “meets” twice a month as well. We just exchange chapters and critique one another. I also have a state-related sci-fi chapter that meets once a month and the occasional critique piece from my original group (Transworld Writer’s WorkShop…we’re currently suffering from a lack of energy).
Once I get the novels whipped into shape, I’m going to start querying agents again (and a publisher for the historical fiction). That will add another chore to my routine, but it won’t be a daily occurrence. I’ll have to keep track of who I’ve queried and what their replies have been, which requires an Excel spreadsheet. My short stories are tracked by The Submission Grinder website, which also provides searches for new markets, and I periodically check that site and update the standing of each story.
As I said in the beginning, what works for me might not work at all for you. You might prefer to stay up later at night rather than getting up early. You may like to do your writing in a big lump on your days off. Whatever works for you, stick with it and keep writing!