We are once again so happy to bring you more from Victoria Schwab! If you haven’t read The Near Witch yet, you definitely should give it a go. It is haunting and lovely all at the same time. Victoria has given us a glimpse into what her day looks like as an author. Enjoy!

8:00 – Think about getting up.

8:30 – Get up. Stumble into kitchen. Set kettle. Discover I’m out of bananas. Walk to store.

8:45 – 9:00 Back from store. Make tea in narwhal mug. Go in search of laptop. Sit down with laptop, cup of tea, banana, jar of peanut butter, and spoon. Watch Vlogbrothers while eating.

9:00 – 9:30 Email.

To be honest, that’s when the day kind of devolves into a Choose Your Own Adventure game but for the sake of this post, let’s PRETEND that I have any semblance of structure in my life!

The day will take one of two paths, depending on whether I’m currently writing/editing a book, or—god help me—between projects.

If I’m working on a book:

9:30 – 10:30 Intend to start writing. Get distracted by funny tumblr. Get mad at self for wasting precious time.

10:30 – 11:00 THINK about the scene I need to write.

11:00 – 12:00 Turn internet OFF and write.

12:00 – 1:00 Reward self for making words! Eat a cookie. And maybe lunch. Watch TVD.

1:00 – 2:00 Try to write more words. End up writing words…on Twitter.

2:00 – 3:30 Go for a walk, brainstorm next scene. End up at coffee shop with tasty cookies. Turn WiFi OFF and write.

3:30 – 6:30 GYM. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT FOR SANITY/COOKIE CONSUMPTION.

7:00 – 8:00 Food again! Yay!

8:00 – 10:00 Design work. And tea.

10:00 – 1:00AM WRITE WORDS. If working on two book, this is when the second project gets worked on.

If I’m between books:

9:30 – 11:00 Open word documents with various potential projects. Stare.

11:00 — 12:00 Play eenie meanie miney mo. Pick a project. Try working on it. Change mind. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

12:00 – 1:00 Get frustrated. Go for a walk. Eat lunch at intriguing food truck. Buy apple to try and cancel out how unhealthy lunch must have been. Eat chocolate instead.

1:00 – 2:00 Stare at potential projects some more. Finally open new word document and start writing something totally new.

2:00 – 3:00 Gleefully work on new project that is, of course, 1. NOT what I’m supposed to be working on, and 2. COMPLETELY outside my brand.

3:00 – 4:00 Research comic book lore, mythology, 1600’s France, English children’s rhymes, ancient burial culture, libraries, assassins, how to induce cardiac arrest using a bag of ice and a bathtub, etc. Anything that needs researching.

4:00 – 7:00 GYM. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT FOR SANITY/COOKIE CONSUMPTION.

8:00 – 10:00 Design work.

10:00 – 12:00 Work on shiny new idea.

12:00 – File shiny new idea in potential projects folder, where the next day I will look at it, along with the half dozen others, hesitate, then open a new document, and start again (this goes on for a week or two until I finally force myself to work on the same project for a week, and then I fall in love with it, and together we make a book).