Writing, and the Perfect Day

After-dinner. Go back to the study, turn on the music and write like a bastard, because I'm awake now

This is AL Kennedy writing in the Guardian about her perfect day for writing. As I read it, laughing, I was aware - as AL pointed out - that there are so few writers I can imagine experiencing this.

AL's ideal of a perfect day is to pamper body and mind, waking up from idyllic slumber and easing herself into creativity over a period of hours.

Inspiration creeps upon her ninja-style so she ends up within an almost orgasmic whirl of creativity before it vanishes. Hence the 'write like a bastard'. That's the same as 'make hay while the sun shines', though how frenzied and passionate farmers become when they're bailing, I don't know.

Anyone who has ever worked for an employer, in what we might call a 'normal job', knows that productivity needs deadlines. As a former journalist, who sometimes had up to six deadlines an hour, I can manage my time very-well-thank-you.

I catch myself in a guilty eyeshift. But my procrastination isn't all my fault, honest.

My ideal workday would involve being in a quiet house, a clean one too, actually. But it's not just external clutter that gets in the way of creation.

These are my notes to myself about my workday:

1. Ignore the general filthy and untidy state of the house. The others you live with make the mess, so they must like it, even if you don't.
2. Don't worry about the teenager and all his woes. Be a supportive, good enough mother. If he's clean and fed and on time for school, by 14 the rest is up to him. The same basic rules apply to the husband.
3. If the cats bring home the rodents and birds to play with in front of the patio window, that's just nature - and they're sharing their success with you. Close the door to the noises though, unless you're writing about torture, murder and decapitation.
4. The dog is a princess and pouts at everything. She's not lonely/dying of a broken heart/bored.
5. Do not open any email pertaining to roleplaying. You can look at the title of it if you must, but know that the game will not combust without you.

However. The washing up, the laundry, the shopping, these still all need to be factored in. Just NEVER AT THE EXPENSE OF A GOOD PARAGRAPH.

Still, I long for a study, like AL has. To fester in my own tidiness, to listen to my own music, to not be asked a zillion questions a minute when everyone gets home ... I'm quite sure I'd have something close to a perfect day every day.