IN THE SHOES OF… Lui Sit

 


What's life like in someone else's shoes (or bunny slippers)?
This month Françoise Price invites author Lui Sit to tell us about her day.



Author Lui Sit
[Picture credit: Rebecca Cresta]



I’m still in the early days of authoring, with my debut contemporary adventure upper middle-grade book – Land of the Last Wildcat – coming out in May 2025. Following in June 2025 is my second book – a yet to be announced cosy crime younger middle-grade book with Storymix. 



What I have found so far is that no two days are ever the same when it comes to a writing workday. I love the flexibility of this but am still learning to maintain a boundary between creative work and the rest of my life. As any creative freelancer knows, this is hard to do. Ideas, imagination, and sudden spurts of figuring out plot issues do not just happen between nine to five. But while my imagination is flexible, a publishing contract is not. Deadlines, a production timetable and all the machinations of turning a story into a book and selling that book are on a workday schedule. So here is a glimpse of how I manage so far:

 


Front cover of Lui's debut children's novel.
[Publisher: Macmillan]

 

6:00am-ish

 

I do not choose to rise at this heinous hour but I must hustle my teen to school. Once she is on her way, I tend to the three morning C’s: Coffee. Cat. Cleaning. If I am working from home, I will fuel up on caffeine while updating social media, answering messages and emails, and texting friends & family both in the UK and internationally. The cat will lie on me while I do this, kneading my torso with her sharp claws. It’s painful but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that her love hurts. Inbox cleared, I give the house a quick clean and tidy as I don’t like working in a messy environment.

 



Lui, working from home

 

8:00am – 9:00am

 

If I am working from home, I’ll be at my desk before 9am with my breakfast and my second coffee. At home, I work in a small box room that I have turned into my working space. The size suits me as I like writing in small spaces. 


Usually, I will know what my work goals are for that day. Whether it be progressing a draft, furthering an edit, or devising a slide deck, I will work until I have finished whatever tasks are allocated for the day. All the practical admin side of writing I approach similarly to event production – something I used to do. I devise schedules and spreadsheets, dump all the tasks and milestones into these documents and update them once things are completed. This also means I don’t need to retain the business admin side of things in my head, leaving space free for creative work. 


If I am writing away from home, I will head out around 9am to whatever location I am basing myself at that day. I like working with background classical or instrumental music. I can’t listen to songs with lyrics as I get distracted and cannot focus on the writing. However, the music (if at home) is often drowned out by the sound of the cat yowling for attention by my feet. I allow her to sit on my lap while she drools on the keyboard. Eventually, she toddles off, only to return a short while later and recommence yowling. This happens all through the working day. In the end, I shut the door.


 

'I allow her to sit on my lap while she drools on the keyboard'

 

11:00am – 11.30am-ish

 

I might break for a bit to have collegial banter with fellow writers on various WhatsApp chat groups, especially the Bubble Tea ESEA London group. They are my writing lifeline as they understand the weird wonderfulness of this solitary work (when writing, not promoting) as well as the inherent stresses. Many of them are on similar schedules so I view these daily chats as my water cooler moments.


 

'The Bubble Tea ESEA London group ... are my writing lifeline' 

 

1:00pm-ish

 

At some stage, I will eat lunch. Lunch is different every day depending on what we have at home or what I can get near my chosen work spot. I see lunch as fuel so eat it as quickly as possible and get on with the day.

 


2:00 – 4:00pm-ish

 

I exercise most days. It’s important to me and even more so now that I spend long hours sitting at a desk. I alternate between running, swimming, dancing, yoga and pilates. Choosing not to own a car also means I walk a lot which is brilliant for generating ideas, mulling over plot issues or daydreaming. The post-lunch period is not great for writing – it's better for moving, having meetings or any other admin. However, if I am working in a library or café, I will just keep on typing.

 




'The post-lunch period is not great for writing, better for moving (pictured top),
or having meetings (pictured above, with agent Becky Bagnall)' 


4:00 – 7:00pm-ish

 

If I am working from home, I’ll get a second wind in the late afternoon. My teen will return from school and once we’ve checked in with each other, I will keep working. During this period, I might start cooking dinner. I’m notorious for leaving things simmering on the hob, going back upstairs to work, and forgetting all about the food. We now have a fire blanket in the kitchen as I have set things aflame by forgetting what I have left on the stove. The lesson is: Cook or Write. Don’t do both at once. After I’ve managed to produce a non-burnt meal, I keep working until around 7.30pm, making sure my inbox is cleared again before I log off.

 


Evening

 

Night-time is for 'downtime, seeing friends or attending events'. 
(Lui pictured at a Storymix event with editor Stephanie King)


I tend not to write at night, saving it for downtime, seeing friends or attending events. Writing takes a lot of energy so I try to make sure I have enough nights at home to recover and gear up for the next day. But I also think it is important to get out in the world and see what is going on, so I balance rest and activity depending on what I have on workwise and how I feel. I’ll catch up with my husband if I’m home, eat dinner and start to mentally unwind by watching TV (unrelated to the genre I am writing). I also don’t look at my phone in the evenings unless I am out or expecting an important message. At a time way past when I should, I head to bed and never (to date) dream of anything to do with writing. Something must happen in those hours though because when I wake, I’m ready to do it all over again.



 *Header image by Ell Rose & Tita Berredo;

all other images courtesy of Lui Sit



*

 


Lui Sit was born in Hong Kong, raised in Australia and lives in London. She writes children’s middle-grade books, adult short fiction, and nonfiction. She won the 2022 FAB Prize and her debut children’s upper middle-grade book Land of the Last Wildcat will be published in May 2025 with Macmillan Children’s Books. Her lower middle-grade project with Storymix will be published in June 2025 with Knights Of.

You can find Lui at:

Website: www.lui-land.co.uk

Instagram and Threads handle: lui.land



*



Françoise Price is Feature Editor for the In The Shoes Of… series for Words & Pictures magazine. 



*


Ell Rose is the Illustration Features Editor of Words & Pictures.
Find their work at fourfooteleven.com
Follow them on Instagram and Twitter
Contact them at: illustrators@britishscbwi.org



Tita Berredo is the Illustrator Coordinator of SCBWI British Isles
and the Art Director of Words & Pictures.
Follow her on Instagram and Twitter or www.titaberredo.com
Contact her at: illuscoordinator@britishscbwi.org







No comments:

We love comments and really appreciate the time it takes to leave one.
Interesting and pithy reactions to a post are brilliant but we also LOVE it when people just say they've read and enjoyed.
We've made it easy to comment by losing the 'are you human?' test, which means we get a lot of spam. Fortunately, Blogger recognises these, so most, if not all, anonymous comments are deleted without reading.

Words & Pictures is the Online Magazine of SCBWI British Isles. Powered by Blogger.