How author Candice Fox lives by the ‘one day at a time’ motto

Author Candice Fox reveals the best way to finish a novel is to write a few hundred words every day. And she takes a similar stance when it comes to fitness.

For most of us, the mere thought of attempting to write a novel — all 90,000 words of one — is enough to see us breaking out in a cold sweat. But for best-selling Australian author Candice Fox, it’s just another day in the office.

Well, another several days in the office, to be fair. Because the secret, she says, is to treat each book (like her latest thriller The Chase) like you’re training to run a marathon.

“I learned recently it’s better to do a little a lot rather than a lot a little,” she says.

“I chip away a little at a novel every day, just a few hundred words, and after a few months I build momentum and suddenly I’m at 90,000 words. Novel done. People marvel at that. But it’s just nibbling, being consistent, not trying to take huge bites.

“If you decide you’re going to run a marathon, don’t do nothing all week and then try to run 15km on your first available Saturday. You’ll turn yourself off.

“You start with one kilometre every day and build up from there.”

However she’s doing it, it’s working. A two-time winner of Australia’s Ned Kelly Award, Fox has also occupied position number one on the New York Times bestseller list in the USA with her novel Never Never, which she co-wrote with James Patterson.

But she’s quick to point out even best-selling authors can suffer from the same old problems we all do. In her case, it’s getting a good night’s sleep.

“I have a two-year-old, so yes, the last couple of years have been a masterclass on exactly how bad a terrible night sleep can be for you,” she says.

“I have also been an insomnia sufferer in the past and saw a doctor about it. She told me to remember that ‘sleep isn’t something you do. It’s something that happens to you’.

“I’ve found that helpful. If I’m tossing and turning it’s usually because I’m trying to make myself sleep and that effort isn’t working, which is frustrating me and actively warding off sleep.”

Candice Fox on...

Life lessons

The Chase by Candice Fox, published by Penguin.

“If you want to achieve something new on a daily basis, attach it to something that you already do every day. If you want to start doing 10 squats every morning, do it right after you brush your teeth. You’re not going to skip the teeth brushing – so you’ll remember to do the squats.”

Getting real about fitness

“I used to believe that if you didn’t look like Michelle Bridges you weren’t winning at fitness. But I’ve learned it takes an incredible amount of dedication to every aspect of your body to achieve that. I’m happy to have achieved a level that isn’t as amazing, maybe, but makes me feel good. I eat pretty well and I look good when I chuck on a dress. That’s really all I’m asking for. The washboard abs and thigh gap are a bit beyond me, I think.”

Making the world a gym

“I have a huge, wild garden that I really enjoy getting stuck into, and that exertion and the visible results of it can be so enjoyable. Ripping up weeds, shovelling earth, lifting rocks, carrying watering cans. There’s nothing better than ending the day muddy, sweaty, exhausted and satisfied with the state of the yard.”

* Candice Fox’s new novel The Chase is available now

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Originally published as How author Candice Fox lives by the ‘one day at a time’ motto