So it begins. National Novel Writing Month. Average goal 50,000 (50K) words. That's a mere 1,500 words a day. And it doesn't have to be a polished masterpiece. Just write.
Author Shannon Hale said: “I'm writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.”
Sure it takes dedication. Sure it takes discipline. Sure it's a lot of work. And, sure it takes some measure of insanity. And it's hard. But anyone can do it who wants to.
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| This is actually how I work. LOL |
I'm drafting a novel to be titled Through HELL and Back. (That could be appropo. lol) I will begin today. I will write every day except over Thanksgiving weekend. I will write at least six hours per day on this one work (remember my goal is 100K and I've been doing this for while).
I'll be revising and editing in December and polishing in January. The finished work should be about 80K. I have the story idea and intro knocked out. (I know, I've cheated a little.)
http://gregoryezschomler.blogspot.com/p/books.html
Thoughts on Professional Writing:
ReplyDeleteIt occurred to me, in retrospect, that when I stated on my blog (http://gregoryezschomler.blogspot.com/…/celebrating-nanowri…) that I would write six hours a day on my NaNoWriMo project that it might seem odd to some. That is to say they might be thinking "I thought he was a 'full-time' professional writer; is that supposed to be impressive?"
The truth of the matter is that as a professional writer I do not WRITE full-time. And generally, to be honest, I do not give 40 hours a week or 8 hours a day to a single project. And frankly, I am not one of those writers that writes everyday.
So what gives?
Professional writing involves a LOT of writing to be sure, but the job is not ALL writing. I DO write a lot, but in order to do so I also do a lot of research. And so some of my professional job time is taken up by reading. I read a lot (but not as much as I'd like) and a lot of it is now direct research. I also read for pleasure, but that, too, becomes a study of literature. I read for all the reasons readers read, but I also read to study the craft.
Furthermore, I read AND write correspondence. That is personal and business communiques from email and Facebook and Twitter to actual hand-written letters. Business correspondence may consists of answering email regarding conferences, publicity, and information requests to sending out queries and submissions. Sometimes things even go out in the mail. I send out books to fulfill orders and for PR, too.
In addition to the book projects I'm working on I also write poetry and short stories and articles for magazines, newspapers and websites. I regularly write news articles for a couple local newspapers as well, and I also write press releases and blog posts.
Generally, I work on two major projects at a time. That way if one stumps me or becomes stressful I can switch to the other. Of course, there's editing, too. Additionally, I may be working on formatting, design and interior layout or the cover art for a project. I also design promotional graphics and a number of other pieces as well as do billing.
Then there's occasional tabling events like book fairs, signings and release parties and such which usually take up the better part of a day.
Finally, I try to share in the lives of other writers, so I plan and participate in projects that build into others like speaking at conferences, teaching a workshop, putting together a book fair, helping others with their book projects, and such. then there's the meetings. I go to a monthly writer's group and I usually have at least one project I'm working on that involves sharing my craft (right now I have three), so there are those meetings.
So, yes, I generally write-write at least two to four hours per day (though as admitted, some days I do not). And there are those rare days I get to write-write six to eight hours. But usually, my day is broken up with a variety or writerly tasks. Thus, committing to six hours a day for thirty days in a row on a single project IS a challenge.