by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
As a busy mom, I’m squeezing my writing time out every day. For you, you might be limited by a day job or an elderly parent, an illness, or other responsibilities.
I’m averaging writing between 3 1/2 and 4 books a year.
That might sound like I’m pouring an excessive amount of time each day on my writing.
I’m really not. I really can’t.
I started, in January, to write the two books that I’m contracted under to finish by July. They are in two different series.
To do this, all I have to write is 3 1/2 pages a day until I hit 275 pages for each book. In one month, you end up with slightly over 100 pages.
I’ll admit that I’m a pretty quick editor, but that’s just from practice and a knowledge of the kinds of screw-ups I typically make. After each book goes through my publisher’s editorial process, I have even more data on the types of errors I should watch out for the next time.
I wake up at 4:50 a.m. , an hour before I get my children up. I usually write nearly three pages in about 40 minutes. The rest of the time I check emails, respond to messages on social media, and plan blog posts.
I don’t have a full outline for my stories. I do have an idea where I want to go. But I always know what I want to write the next day. I also have a note reminding me where I left off the day before. This helps me jump into my story when I open up the document on my computer.
The rest of each day’s writing goal I finish outside my son’s high school while I’m waiting in the carpool line for about 20 minutes.
On good days where the words are really flowing, I’ll write more. Days when I have unexpected dead space, I’ll write a little more.
It doesn’t really take that much time. And most people won’t want to write three or four books a year. One is enough for many.
For one book, you again just need to think about what makes a reasonable goal. I’m pretty fond of a page or a page and a half for writers who are just trying to establish a regular writing habit. Or maybe if you set yourself a weekly goal, instead of a daily one.
I think the problems crop up when you have a goal that’s really big…like a chapter a day. I’ve only once set a chapter a day goal and and I was sitting right on top of a very scary deadline that had sneaked up on me.
Let’s say your goal is 1.5 pages a day. That’s 270 pages in just 180 days. That goal still leaves you half a year to edit, even if your first draft is a disaster and you’re a slow editor. A page a day gets you 275 pages in a little over 9 months.
I found I could always hit a page a day or seven pages a week. This was when I had a toddler in the house and life was especially crazy. It might mean that I had to write two pages some days to play catch-up (sick baby, sick mama, travel, holidays), but I could definitely hit that goal on a weekly basis.
I also noticed that if I wrote regularly, I could hop right into my story again with very little trouble.
If I finish a book early, then I start right in with the next book.
The most important thing is not to get discouraged. Writing a book can seem like this tremendous challenge. If we break it down into achievable blocks, it keeps us motivated.
Another tip? Don’t be critical of your first draft. It’s fixable. :)
How do you set and hit your goals? Do you have page goals or time-related goals? Daily or weekly goals?
Good advice. It’s sort of like nibbling at the mountain. When you say “write a page and a half a day,” I think, “Yes, that’s doable.”
This DOES make it sound very doable. I especially like that doing a little every day makes it easier to remember where you left off and to keep going. My problem is that I let too many days go by, then try to make up for that by setting a big goal, which makes the task even more daunting. This sounds like a much saner approach!
Great post. I can spit out a book in a few months once the ideas are flowing. I don’t set writing goals, more like time goals. I sit in chair and stare at the computer for two hours a day if nothing comes. Eventually something will come and then time becomes irrelevant.
I’m impressed! But then “they” always say, when you want something done, ask a busy woman! When you set your mind to something, it can be done. Thanks.
Heidi M. Thomas
http://www.heidimthomas.com
Hi Elizabeth – makes sense – always you’re using those early hours, when most of us zizz on .. I do! Good to remind us now that summer is coming and we can catch the habit …
I was wondering if you use a (tape) recorder .. or phone to jot notes down, or talk passages to ..? is it manual, or via a tablet? So many choices now?
Thanks – cheers Hilary
Thanks for sharing your process with us. It does seem doable!!!! I love what you said about editing and how you’ve learned over time which mistakes you make most often. I notice this is true in my writing group–we’re so used to one another we know which writing problems each of us has and we watch for them. :)
It’s amazing how when you break it down, how doable it is! My problem is that the process of beta readers and revisions usually take longer than the writing. :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This post gave me a shot of: I can do it too. :)
Now, the (self)editing is where I’m stuck. Some days I can’t even seem to get through two pages.
I love the fact you share your works in progress with your Mom. :) I just gave my mother a copy of your Delicious and Suspicious. I know she’ll really enjoy it!
Happy Wednesday!
I don’t know how you manage getting up at 4.50am! I have to get up at 6 once a week and it kills me… on the other hand I have to work until midnight sometimes (1.15am the other day) so I guess I’m just a night person rather than a morning person.
Nancy–Exactly. The whole “eating an elephant a bite at a time” kind of concept.
E. Arroyo–Sometimes that sitting and thinking time is the most important part of the writing process!
Heidi–I think I do better when I have a lot going on! If I have a lot of quiet time (which rarely, rarely happens), then I tend to procrastinate!
Jamie–If I have a big goal, I just drag my feet! Yep, if we do a little every day, we just catch up with the thread so much easier the next day…
Hilary–I’m a fan of early mornings, but I know writers who do their best work at the end of the day. But I’m dead to the world by 9:30 p.m. :)
I use a voice recorder app on my cell phone when I’m on a trip and driving. I’ll talk to myself all the way there about murder and the kids are in the backseat of the car with headphones on. :) On a regular day, I just use a slim notebook (the cheap kind of writing notebooks you can get at an import type store).
Laura–That can be a long process! This is why I dump my drafts on my mother. :) Mothers are the only ones who can actually be put-upon in that way. I’ve actually said to my mother, “Mama, here’s the new book. I haven’t put in chapter breaks and don’t worry about that big missing section near the end. Oh, and I’m changing the ending. Can you read it real quick and get it back to me day after tomorrow?” :) I wouldn’t dare do that to anyone else!!
Juliette–I go to bed really, really early, though. But then I’m up half the night with insomnia. Sigh. I’m a wreck. :)
I’m similar; I do two pages a day (or 1,000 words) 5/6 days a week, and I am doing my Junior Cert in school right now. I think people just need concrete goals and clear ideas of what to do next.
This is a great post! I go by word count rather than pages, so I’m not really sure how many pages I do a day, but I agree with the concept here. I think of it like dieting or exercising: if you set up this huge goal and work your butt off every day (or eat nothing but lettuce), you’re bound to burn out fast and lose your motivation. But if you decided to take a thirty minute walk every day and/or cut back a little on your portions, you have a much better chance of sticking with it over the long-haul.
So true! My theory is just do it and stop planning to do it! Not to say that planning (plotting) isn’t important, and actually, that is part of many an author’s process. I’m talking about ppl who “should really write today.” I find if you just sit at your keyboard ( and turn off the internet!) you’ll find the words…they may not be all right, but some will! :)
Von–At first, it just seemed really discouraging to get early feedback and to get my edits back from my publisher…then, I got over it quick when I realized I could start looking for my errors in new manuscripts before I handed in the doc. :)
Jessica–With this routine, the writing starts to really come naturally. There are still plenty of days where I feel like I’m writing filler material that’s going to get chopped, but the more I write, the fewer of those days I come across.
Does this apply to beyond fiction? And how do you decide the length of the books? Publisher preference?Also will volunteer to guest blog when you have an open space. Never done it before but have an idea what I might tackle.
*sigh* That part about always knowing what you want to write the next day is my issue. Sometimes I just don’t know where I want to go. And I’ve yet to manage the don’t edit as I go first draft. The good news is, I usually have few edits after draft one, even from my editor. Bad news is I’m a SLOW drafter. Right now I’m staring a deadline in the face. Two weeks to write oh, 15-20k words roughly. I’ve never been late on a deadline, but I’m stressed about this one. Seems me being a 2.5 book a year writer is a bit of a stretch for me. Fingers crossed that I can figure a system as smooth as yours out for myself, lol.
Tracy–If I get stuck with the editing, I’ll just make a list of stuff that I want to check—timeline issues, continuity errors, plot holes, weak scenes, off-character moments, etc—and then I’ll make a pass through the book *just* for that one thing. Somehow, this helps me over being stuck with edits (I guess because it’s a more organized approach. Sometimes I don’t do it that way, but it works in a pinch.)
Thanks so much! I really hope your mom will enjoy the book. I had fun writing it.
Roni–You know, that’s only going to come easier with time. Because your genre and mine both have what I think of as a lot of *structure* to them…not a formula, but structure. So for me, I start going, “Okay, well, we don’t really know exactly what suspect #3 was doing at the time of the murder. And I need to throw some sort of roadblock in for my sleuth because she’s getting too close to the killer now.” It’s just a sense of the rhythm of it. So I might not know absolutely exactly what it is I’m going to write, but I have a very good idea. I know plenty of writers who edit as they go and it works great for them…it just slows me down and makes me insecure about the story. Yeah, those deadlines can be sneaky. One of mine year before last was like that and it scared me to death…that was when I started writing the chapter a day. Never again! I was in such a panic.
Anonymous–Good point. Just having an end goal and a plan for moving forward helps so much. Good luck with your book!
Annie–There’s nothing like a huge goal for making me want to put it off. :) I guess it’s just human nature!
Sometimes the busier you are the more manageable it is to be productive! Time is funny that way. :) I make daily and weekly goals and I usually set a word count goal. But my schedule is definitely a lot more flexible because I don’t have kids. I really admire and have so much respect for writers who are parents and still have other part time or full time jobs. Writers are amazing people!
Laura–It’s like anything else in life…if it’s important to us, we’ll find a way to fit it in!
Jeffrey–My understanding is that most nonfiction editors are also looking for 70,000–85,000 words for print books. Obviously, though, special projects like textbooks would run longer. My contracts state 75,000 words for my books.
And sure, I’m always open to guest posts. Shoot me an email at elizabethspanncraig (at) gmail.com
I’m impressed b people who are able to do it. I hate early mornings, maybe that’s my problem >:)
Cold As Heaven
Cold as Heaven–Do it really late at night, then. You can do it, although I know you’ve got a crazy travel schedule. Might be a good excuse not to talk to the passenger next to you on the plane. :)
Great post. My first book comes out in November, and I’m knee deep in working on the second. It’s going to be a lot more complex, and between plotting it and all the marketing looming before me, I’ve been very stressed about getting at least the draft done before my daughter is out of school for the summer. I really like the idea of setting smaller goals per day. Thanks!
Your post made it all sound doable, Elizabeth. Are assuming 250 or 500 words = 1 page? I keep trying to find a schedule that I can really stick to, but even though I’m retired, life is erratic. I may need to assume I have 3-4 days a week that I can count to be able to work at writing. Anyway, I’m going to try to be a lot more productive! Thanks, Elizabeth!
Crap, I can’t even do one book a year!
Great reminder! There’s nothing more empowering than seeing someone busier than yourself do what you think you don’t have time for.
It’s all about priorities. I love that you are encouraging other writers to get out there and DO it.
Elizabeth, this post was really great for me. I’m also an early riser, and I think I stick with smaller projects because I’m a bit scared of tackling the larger ones. I have a book that’s been in my head for over a year now, but not enough confidence to type the first word… breaking it down to one page a day, when I get up at 5, seems like something I could do easily. It’s funny how something so seemingly simple can give us the boost we’re longing for…
Thank you yet again!
PS… SpunGlass is the ID for my Blogger account.. the full name is Tami McVey. I didn’t think to add that to my post!
Alex–You seem pretty productive to me!
Stacy–Those big goals are just scary. So much more encouraging to make a smaller one…and when I’m encouraged, I tend to write more.
Marcia–Life is always erratic, isn’t it? We always have something going on!
As far as the word count…it just varies because sometimes a page will be heavy with dialogue and have a lot of white space on it (sometimes I’ll have a whole line that’s just “Yes.”) and sometimes we’ll just be running narrative on a page and there’s not much white space at all. A lot of my pages have very few words on them, since I write a lot of dialogue. I’m contracted for 75,000 words and I turn in 275 pages.
Becca–Thanks! :) I just know how discouraging the process can feel….and it’s really not as tough to fit it in as it seems!
Hi Tami! Thanks for coming by. Yes, it’s always a lot easier to break big goals down. This is how I end up cleaning my closets out, too! Ha!
This post is so encouraging, thanks.
Margaret–Thanks for coming by!
When you put it this way, it is not so impossible a goal. At the writer’s group I attend, the convenor was saying she leaves her day’s writing in the middle of a sentence so she’s got somewhere to pick up the next day. That was an awesome idea I thought. Hemingway said he never left his day’s writing without knowing where he was going to start next day. You say much the same thing.
Thank you
Denise
Denise–It’s just so, so much easier to jump in the next day when you have a plan. Not a huge plan, but a clear path. For me, I’ll jot down something like “Make sure that Beatrice tracks down Alan and finds out his alibi for the murder…then Beatrice has an accident on the way home from their conversation.” Just something that brief will set me up for the next day. :)
Thanks for breaking this down into bite-sized pieces. I’m on the rewrite of my first draft now, tackling one chapter per week. I really like that advice you provided above to Tracy about tackling one challenge at a time throughout the book in the next phase. For my “final” edit, I plan to skim through it just that way.
Great post! Do you outline your novel before you start writing? I’m embarking on my first novel and I feel like I need to do some ground work to understand my characters and make up an outline to keep me on track.
I’m bookmarking this post! Thanks.
Very helpful discussion. Could you blog about how you collect and organize ideas. Then, in another blog, could you tell us a little more about your approach to self-editing. Thanks.