I don't know how fast I type. I should check that sometime. There should be a way to check that right? My kids say they hear the clicking in their sleep. I don't have to think about what I'm writing I guess is probably the difference? I see the characters in my head, like a movie playing. I watch them and type out what they're doing in my head, their reasons, etc. I've always been that way, and I don't know if anyone else does that? If I'm at a stoplight and I look at the guy in the car next to me, I get a story in my head. Like [older ford taurus, he's wearing a P.O.W. M.I.A. hat, older, gray, beard... blah, blah, blah. He has graduation tassels hanging from his mirror with '96' on them, so I assume he has a kid. Then I decide it's a daughter, and he's going to visit her...] you see where I'm going with this. Since I was 17 I probably have written somewhere near 30 complete novels though most of them are long gone (computer crashes, thefts, etc.).
I have a similar kind of process. I kinda have an idea where I'm going in the end and what I want, but that's about all I need. I don't see pictures though; I hear their voices and I always get into a scene via the dialogue (and this is part of why first person works so well for me too; because even the narration is still a specific persons voice). I just kinda find a thing for them to talk about and then just let the conversation flow until it runs into something interesting for the book. Often it's pretty obvious where to start too; they are talking about something from earlier that is for whatever reason worth their time talking about; maybe they are joking about it or maybe they are going to scream at each other, but it's not a hard thing to find. As long as I'm writing dialogue then I really don't need to think about anything, just follow where it goes. It's more like doing improv than writing a play, that's the best way to put it. But of course since it's a book you can just chop out all your fuck ups. It's a good way to write though, when you aren't really consciously writing at all, you're just putting down whatever comes to mind next, finding something that is unexpectedly interesting and pursuing it and eventually finding out how it fits into the greater story.
I've recently finished my first draft for my current project, and I am now in the process of creating the 2nd. It's at 80k words and it's taken around 3 months, averaging 1,000 words a day. I've been published before, but in the realms of non-fiction, so this is going to be a big learning curve for me. I've gone into the psychology of working with the creative part of the brain, and is what I've discovered by learning the theory and seeing what works in practice. I hope it helps in some way. 1) Don't even think about editing as you bash out the first draft. Don't even correct spelling mistakes. Don't do anything to interrupt the creative process. The creative process relies heavily on the subconscious part of your mind. Don't do anything to interrupt that part of the mind as you write. 2) If you think of an obvious plot hole that you have created, write this down on a separate document. Keep any notes you make as brief as you can, then once you have made them, forget about it and move on. 3) Be choosy over what external stimuli you have in your environment while you write. By that I mean TV*, radio, internet, other humans or any little games you have going on the background of your computer. Music might help you get into the zone, and if you must be checking back on something else online as you work, make it relevant to your task (such as this forum, or reading blogs from published authors). It will do nothing for your productivity, but it will boost your motivation. Threaten to throw things at people if they try to distract you. *Throw a brick through your TV. They're the work of Satan. 4) I've found this one to be very important. Sleep well, eat well and limit your booze intake. We work better when we're feeling good and energized. Being hung over or lethargic because you've just crested a sugar high and are running on 4 hours sleep will effect you negatively, no matter what you're doing. (I used to work on a news desk, I know about these things)
For you, maybe. That's a lot of 'don'ts' for something as personal as writing style. My advice (if asked) would be to try different ways and see which one works best for you. As I said above, the exact opposite of your demands is what works for me.
Oh I'm just discussing what works for me and the OP can try it out if they wish. It's personal as you say. I find if I correct spelling as I go and have in mind that I have to edit it, I stifle myself and end up writing 200 words if I'm lucky.
Like others have said, I'll read what I wrote the day before to refresh myself and get the flow going in my head, then i'll write. I wouldn't go back and read all the older stuff, that'd limit my writing time and I'd get too involved in that. To keep track of scenes etc, I keep an agile timeline... it'll have scenes etc in it, what happens to who and when, but this isn't set in stone, it can and more often than not, does change. When I write on lunch, I average something like, 1,000-1,200 wph.. but that's only if I know what it is I'm writing. If I have to deliberate, start from scratch, I'll get less done as i'll have to work it all out first. I watched a video of an author on Youtube and he wrote a 57k word book, in 12 days, writing 3-4 hours a day... he was so fast as he had a paragraph synopsis for each chapter, detailing who was in it, what happened, where they went, etc... maybe that would help your numbers?
It's worth pointing out that it takes you time to plan and plot out to that kind of granularity. And, with the best will in the world, it tends to lead to generic writing. Point is that it's more than just the time writing if you approach it like that, and it doesn't necessarily help you write well.
I agree wholeheartedly, though 30 years of extensive technical writing makes it impossible for to not go back and check a paragraph for SPaG after I hit the enter key... it's reflexive, and anyway, I take a great deal of pride in producing first-draft prose with minimal SPaG. Also, I review a chapter when I am done, and then have my wife @K McIntyre review it and mark it up in track-changes. So the next night, my review is picking up her changes. That is a routine we developed after 30 years of technical writing, Team McIntyre in operation. I get to return the favor, now that she is about to publish Parham's Mill, her first. But absolutely do NOT go back and try to revise what you have already written. That introduces an element of self-criticism that is absolutely incompatible with the creative phase of writing. Guaranteed to launch you into a death spiral that will keep you from finishing. Save the revisions for the first and subsequent edits, when you have the whole story in hand. And don't drink while writing, save that as a reward for afterward, if you are so inclined.
True, but from memory he was a published author getting books out. I wasn't trying to say 'write 60k in 12 days, it's easy'. More that by having some kind of plan in place before you start writing, of what will happen, it may help him get more words out over 5k a week
That's a fair point and maybe a bit more planning might be in order if you are sitting with no earthly idea where to go, it's just a pet peeve of mine to see what you might call 'exotic' working becoming a benchmark. Not to sound like a jerk but I am pretty prolific. I can write a 150k first draft in 60 days or less, or your money back and a finished book ever 3 or 4 months. And I would struggle to write 60k in 36 work hours. 30k would be about right but I'd be happy with 20k from two decent work days. Even knowing where I'm going exactly a thousand words per hour is about as fast as I can reasonably write and I am a 100WPM touchtypist. There's a guy out there who wrote a four million word (I think) Pokemon fan fiction that is still on going and it took him a couple of years. How did he write quite that much? Well because most of it is cobblers; is either horribly derivative or just plain badly written with a plot that is just awful. He just never takes a break, just keeps on writing forever and ever. And if that's what works for him then fine. But I think most of us would agree 'Four million words in three years' is ambitious.
See, that's where you and I differ. For me, fiddling with little words some might call it 'editing' gives my subconscious more to chew on. It lets me find connections to later chapters. This process is a word-by-word thing, and relies on little changes in inflection or meaning, or sentence structure. If I wouldn't go back and fiddle with some little words at crucial moments, I'd cripple my brain for later chapters. For me, there's a difference between fiddling this way and editing proper to make everything shine. I don't do editing, but I do engage my subconscious. I hope that makes sense.
Eh, I don't subscribe to this advice at all. I usually write with a glass of wine by my side and it hasn't hurt my acceptance rate much.
Absolutely. I struggle to believe that someone would sit down for an hour and struggle to do 500words, if they knew exactly what they're writing, if they believe they write at a decent pace. So just suggesting a forward plan may help a bit. Like you, I normally average 1,000wph, I've beaten that before when I had some good music on and I was in the zone, but it's rare. I'm sure that someone told me once that the above author may have written a book/done a video or something on 'how to write 5,000 wph'. Maybe he's just super fast.. I've not looked in to it and don't intend to... 4,000,000 words? That's beyond mental. Is this just stuff he puts on a forum or website? That's crazy.
You know... I'm not so sure I need to write any faster. Sure, it would be nice, but at what cost. I'm at the point where my writing feels fast to me. I'm not just looking at a blank screen. I'm typing just about as fast as I can think. Maybe I'm a slow thinker. My raw copy is pretty clean. I don't really want to give that up for speed.
I believe so, although that's second hand. Definitely in the millions. I'm probably at about 1.5 million edited words in 5 years and I am an aggressively prolific guy. Anything more is mental. I think I worked it out that he'd written maybe 4 or 5 thousand per day for years on end and while that is impressive on it's way, well, sometimes you just need a sit down and a cuppa. But yes, I think once you are up to a decent speed then you just have to accept there's only so much you can get done. Before that then it's fine to look for ways to help you express yourself at a faster pace, but if you do 1k words per hour then that's fine. Even for me over writing everything that works out OK. 200 hours to write a first draft at that pace? That's about 15 work days, working every third day, 45 calender days, yeah that's about right; six weeks for a first draft that's way too long.
