Fast, Faster, Fastest
Time after time I hear readers ask authors to write faster. Most of us wish we could.
Nora Roberts publishes on average five books a year. For her it takes typically forty-five days. For others producing a novel takes months to a year. I can't tell you how many authors I've chatted with that are two years into their book.
There is always an issue between quality and quantity. I think we can all agree we would rather see quality then quantity. Not that both can't be obtained (as Nora shows us), but if we have to choose it would be quality.
Yet, tonight I want to talk quantity. Are you a prolific writer? How many words have you written in a day? How long does it take you to write a full length novel (65k and above)? How many books do you published a year?
I wrote Fallon's Revenge in one month. Lisa's Gift in three and a half weeks. Of course, it's also took me three months to write A Warrior's Witch which was only 18K. A Very Faery Christmas (15K) took me three days.
This weekend I put my nose to the grindstone and wrote 20k words in four days. That's an average of 5k a day! Actually I wrote 5k Thursday, 4.75k Friday, 6.25 Saturday, and Sunday I followed it up with 4k. I have to admit that I was floored by my achievement. In yet it didn't come without some cost.
Not only did I ignore the family this long weekend, I'm still suffering. My memory is shot. I can't pay attention to what I need to do and I'm exhausted. Since Sunday I've only written 1k. Some of that is that I work a fulltime job and by the time I get home I have no energy. Then of course there is the family to feed, animals to take care of, and the list goes on.
I'd love to hear your goals, successes, and if you've paid any prices for lighting the keys on fire. So let's chat.
Mac
Nora Roberts publishes on average five books a year. For her it takes typically forty-five days. For others producing a novel takes months to a year. I can't tell you how many authors I've chatted with that are two years into their book.
There is always an issue between quality and quantity. I think we can all agree we would rather see quality then quantity. Not that both can't be obtained (as Nora shows us), but if we have to choose it would be quality.
Yet, tonight I want to talk quantity. Are you a prolific writer? How many words have you written in a day? How long does it take you to write a full length novel (65k and above)? How many books do you published a year?
I wrote Fallon's Revenge in one month. Lisa's Gift in three and a half weeks. Of course, it's also took me three months to write A Warrior's Witch which was only 18K. A Very Faery Christmas (15K) took me three days.
This weekend I put my nose to the grindstone and wrote 20k words in four days. That's an average of 5k a day! Actually I wrote 5k Thursday, 4.75k Friday, 6.25 Saturday, and Sunday I followed it up with 4k. I have to admit that I was floored by my achievement. In yet it didn't come without some cost.
Not only did I ignore the family this long weekend, I'm still suffering. My memory is shot. I can't pay attention to what I need to do and I'm exhausted. Since Sunday I've only written 1k. Some of that is that I work a fulltime job and by the time I get home I have no energy. Then of course there is the family to feed, animals to take care of, and the list goes on.
I'd love to hear your goals, successes, and if you've paid any prices for lighting the keys on fire. So let's chat.
Mac
posted by Mackenzie McKade at 7:33 PM
8 Comments:
I'm on summer vacation right now so I challenged myself to write 2000 words a day and edit 10 pages. I want to see what I'd be able to do if I wrote fulltime. I've been able to complete a novella I'd started, write 2 more and edit a historical novel. Now I'm working on a romantic suspense. I still have 5 weeks, so we'll see what I can get done. I may need a few days off in August!
Mary's amazed me with her consistent productivity this summer!
I can write fast. I've done 10k in a day (on retreat) and 6k in the normal course of a work week. I've done 89k in a month (during NaNo) but generally speaking, unless it's the end of a book, those days aren't consistent. And after NaNoWriMo months, I can't write at all in December.
And that's all just first drafting. I've been so far ahead of the industry (as in, I have many books written that have nowhere to go until the one currently under consideration has been considered), that I have no impetus for consistent work, so I haven't done a whole project beginning to end in a long time, and bottom line...
I have no idea how long it takes me to write a book. LOL
As a teacher, oddly enough, I get more done during the school year. I think it's because I know my time is limited so I do more concentrated work in fewer hours. During summer break I tend to think I have lots of time and do other things rather than write. But I do about 2.5 books per year, rough drafts and perhaps polish 2 of those. I'm pretty sure if I could write full time I could finish a 100K novel in 60 days.
Mac,
I have a spreadsheet I use to keep me on track. I have to write 4 pages a day in order to meet deadline. When I fall behind, I have to write faster.
I think there are some authors who do write really fast, but I've read a couple of authors whose speed leaves me wondering, damn, couldn't you have expanded a little more on characterization or plot??
As for Nora, I think she's been writing for so long, I think she's in a groove.
Personally, I love JR Ward's comment recently when someone asked her why she didn't write faster. I'm paraphrasing, but it went something like this. "I'd love to write faster, but I can't just pull it out of my ass."
I think that's true of any writer. It's also the price WE're paying for the speed that has been introduced to society by computers and the Inet. We're all rushed, and technology is one of the reasons, I think. It's that double-edged sword.
I write slow. I admit it. But I (generally) write steady. When I'm rolling, I try for 25 pages a week, around 3.5 pages a day. The most pages I've ever written in a day was ten. Doing something like 20000 in 4 days not only isn't doable for me, my brain would break in the process.
Cathy Mc
Cathy, I think I'd rather be consistent like you than exploding words one day and completely dry the next.
It's helped that I've been writing in a completely new genre for me, and it's been exciting. Also, I never thought I could write novellas. I love the "instant" gratification of it!
Susan, usually I have better output during the school year too. (I teach 4th grade.) This summer, I'm particularly driven, though.
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