Comments on: Writing Every Day

By: Carol

Carol — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:07:09 +0000

Wow is this post right on time! I’ve been in that vicious cycle of what I write stinks, so I don’t write, so then what I write stinks even more…
So back to it. Stinky writing can be fixed. No writing can’t.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:39:40 +0000

I don’t write every day. One reason – there are two days a week where I work from 7-4:30 and then go teach from 5:30 to 10pm – so I get home around 10:30/11pm where I drop into bed to get up and start my day over again.

However I do write. Whenever I have time I write. And I get things done. I finished 20,000 words in a little over a month. So dived that by 30 days and that’s a little over 600 words a day. For me that’s pretty good.

Revising goes much faster for me I can revise like crazy. It’s a much easier process for me and I can do it anywhere. I can sit and start revising, I can’t just do that with writing (i.e. having a blank page).

By: rose mccauley

rose mccauley — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:27:04 +0000

I agree with the person who said this is just what I needed to hear. I have done 2 BIAMs–where you try to write or finish a book in 30 days, and wrote 6 days a week and logged over 50,000 words both months. But lately I’ve been doing rewrites on my MS which I do enjoy seeing how I can make it better, but it is much harder to discipline myself when I don’t have a word goal for the day or week. I also take sundays off, but need to get BIC the other days for something else besides email! Thanks for the swift kick, kaye! ps. anyone have any ideas for ways to keep going when you’re in the rewrite stage?

By: Emilie

Emilie — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:26:06 +0000

I’m an afternoon writer, which I’ve discovered after a few years of trying to be a morning writer and failing miserably. Slow learner, I guess. Plus, I work at my church’s child care center or baby-sit most mornings, so afternoon writing works well from a practical standpoint. My goal is usually 3-4 hours a day. I used to think it would be a breeze to write 8 hours a day, and then I tried it…and my brain turned to scrambled eggs:) If I’m close to the end of a story, I will push to the end no matter how many hours it takes, but then I do need a few days to recover from the scrambled eggs feeling.

I read in a book entitled “Revision” (forget the author) that day-dreaming about your story when you’re not actually writing can be a form of creation or revision, which is great because I’m constantly playing out scenes in my head. It has helped me save a lot of paper, laptop battery, and writing time to eliminate impossible scenarios before I sit down to write. Good to know having my head in the clouds serves a useful purpose:)

By: Kaye Dacus

Kaye Dacus — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:57:48 +0000

Yeah, I’m one of those who prefers learning through experience instead of just empirical data or someone’s just saying “do this.”

By: Jess

Jess — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:48:26 +0000

Thanks for not just saying “If you write every day, it’ll get easier,” etc. You showed actual examples of how it’s making a difference in your life.

By: Kaye Dacus

Kaye Dacus — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:21:20 +0000

Another piece of advice I’ve heard is to write for just eight minutes a day. Just eight. Not ten, fifteen, or twenty. Just eight. Why?

Because that’s the average amount of time dedicated to commercial breaks in a typical one-hour TV program.

By: PatriciaW

PatriciaW — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:19:10 +0000

You’ve hit the nail on the head!

When I struggle with my writing, it’s because I’m not writing. Not every day. Maybe even not every few days. The more distance between me and the ms, the harder it is to jump back in.

Victoria Christopher Murray told me to make a goal to write five words every day. Just five. Because I would never view this as a hardship or an impossible task. And chances are, once I start, I’ll write more than five words.

She was absolutely right! So I haven’t developed the discipline of daily writing yet but I think about writing those five words every day. And most times the thought of just five (and the guilt of not writing at least five) is enough to get me going.

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:10:44 +0000

Writing for me is a part-time thing, because I teach my K-3rd grade siblings and take music courses, and our family is involved in a lot of traveling. So for me, it’s a “try-and-fit-it-in” things. Lately I have actually written in time in my schedule for it, and for me, the best time is during the afternoon or late at night after everyone’s asleep. I can zone out noise and write during the day if necessary, but it’s just the best time for me. I try to get at least two hours in a day or 2,000 words in.

By: Erica Vetsch

Erica Vetsch — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:09:36 +0000

I’m an afternoon writer. School and bookwork in the morning, then write in the afternoon. I’d love to be a morning writer, but my son does his best work in the mornings so that’s when we tackle homeschooling.

Right now I’m a bit out of sorts. I always have a WIP, but for the last three weeks or so, I’ve let my completed first draft lie fallow and concentrated on lots of other things instead. I’ll get back to the editing after the conference.