Last Monday I announced the sale of CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN to Avon Impulse (and The First Victim hit the Carina Press Most Popular list again!) which meant that I didn't get around to telling you about how my attempt to write 10,000 words in a day the week before went.
I participated in 10k Day for Writers through the Fear of Writing website. The basic idea is eliminate as many distractions as possible and carve out multiple two hour windows throughout the day in which to write. You don't edit. You don't research. You just write.
I enjoyed the experiment despite the fact I only wrote just over 5000 words. I loved the focus that clearing the decks beforehand provided. I loved that the object was to just write, which effectively muzzled my inner censor. I'm definitely going to give it a try again soon.
I'd planned on dedicating the entire day to writing my 10k, but life, as it often does, got in the way. I wasn't able to focus solely on my WIP as I'd hoped. First, I had to talk to my lovely agent, Victoria Marini, about other matters. Then I had the opportunity to speak to an editor about Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman. (Okay, I'd ASKED to talk to her, but that's the subject of next week's post!)
These were obviously wonderful reasons to be distracted, but I definitely lost some focus on the story I was working on because of them. I can definitely see the usefulness of eliminating as many interruptions as possible...I'm just not sure how feasible it is.
If you're thinking that 10k or 5k or even 1k doesn't sound feasible, I urge you to check out my crit partner, Cynthia Valero's 10 Minutes to the Universe where she shares her ten minute freewrites. Try one and post it!
Tell me Killer Friends: How do you block out time for concentrating on the things you love doing? (This doesn't just pertain to writing. I would imagine the same focus benefits everything from crafting, to family dinners, to self care, to exercise.)
And if you're a writer, tell me what your personal maximum output for a day has been -- words, pages, hours, scenes, chapters...it's all good!
8 comments:
I've never, ever bought into the whole "maximum output" deal.
I just don't write at a jaunty pace when I know ultimately that a word count is going to define my progress. HOWEVER, I know I have this luxury primarily operating in flash/micro. But busting out a mass of words just to see if I could, or because I need to achieve a number quickly kills anything resembling ambition.
To get to my happy place of writing, I set it up like a playground. I can do whatever I want, with the toys I have, and no one is going to bother me. I can play happily on my own without much constraint. That is my recipe for a happy writer.
I look forward to hearing all your own!
When I first started writing, my daughter was in school and I had all the time in the world during the day. And then we started homeschooling. My writing time, by necessity, got shoved into the nighttime hours. Now that she's in college, I have scads of time... but not the urge to write. I'm hoping to change that soon.
My personal maximum output - at least since I started keeping track was over 5K. Before then, I did write 35 pages in one day. Man, did my hands hurt after each of those marathon sessions.
I don't know my maximum output - the days I've written the most have been free hand without a way to tally up word count. I love the idea of the 10K day - but the last time I set myself up for a full day of nothing but writing, the story I wrote that day was crap with a capital CRAP and still languishes on my hard drive. So I'm a little skittish to try it again.
I have to scold myself out loud to sit back down and write, or edit, or pay bills because my mind won't stop jumping around.
Hmmm, I have no idea what my maximum has been. I usually just write as it comes out and if it's not working, I hold off. Congrats again - still reeling from your awesome news!
I'm pretty sure the most I've written in one day was about 4200 words. About half of it ended up being junked, but I did enjoy feeling inspired and exhilarated when I looked down and saw how much I'd written.
Most days I wind up around 1800. That seems to be the number I hit when my brain starts to melt.
Sorry about the delay in responding everyone! Irene knocked out my access to the net for a couple of days.
Jenny D - I wouldn't say that attempting to write 10k in a day was a measure of progress, but it was a fun exercise and I actually found it to be creatively freeing since I didn't have to hunt for the perfect word or phrase. Stop by again!
B.E. -- I once belonged to a writing group where we'd all report in about how much writing we'd done each week. It seemed like those who had limitless time wrote the least. Maybe a deadline of some sort would help you? Entering a contest, or making a public declaration that you're going to finish a certain something by a particular date?
Jennifer C. -- I say give it a try again! I think it's helpful to know exactly what you're going to work on for the day so that you don't spend a lot of time flailing around...then again, I'm the person who can't start a story without knowing how it's going to end...so what do I know?
Em -- LOL, I've been known to berate myself aloud...or I ask my dog why I'm wondering around.
Lindsay -- Thanks! I'm still reeling a bit myself...in the best possible way!
Jennifer H -- It is a pretty cool feeling to look over what you've done, isn't it??
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