Comments on: Coming up for air

By: Sierra Godfrey

Sierra Godfrey — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:52:29 +0000

Take it easy and only do the things on your "want" list that makes sense. I totally understand the Should Do list, because I have that too but it's just not feasible.

Because I'm exhausted every night at 7 pm now and go to bed at 8, I am not doing a lot of writing. But now I feel like I have a 9-month deadline to get ALL REVISIONS FINISHED and also query. So, as soon as I can stop feeling like I want to vomit all over everyone and everything all day long, or lie down for extended periods of time, then I'll get back on that horse. And I'll probably spend an hour or two every night.

Sigh…..there is SO much to do in life.

By: Meghan Ward

Meghan Ward — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:43:09 +0000

Thirty-six is very impressive! You deserved a break this week! My non-blogging writing has been nil for weeks. My new goal is 12 hours per week (although that's on revising, so it won't all be new stuff) because that's all I can handle with the two munchkins. 20 is a great goal!

By: Kristan

Kristan — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:07:31 +0000

"So while blogging and tweeting and FB is fun and a great way to connect with other writers, let’s not lose site of our real goal: to write well and get published. And the only way to do that is to spend a lot of time writing."

Precisely. It's one thing to be informed and working on an audience; it's another thing to use those as a way to AVOID actually writing.

This week, # of hours will probably be about 5. Pathetic, but true.

The previous week, though, # of hours was like 36. So… Yeah.

What I'd LIKE is to average at least 20 hrs per week (so like 2-3 a day, every day). But there will be fluctuation depending on where in the book you are (pre-writing planning, or first drafting, or editing). I'm a firm believer in quotas, but also I realize that different types/times of writing require different kinds/amounts of quota.

By: Jon Paul

Jon Paul — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:46:00 +0000

I totally get the real life/writer's life thing–but I've also noticed it tends to go in waves. One week is bad; the next is rosy. Just all part of the rollercoaster IMHO.

On fiction, I write about two hours a day. I usually get up early, before I go to work, and this allows me to get done about 3/4 of my daily quota. Then I work in the rest of my quota in the evenings. Sometimes I work more quickly and am able to knock out the whole quota in the morning; sometimes I'm not so successful.

My current weekly goal is 1,000 words a day/5,000 words a week, so this allows me a couple down days if real life intrudes and prevents my daily session. I'm thinking about upping it though–production has been high lately.

I think your comment about blog/real writing is exactly right–blogging is an easy time suck, but I don't mind doing it if I've gotten my real work done for the day.

And thanks for the accountability check: though things go well, I can still use all the help I can get.