McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Process Question
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Farmerbob1 on January 07, 2015, 10:45:08 PM ---10,000 words a day is doable for a good writer in the groove. For a few highly active writers, it's the norm.
--- End quote ---
The reasonable default for a mid-list writer to get a career going is a novel a year. Whether you do that all in a panic in six weeks (like Iain Banks did regularly for years) or by writing every day according to a schedule, or in little bits around everything else like Terry Pratchett, is kind of immaterial. I think a fair few books of writing advice push writing every day because it's an easyish way to get the words out if you can stick to it, but getting the words out is what's important, not the schedule.
Myself, I write most Fridays (probably about 80%) from after dinner into the small hours, and fill in on a Wednesday if I can't on any given Friday, and usually write two nights of a long weekend if it's not otherwise engaged. My average is 2500-4000 words per night, and that certainly gets me a novel's worth of content per year. My record for a single day is 14,500 words, and that was definitely not repeatable.
The Deposed King:
If you figure 1000 words an hour then 10k per day is doable, its just like you're working a 10 hour day. I know Nuttal does 8k days fairly routinely. Although he does it more chapter wise, wherein he does 2 chapters per day, so there's some slop. Maybe its 6-8k a day.
But regardless 1k/hour is doable and 10 hour days are doable.
I've also done 12-15k days and while I agree that they don't 'feel' repeatable. I have found that when I reach the end of a book and have a burning desire/deadline to reach and the ability to work all day and all night that it can be done (I've done this on three different books), its all a matter of how bad you want it.
All of that said; I wouldn't want to try and do 10k per day at a sustained rate or do a lot of 15k days period. One of the sucky things about this job is that its a creative/artistic based profession and so applying a straight production mindset to it can cause problems. Not that it can't be done but you need to get your ducks in a row and get your mind set up right to do it.
Although maybe I'm being a little too much chicken little here. Other guys are cranking on the production, doing 6 books a year plus.
The Deposed King
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: The Deposed King on January 11, 2015, 11:48:58 AM ---Although maybe I'm being a little too much chicken little here. Other guys are cranking on the production, doing 6 books a year plus.
--- End quote ---
How would one fit a day job around that, though ? Unless one uses Lionel Fanthorpe-type tricks (dictate everything, run secretarial speed-typing classes in the evening, give each student a chapter on tape to type up.)
Farmerbob1:
--- Quote from: the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh on January 11, 2015, 05:18:31 PM ---How would one fit a day job around that, though ? Unless one uses Lionel Fanthorpe-type tricks (dictate everything, run secretarial speed-typing classes in the evening, give each student a chapter on tape to type up.)
--- End quote ---
I have done 10k days a couple of times. As mentioned above, not repeatable. My average writing day is 3-6k words, which is then immediately published to my current project as a chapter.
I was specifically thinking about one author when I mentioned the 10k words per day, David Weber. He does 'cheat' and uses voice recognition software. For some people, voice recognition software might be slower than regular typing. It apparently works well for Mr. Weber.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Farmerbob1 on January 11, 2015, 08:22:27 PM --- For some people, voice recognition software might be slower than regular typing. It apparently works well for Mr. Weber.
--- End quote ---
I type much faster than I talk, fwiw.
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