Finding time to write
@eclecticsteve (253)
United States
June 2, 2010 9:26pm CST
I've had a six month absence from MyLot and that's because I was in the last stages of completing my novella, Sword of the Undead. At first I could continue with my short article writing and participating in discussion groups, but as I got closer to completion and into the editing stage I found myself devoting huge chunks of time to the project and also whatever free time I had, like an hour or two each night. When I'm writing short pieces like restaurant reviews, sometimes I will write several in one 12 hour frenzy, and other times, I will take a hour a day for a week and come up with the same number of completed drafts. Which do you prefer? Devoting a full day, or an hour or two each day? Do you do thigs differently when you are working on a major project?
1 person likes this
2 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
5 Jun 10
I usually can't get past an hour or two at a time, but I take a good break (an hour or longer) then come back and get at it again. That applies whether I'm writing articles or working on a major project. My old bones wouldn't handle a 12 hour writing frenzy any more!
2 people like this
@Transformed (1259)
• United States
8 Jun 10
The writing process is so lovely precisely because it is so unique for each and every individual. What seems to be the most effective here is to think about the topic (if working on a project like a novel or short story) and develop a working synopsis of the story. I almost always have the ending of the story planned before the beginning pages are even written.
As for the amount of time during a day or week allotted to write, it depends on so many various things, but for the most part, two hours in the morning and two hours in the evenings work very well. It is important to set some idea of how many words the author wishes to write within a day, for the project could continue indefinitely and never come to fruition, which would be a waste of time.
