GENREALITY

People tell me all the time that there’s no way they can do my Fast Draft class where you write 20 pages a day for 14 days. They simply don’t have the time. But the truth is, they do. It might mean giving up the television, computer/video game playing, You might even have to give up a little sleep but it can be done. The truth is, if you type an average of 35 wpm you can do 20 pages in about 2 1/2 hours. I know that seems impossible but it’s true. I pulled a day from my calender in early November to show you just how I work my writing into a normal day for me. Now keep in mind I have  day job where I’m a film and TV critic, so I have to work that in too.

7 a.m.: Let the dogs out (they are my daily alarm)

7:10: Check through email for any urgent messages and answer

7:15 Run up for quick shower

7:45 Prepare for editorial discussion on what stories we’ll do for the day job

8:00 Decide on stories and who is doing what

8:15 Read through movie reviews in prep for radio show

8:30 Call into Dorsey Gang to do film reviews for KSCS

8:45 Prepare for interviews with Annie Potts and James Patterson

9:15 Idea for next chapter in current WIP. Write down notes.

9:38 Decide to go ahead and write a few pages so I don’t forget. 8 pages

10:45 Decide which classes to take for spring semester of Grad School

11:00 Register. Ugh. The online thing isn’t working have to email my advisor.

11:15 Kid calls with drama, but really just needs to talk to his mom

12:00 Starving and realize I forgot to eat breakfast (this almost never happens)

12:30 Work on school assignment and work on big paper that’s due soon

1:30 Prepare for Annie Potts interview by checking questions

1:35 While waiting for her to call at 2 decided to slip a few more pages in to novel. 3 pages.

2:10 Interview Annie Potts

2:30 Was on a roll before interview so write a few more pages. 5 pages.

3:30 Return calls and emails to publicists setting up other interviews

3:35 Look over James Patterson questions

3:38 While waiting for James to call I write some more pages. 2 pages.

4:10 Interview James Patterson (work hard to keep fan girl at bay)

4:40 Tweet about how cool JP is

5:00 Remember I have a Love and Other Drugs screening that night make dinner arrangements for the evening

5:15 Put make up on and change into real clothes

5:30 Have 30 mins before I have to go

5:31 Write 2 more pages

6:00 Dinner plans

7:30 Film screening (admire Jake Gyllenhaal’s nakedness)

10:00 Home again. Check through emails.

10:15 Complete homework assignment for school

11:30 Count up pages and realize I’ve done my 20 pages, but characters won’t shut up so I decide to finish scene and end up writing 10 more pages

1:30 Bed

I’ve had to teach myself to write in “moments.” I leave myself notes and I can write anywhere on anything. I’ve written half a chapter on paper napkins, and I’ve done it more than once. The idea is to just do it and stop making excuses.

I did a post earlier in the month about the many things I’m thankful for in life. In America it’s Thanksgiving Day today. It’s basically a time for families to come together and do what we do best — eat. I like hanging out with the family,but there are some other things I enjoy about the day. I love the big newspaper with all the Black Friday ads. I like the zombie nap I take after eating all that food. Unhealthy, yes, but extremely pleasurable. I like listening to my boys hanging out with their little cousins. There’s a bit of hero worship by the cousins and it’s fun to watch how my boys handle it.

I like the way the house smells when all that good food is cooking. Oh, and then there’s the leftovers. That means no cooking for a few days. When everyone gets tired of turkey and roast, we usually have one nice meal out some time during the weekend. Oh, and I almost always put the Christmas tree up that Friday. And sometimes I’ll even brave the crowds to do a little shopping. I don’t mind the chaos as long as it’s not so crowded that I can’t breathe.

But the best part of Thanksgiving is that I usually get a lot of writing done. Well, not on the actually day. But the Saturday and Sunday after, for some reason, are always extremely fruitful when it comes to writing fiction. Maybe I’m more relaxed. Maybe it’s the idea that Christmas and the New Year are just around the corner and I want to finish up the old projects so I can start fresh. But I feel a sudden urge to write and write.

I’ve learned to take advantage of these times. I’m the chick who says you should write every day no matter what, and I believe that. BUT I also think you have to be tuned into your mind and body and take advantage of those times when you feel like you’re on a creative binge. Sure I should be hanging out with the family, but I think it’s the idea that I’m playing hooky from them that makes the writing so much fun. I slip on the headphones (which I’ve just noticed are missing from my desk. Kids!) and I’m in another world.

So do you guys ever do something like this? Slip away and do something fun or creative? Do the holiday inspire anything but panic? Tell me, I really want to know.

The challenge of writing the tenth book in a series and making sure I haven’t been repeating myself or getting boring.  (I never expected I’d have a series last to ten books and beyond.)

Having to pick what to work on next based on what I can mostly likely sell the most successfully rather than what’s most exciting.  (This isn’t to say I’m not excited about working on the next project — I have a whole list of things I’m excited about.  But if I wasn’t a full-time writer, I’d probably end up working on them all at once!)

The amount and variety of e-mails I get and the amount of time I spend online.  Granted, the explosion in online promotion, especially via social networking, is only a few years old — but who could have expected it? (I recently told a friend about the existence of “blog tours” and he didn’t believe me.  He laughed.  And then I showed him.)

How excited people get about signed books.  Not being much of a signed copy collector myself, I didn’t really get it until I started signing my own books for people.

Disliking so much of the business side:  contract negotiation, trying to interpret what publishers really mean versus what they say, being the last person to learn something like a release date.  Some days, I think it’s amazing that anything ever makes it into bookstores.

The waiting.  Waiting for responses on proposals, waiting to get paid, waiting for the book to come out.

How much I love working at home.  A lot of writers talk about needing to get away from home to work — in an office, coffee shop, or whatever.  Not me.  I love being here with my dog, my kitchen, my library.  I can do laundry in between checking e-mails and blog posts.  I can write on the sofa if I want.  I can walk my dog whenever I want.  I sleep in.  Bliss.

How hard it would be to explain to strangers what I do for a living.  (“I’m a writer.”  “What do you write?”  “Science fiction and fantasy novels.”  “Really, like for real?  Are you published?”  “Um. . .yes.”)

Having to say no, especially turning down invitations for anthologies and such.  I never thought I’d say no to a writing gig.  Learning how to say no has been tough, but necessary.

The fact that pretty much every single day I’m amazed and grateful that I get to daydream and entertain people for a living.

I’m making the final push on writing the last quarter of the tenth Kitty novel, which is turning out to be a little unusual process-wise in that I’m further behind on it than I’m used to.  Not so far behind as to panic (it’s due December 1), but I’m very focused on it right now.  I wouldn’t be worried at all, except I’ve got another trip coming up, ten days away from home right before Thanksgiving, which will cut into my writing time.  I was hoping to have a draft finished before I leave on Saturday.  The draft may not be completely finished by then, but I’ll have something to print off and bring with me, so I can work on it on the trip, making lots of notes to help me revise and polish the manuscript when I get home.

On Saturday, I stopped forward movement in order to go back and rework/rewrite and fill in holes.  This is normal for me.  I get two thirds of the way through, write the end, figure out what I need to do differently in the first half of the book to make the climax and ending work, and revise.  I didn’t do it for Kitty 9 — I wrote that one straight through — and in hindsight I think that’s why I had so much trouble revising it.  I’d missed a step, that stop-in-the-middle revision phase.  So on #10 I made certain to go back to my more normal process:  I jumped around, wrote scenes as they came to me, and I think as a result I have a much better idea of what needs to happen earlier to set up the finale.  Once I’ve finished this proto-revision, I can move forward through the big climactic scenes of the book with a much better idea of where everyone’s starting from.

It’s tough.  It’s tedious.  Some of this stage of revision involves questions of logistics — should character B meet the main character in person to deliver a piece of information, or call her on the phone?  In the final story choices like that are almost invisible, but right now I need to decide which one is best.  Which one will make the choice seem invisible in the final book?  Everything that happens needs to seem like it couldn’t possibly happen any other way.

I’ve got a plan for December, after I turn in this manuscript:  I’m taking a break.  My first real conscious break in years.  I’m still going to write every day, but I’m putting a time limit on it, and it’s going to be a short time limit.  30 minutes or so.  I have one short story due in January, but other than that I don’t have any more deadlines for awhile, so I’m going to research, read a ton, woolgather, and have fun.  Recharge the batteries.

I’m looking forward to it.  But I have to finish this book first.

Daily word counts are oh so useful.  They give us a goal, inspiring us to write every day, whether it’s 250 words, 500 words, 1000 words, 870 words, or whatever.  On very tight deadlines, they allow those of us who don’t work well under pressure to pace ourselves.  (For example, I’m about 45,000 words into a rough draft that’s due December 1.  I have a month to write another 25,000 words, roughly.  Just under a thousand words a day.  That sounds slightly better.  I can do that.  And if I write 1000 words a day, I’ll have a few extra days to read the manuscript over and make fixes.)

I follow a lot of other writers’ blogs.  I like to see what people are doing, and I like to see the smart things other writers say about writing.  They often validate my own thoughts or give me something new to think about.

But I need to not pay attention to other writers’ daily word counts.  I never measure up and it makes me feel bad.

I’ve noticed something, though:  many writers who post impressive daily word stats (I’m talking in the 3000 words a day range and higher) are actually binge writers.  They’ll bang out a novel in six weeks, posting very high daily word counts during that stretch, then take a break, only working on little projects for days or weeks after.

I am not a binge writer.  I have to get a little bit done every day.  I’ve always been like that.  I was the annoying kid back in school who finished all her papers days in advance.  I need about four to six months to write a first draft.  I may only write a little bit every day, but I do it every day.

Here are my stats:  I can usually write 1000-1200 words a day.  I aim for 800.  500 is my minimum.  Setting such a low bar means I usually exceed it by quite a bit, which makes me feel really good.  Positive reinforcement.  Even 500 words a day — about one page — will get you a 180,000-word novel in a year.  Or two 90,000 word novels.  The Kitty novels average around 75,000 words, just to give you an idea.  Makes it all seem a little more doable, doesn’t it?  I think in the end, the binge writers and I produce the same amount of work.  And it really goes to show that there is no Right Way.  Only the Way that Works for You.

And on that note, I will once again not be participating in NaNoWriMo, which begins today.  I just can’t take the pressure.  For those of you who love it and are participating — start your engines, and good luck!