The other day I was browsing around on an author’s website and stumbled upon her response to fan questions. In one of her responses she explained her writing process and how she is able to write 2 to 3 chapters daily, revise and edit those chapters, and complete the entire novel in less than 3 months. In the back of my mind I was thinking “is that normal, can I do that, or will I ever get to that point?”


I am a mother of an 18 month old, work a full-time job, and have daily responsibilities that do not allow me to write (what I think is) enough every day. I do most of my writing on the weekends (producing usually 2 or 3 chapters) and after 9:30 pm, writing maybe 500 to 800+ words if I am willing to stay awake past 12.  I know everyone’s situation is different, but I think realistically I will not be working at her speed for a while.

 

I am interested to hear from other writer, both novice and seasoned, how long it takes you to produce a rough draft of your novel. Also,

 

1. How many words do you write daily?

2. What are some strategies that you have in place to allow you to write daily?  Or do you even write daily?

3. What advice can you give to new authors on time management and prioritizing?

4. What kind of work environment do you prefer?  (I am the type of person that needs constant background noise, so usually I have the TV on very low, preferably on Golden Girls)

 

 

Any comments would be greatly appreciated, I think the answers will not only be beneficial to me but to other newbie’s as well!

 

© 2011, Diayll – MotherGamerWriter. All rights reserved.

Diayll – MotherGamerWriter

Names Diayll, I am a 30 year old country girl, living and enjoying life. I run a blog, mothergamerwriter.com and I am working on completing my first novel. You can find me representing the Xbox and anything else game related on Twitter at MomGamerWriter. But don’t take my word for it, check me out!



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Brought To You By: Diayll – MotherGamerWriter I love Comments, Please Leave Me Some Love! March 28, 2011
  • http://jaekuro.blogspot.com/ Jae

    I can say that I’m in between beginner and seasoned but I don’t write everyday at all. I’m just not at the point where I can or where I have time to.
    Like you, I have so many other obligations, there isn’t much time for me to devote to writing completely. Because of that, a lot of my writing happens in the middle of the night or early in the morning. During that time I can write a page or an entire chapter. It varies.

    The only thing that I can say to anyone else is not to force it out. I’ve tried and it’s caused me to throw away god knows how many pages of a book. I tend to keep a journal with me though just in case I get an idea though. I just let it come naturally. You’ll find yourself getting a lot more done a lot quicker that way.

    On another note, I just recently came across your site and it’s nice to know I’m not the only black female writer/gamer in the world. :)

    • MotherGamerWriter

      Hi Jae,

      Thanks so much to responding to my article. At the beginning I was having that problem, I would try to force out my writing because I’ve heard over and over again that you have to write every day. However, like you said I would have to throw away pages of what I had written because it didn’t feel true to my voice or my characters. I’ve learned that if I get an urge, I just have to stop and write. Sometimes that’s hard when you are cooking but that’s why I always have my cell phone handy because I can just take a voice memo and have my idea handy for later when I can sit down and write. I’ve tried a journal but quickly scrapped that idea because most of the time I would leave it somewhere and couldn’t find it. But Spring Pad has worked wonders for me. I have it on my cell phone and I can just open it up, jot some things down, and look at it later on my computer.

      Thanks again for commenting, please feel free to find me on twitter!! Gamers rule!!