So if you follow me on Twitter or have liked my Facebook
page, you might have seen this tweet enter the world of the internet a couple
of days ago:
Wow. Friday's post is going to be my 200th blog post. O.o#fb
— Avalon Jaedra (@Ava_Jae) August 1, 2012
I did the math, and figuring that every blog post averages
somewhere around 500 words, that means that after today, I’ll have written
somewhere around 100,000 words in blog posts, and it really got me thinking.
Because I almost didn't start this blog. I almost talked myself out of
publishing that first post and announcing it to my (then) 100 Twitter
followers.
I almost missed out on an opportunity to add 100,000 words
to my writing experience in a relatively simple way.
It really got me thinking, because writing 500 words three
times a week is really not that difficult—sure, choosing a topic isn’t always
butterflies and rainbows, but the actual writing part of putting 500 words to
paper? Not so hard.
It really got me thinking, because 100,000 words is longer
than some books—and it’s definitely longer than most of my WIPs.
It really got me thinking, because I’ve often heard people
say things to the effect of, I’d love to
write a book, but I don’t have the time and truth be told? Time isn’t
really an issue when it comes to writing a book.
Let’s just say that you’re working full time (like many
writers) or going to school full time (like many writers) or have children
(like many writers) or all of the above and you only have a couple hours of
free time every day. That’s fair. A lot of people are busy and aren’t really
swimming in an ocean of time to spare.
But there’s this misconception that writers must be drowning
in extra magical free time because it takes hundreds of hours to write a novel,
so if you’ve written a novel, you must have hundreds of hours to just throw
around. But truth be told, most times writers don’t have that much more time
than anyone else, and the dirty little secret is that you don’t need it.
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| Photo credit: Wiertz Sébastien on Flickr |
Because all you need is enough time to write a few hundred
words a day, and if you keep at it, before you know it you’ll have a novel sitting
on your hard drive.
Let’s look at the math:
If you write 500 words a day five days a week, that’s 2,500
words a week or 10,000 words a month. At that rate, it’ll take you anywhere
from six to ten months to finish the first draft of a novel, depending on how
long your WIP is. If you write six days a week, you can finish in five to eight
and a half months. That means if you write 500 words a day and take a one or two day break, you can get that novel written in
less than a year.
Let’s up the ante. If you write 750 words a day five days a
week, that’s 3,750 words a week or 15,000 words a month. At that rate, it’ll
take you roughly four to seven months to finish first drafting. At six days a week, you’ll be finished in
three and a half to five and a half months. Not bad at all.
Writing 200 blog posts has really reminded me about the
power of working in small doses. You don’t need to put in ten hours a day every
day to accomplish something great. All you need is enough discipline to chip
away at that novel or whatever it is you’re working on a little every day, and
before you know it you’ll be looking back in awe of what you managed to
accomplish with thirty minutes a day.
And let me tell you—it feels pretty good.
How do you manage your time? Do you have a specific daily writing goal
or some strategy to help you progress with your WIPs? Share your experience—I’d
love to hear about it.
