Writing Routines...

[Katie-Ellen]

If I'm having a 'push' to a self imposed deadline (I find it helps to have one, however arbitrary) I get up a bit excited to get cracking, and 10 hours vanish. Otherwise, my natural writing zone seems to be the evening. And I hate the word, therapy, but writing, even more than reading, has been a also a powerful distraction from chronic pain which I have struggled with, sometimes.

There's no getting away from it, day jobs and all, the behind must stayed glue to the seat long enough, consistently enough or there won't ever be a product to ship.

Insights into the writing habits of some well known writers...


http://www.brainpickings.org/2012/11/20/daily-routines-writers/

 

[Steven McC]

The funny thing I find about writing is that, though I always enjoy it when I get going and time flies, I struggle to get into it and can waste hours finding excuses not to start - doing chores, faffing about on the internet, staring into space. If I could somehow get rid of that initial phase I'd be two or three times more productive but it doesn't seem possible...

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Staring into space is good, germination time, time for the back brain to kick in...we um, hope.

 

[Karen Gray]

I find my best ruminating time comes from either a long car journey or walking round to the shops with my fav playlist blasting. Music is generally a huge boost to my creative process.

I have no routine whatsoever. None. I can't afford to have, I have 2 young kids and a husband that needs me to be on call 24/7 (although we are hoping his health may improve now that he has had his op). Generally I write in the wee hours of the morning while trying to get my youngest to sleep, and any time they are entranced by cbebbies haha

 

[Carol Rose]

I don't have much choice in when I write. I have a full time job outside the home, and very little time to sneak in writing during my work hours at that job, so I have to squeeze it in when I can. That's why I'm up at 4AM, and it's why I rarely get more than six hours of sleep a night. And why my weekends and days off the EDJ (evil day job) are usually filled with catching up on my word count for the week. I owe Siren a book a month per my contract, but if I can send them more often than that, they will release them more often, and of course then I make more money that quarter.

So right now, my daily word count goal is 5K. When edits come in (we get two rounds per book), I usually have to drop everything and do them, because they don't always give me a lot of time to get them done. And I don't only go over the comments. I read the entire manuscript during both sets, because this process is just way too fast and things get missed. It's crazy, but it was my choice to do this, and as long as the ideas keep coming, I'll keep writing.

 

[AgentPete]

5k words a day is a fiendishly hard target, TR. At the other end of the spectrum, many authors are content if they achieve a mere 400.

One of the attributes of success that I’ve noticed in very successful writers is their ability to be able to function (at a pretty high level) at two demanding jobs. I’ve known several authors who, like you, are writing by 4am, then go on to work their “normal” jobs. I’m humbled.

I don’t know how long this is sustainable as a lifestyle, but it is often the tipping point that leads on to a breakthrough.

 

[tabby3]

Being a person of a certain age (55) I no longer have a day job. My dedicated writing time is 10pm to about 2am, invariably with a glass of the grape on standby as inspiration. Sleep late and review the results in the afternoon. Like Elmore Leonard I am very happy with "two clean pages" a day. After the review biking or hiking by which time my soul mate usually puts in an appearance and we spend the rest of the day together. After that, back to the word processor. It's a tough grind. Just sayin.

 

[Carol Rose]

Thanks, Peter, for your encouragement. I hope you're right about that tipping point!!

Tabby, I'm older than your certain age! LOL!! But I have no choice right now except to keep my day job. We need my income.

I think the bottom line here is that each person has to do what works best for them and their lifestyle. I mean let's face it… writing IS a full-time job, whether you have another one or not. It's not for the faint of heart, and if you want to be successful at it, it's not something you treat as a hobby. That's the mistake I made the first time around, under my prior pen name. I wasn't treating this like a business. That's how I'm learning to approach this now - as a business. And I move closer to that state each time I learn something new about my craft or the industry.

 

[flootzavut]

I owe Siren a book a month per my contract

Ouch! That's a lot of books

 

[Carol Rose]

Ouch! That's a lot of books

Not for this market. Siren has writers who release once a week, and others who release once every two weeks. I'm at every three weeks, but occasionally I've had to back off to once a month. The erotic romance market is like this. Readers devour the books and demand more and more all the time. And don't forget - generally speaking we're talking about books that are anywhere from 20K to 60K in length. Some are longer, but that's the average. It's a different world than a print market for another genre. This is the norm, unless an author chooses to release less than once a month. I could do that if I wanted and it wouldn't change anything as far as my staying exclusive with Siren because I've been exclusive for over a year now. But it would definitely hurt my sales.

 

[flootzavut]

Oh, I was imagining a full length novel every month. Still not sure I could keep up with that schedule, though, without quality suffering. I bow before your productivity!

 

[Carol Rose]

Oh, I was imagining a full length novel every month. Still not sure I could keep up with that schedule, though, without quality suffering. I bow before your productivity!

My books are between 40K and 70K, and I write two each month. So…. yeah. That's "full length" each month.

 

[flootzavut]

It really is a whole different world.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Tara, you must so organised. Gracious. I once worked for a bit in a second hand bookshop in Leicester. I was new in the job when a lady came in with a bulging carrier bag containing nothing but romances. all Mills & Boon (this was 1986.) She wanted to swap the books, all bought in that shop, for another carrier bag full of titles new to her. How many were there ever in total, I wonder? She had bought them all in that shop, and the owner was OK with it.
I'd just graduated, wasn't sure of my next step, was passing the bookshop, saw a sign saying 'Assistant Wanted', and without thinking really, walked in and said, 'I'd like the job, I want it, may I have it?' And the man said yes, but I must understand, if I loved books, not to kid myself; that selling them was essentially no different from selling packets of cornflakes.

 

[flootzavut]

Not that her books are my kind of thing at all, but I can't help but thinking of Barbara Cartland, you know: Like I say, not my choice of reading material, but I have to admire her work ethic!

 

[Carol Rose]

Tara, you must so organised.

I'm kind of an organization nut, yes!

 

[Carol Rose]

Not that her books are my kind of thing at all, but I can't help but thinking of Barbara Cartland, you know: Like I say, not my choice of reading material, but I have to admire her work ethic!

Well, if the rumors are true, Barbara had an assistant write her books. LOL!! And hers were very formulaic, but to be fair, that's what Harlequin/Mills & Boon wanted. In the USA we call it category romance. This has to happen in that chapter, that happens in this chapter, all the chapters are the same length, the books has distinct "parts," etc. Readers expect it, and the guidelines differ depending on the line/imprint. But I don't write category romance, and I strive to give each story something unique.

Yes, they're formulaic in the sense they're all romances and they have an HEA (happily-ever-after). But I weave several secondary plots throughout each series, and I introduce new characters in the town in each book. I move those secondary plots forward, resolving some and adding others. Because it's a series, not a serial, I have to make sure each book is also a stand alone, so I need to be sure to bring new readers up to speed on who is who. AND it's a menage, with requirements from Siren as to how many sex scenes, etc. The actual romance must take up 70% of the book, so there are a lot of things to cram into 45K, and still give them a story, not just sex.

 

[flootzavut]

I'm kind of an organization nut, yes!

You'd have to be! LOL