A current piece of advice floating around Twitter is that one way to approach writing a book is to take the total word count and divide it by the days in a year. Alright, let’s assume 100,000 words is our goal. This is considered a “generally safe” range for mainstream fiction. Taking 100,000 words and dividing it by 365 you get 274. If you take off a couple of days a year for birthdays or holidays then you’re looking at somewhere around 280 words a day.
Distractions are everywhere these days. We carry a distraction machine to turn on at the slightest sign of boredom. We use computers (well, most of us) or tablets to write on. These tools, while useful, host a myriad of distractions ready to play at a moment’s notice through connections to the internet. And these distractions…
A key aspect of setting up a writing routine is determining a time and, as importantly, a writing space. From personal experience, I had to write at the same time every day in the same place to set up my routine. Unbeknownst to me, Cal Newport covers this concept in his book Deep Work: Rules…
Why. One of the five Ws we learn about in grade school and the motivation behind any goal. Why defines the reasons we stay up late writing and sacrifice weekends revising. Why can be the motivator during desperate periods of self-doubt. A powerful why can ignite the beginning, traverse the middle, and take you through to the end.
Genre: FictionSetting: GymObject: A deck of cards 52 weeks, 52 stories inspired by NYC Midnight Warning: story does contain a plethora of curse words. Gird your loins. The absolute travesty in life is that there are too many bad ways to lose money. And nowadays, with these devils we shepherd around in our pockets. Fuggedaboutit….
How to overcome the pitfalls of research and get back to writing your work in progress.
Genre: Historical FictionSetting: snowObject: Brass Locket 52 weeks, 52 stories Icy winter wind cuts deep into my flabby skin, the bone beneath creaking against the flesh prison. Our journey to Woodstock saw my cheeks double in size so even my ladies maids cannot look me whole in the face, while I dare not gaze into…
Genre: Western Setting: Rock City Object: a journal Billy finds purchase on the cadaver-grey rock overhang, hoisting himself closer to the man who killed his father. He’s long since left behind the tracks of the new-fangled incline rail, boasted about by signs in Chattanooga dreaming of progress. From the mountain, smoke chokes the skies from…
During my initial attempts to set up a writing process there was often nothing more daunting than beginning each day with the blank page. The fear feasted on an internal monologue of doubt which manifest itself in the belief that I had to write PERFECTLY. Every word, every sentence needed to be a masterpiece. This…
Note: my wife and I started a tradition years ago to make one Christmas present and then give a book. This is all we get for each other for Christmas. Partially this is because my wife’s birthday is in December and I’d rather get her a great birthday present. Anyway, this year my wife really…