This week’s topic in the #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge is ” Word Counts Matter… How much? How often?”
This is a question much debated by writers and there’s no one right answer. Every author has a different process, some more successful than others. As Nora Roberts said, one thing is for sure, “you can’t fix a blank page.” That’s why we need to type out those words, one by one at a time.
When I hit a writer’s block after my husband’s death, I took a class on Speed Writing. The instructor recommended a number of books, but the one that helped me get started again was The 8-Minute Writing Habit: Create a Consistent Writing Habit That Works With Your Busy Lifestyle (Growth Hacking For Storytellers #3) by Monica Leonelle. I tried the exercise where you commit to writing for no more than 8 minutes a day for 8 days. After the first few days, I was writing for 8 minutes plus an hour more. Once I got started it was easy to keep going until I finished the draft of my Western historical, Lily and the Gambler.
While I do recommend this method in getting a rough draft done, we all know that writing is re-writing, and once we’re in edit/revision mode, it’s no longer about putting words on the page so much as making those words shine. Alas this can be a longer process.
Still, we get nowhere without getting those words on the page, so here’s to words, without which books would not exist.
As always, use the linky list below to find more #MFRWAuthor posts about word count.
Linda
P.O. Lily and the Gambler is on sale this summer for only 99 cents at Amazon Kindle, BN/Nook and Smashwords.
I’d never heard of that book, but I love the concept. After my daughter’s suicide attempt, I realized the only way back to writing was a lot of TLC and very undemanding goals. It worked for me, and I love knowing someone has put that concept on paper.
It can be hard to get back to writing after a traumatic event, and setting lower than average goals that are easily accomplished is better than setting big goals and failing to meet them. And once we get some positive results, it’s easier to keep moving. Hope all is well in your family now.
Never heard of that book. The group I’m part of on FB is called 10 Minute Novelist. Sounds like a similar concept maybe, the creator talks about writing for just 10 minutes out of your day. With summer being out, sometimes just a few minutes is all I have for myself.
It does sound like a similar comment. I need to start doing this again.
I’m going to look for that book!
I found it at Amazon.
Thanks for the book recommendation- I’ll have to look for that.
Thanks for dropping by.
I’ll have to look for that book, also, Linda. I’m feeling very blocked lately, but I think mostly overwhelmed with trying to juggle marketing and writing new material!
Thanks for the tip about The 8-Minute Writing Habit. For me, the hardest part about sitting down to write is the actual sitting and getting started, so I can see how once I’ve written for 8 minutes I’d keep going.
Thanks for the book recommendation. It sounds like something I can do.