Duncan Ralston's Blog - Posts Tagged "small-press"
On Word Counts (and Why I Like Them)
Some people have asked if I have a writing regimen.
I've been writing about 10k a week since January. That's good for me. I usually get about 1000 to 1500 words a day (I write slow - editing during so I have less to edit after), except on weekends when I usually take a break to do life stuff. So this is on average 2k per day in a five day work week. It helps that I'm enjoying the stuff I'm writing. I've had a helluva time banging out my latest thriller novella (due out very shortly - and yes, I'm nervously awaiting feedback!) and its accompanying screenplay, along with a new top secret horror novel I've been working on since March.
But it's not just the fun. I've also kept myself on track
by giving myself goals.
In 2016 I started giving myself yearly word count goals. That year I wanted to write 150,000 new words of fiction (ie. editing doesn't count). I beat that goal by almost 20k. Last year I gave myself a low goal of 250,000 words and a high goal of 300k. I hit 268k - a little shy of the high goal - but I didn't expect to reach more than my low goal, which I'd exceeded again.
This year I've given myself a low goal of 300k with a high goal of 350k. It's the end of April and I've already written a little less than 100k. I'll need to bump up those numbers a bit over the summer (which is usually my best time for writing), but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to make my low goal by October.
There's no penalty if I don't make my goal, but I have yet to miss one.
The key is just to give myself a goal.
The reward is in the achievement....
Continued at www.duncanralston.com.
I've been writing about 10k a week since January. That's good for me. I usually get about 1000 to 1500 words a day (I write slow - editing during so I have less to edit after), except on weekends when I usually take a break to do life stuff. So this is on average 2k per day in a five day work week. It helps that I'm enjoying the stuff I'm writing. I've had a helluva time banging out my latest thriller novella (due out very shortly - and yes, I'm nervously awaiting feedback!) and its accompanying screenplay, along with a new top secret horror novel I've been working on since March.
But it's not just the fun. I've also kept myself on track
by giving myself goals.
In 2016 I started giving myself yearly word count goals. That year I wanted to write 150,000 new words of fiction (ie. editing doesn't count). I beat that goal by almost 20k. Last year I gave myself a low goal of 250,000 words and a high goal of 300k. I hit 268k - a little shy of the high goal - but I didn't expect to reach more than my low goal, which I'd exceeded again.
This year I've given myself a low goal of 300k with a high goal of 350k. It's the end of April and I've already written a little less than 100k. I'll need to bump up those numbers a bit over the summer (which is usually my best time for writing), but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to make my low goal by October.
There's no penalty if I don't make my goal, but I have yet to miss one.
The key is just to give myself a goal.
The reward is in the achievement....
Continued at www.duncanralston.com.
