Day 170: Editing causing problems again
I got up early and now I’m ready to start! I’m going to start with cycling and edit what I wrote earlier.
Today I’m going to try writing on my gaming keyboard in 4thewords.com but I am going to try not to edit as I go. I just prefer the feel of the gaming keyboard, and if I’m going to be writing a lot, I want a nicer keyboard.
I’m also going to try the mindset shift I thought about yesterday. I realized that the few writers who I have read about who write 8-10k words a day tend to write in longer bursts, 3 or 4 hours minimum.
I recently read a Facebook post by an indie author who is not only a part time lawyer, but she writes 10k a day. She takes a few days to plot the book, but then can write one in a week, and her average writing speed is 2000-2500 words an hour. She tends to write in a 5-6 hour block in the evenings.
Also, Rachel Aaron (in her book 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love ) described her writing day as writing 4 or 5 hours at a coffeeshop. Elana Johnson (Writing and Releasing Rapidly) mentioned writing in one or two chunks of 2 hours each during the day if she can fit it into her schedule, but she also talks about often doing the bulk of her writing late at night in a longer chunk. (To be fair, Elana also can write in 15-30 minute sprints when she’s waiting for her kids, too.)
I’ve been writing in chunks of 90 minutes. I know I need to get up every hour or two because of my back, but I’ve been taking “breaks” that end up being an hour or more.
However, I want to try a mindset shift with the intent to write for a chunk of 4-5 hours, and the only breaks I get are bathroom breaks. This change in how I think about my writing sessions might be what helps me to keep my breaks to a minimum, but also might help me write more and faster if I do my writing in larger chunks.
Anyway, I’ll try it and see. The larger chunks might be tough since I’m not used to it—it may be that I need to work up to it and build up my stamina, like a marathon runner.
***
I got some editing done before breakfast, but after breakfast I was distracted by a problem with the paperback version of The Gentleman Thief that I uploaded yesterday, and the final acceptance of the paperback version of volume 1 of my series. So I went through my launch checklist and performed the tasks I needed to do after the paperback version went live. I also checked email, which took a little time since I also discovered some unread messages in my Facebook group about the weddings Contemporary Romance anthology I’m part of. I hate how my Facebook notifications lately have been very spotty! I didn’t get notifications for any of these messages!
I also didn’t realize that I had forgotten to edit three entire scenes of volume 3, when I had thought I was editing each day as I went. I should have edited at least one scene yesterday and didn’t do it at all. Then I wrote two scenes yesterday (I finished one scene and started another, which is almost done), so now I have 3 scenes to edit.
The editing is going to take a while, so I might not get to writing until after lunch.
***
Ugh! I hate when I have to stop and do research when I’m editing! It always takes so long! I didn’t even finish editing the scene before lunch!
***
I finally finished editing, but now it’s late in the day and I haven’t written anything yet! Ugh!
Originally I started cycling (editing before writing) in order to ease into my writing session. This does work, but when I write a lot, then the editing takes longer, and I end up writing later in the day. I don’t think this is a good idea. My tracking has shown that I tend to write faster when I write earlier in the day, and I can tell that later in the day I’m feeling tired. (Which is so weird because I have been a night owl for the longest time!)
I think tomorrow I’ll try writing first before editing, and then do the editing later in the day. I’ll see if I need the editing to ease into the writing or if I can just move into writing after blogging, maybe.
Even though it’s late and I’m tired, I have to get writing done! I’m going to try for three or four hours, if I can.
***
I only got 2 hours of writing done, and I finished the scene but now I have to block the next one before I can start writing.
I’m also feeling very tired, so instead of writing more, I’ll do some editing. I finished two scenes today (one was mostly done when I started) so I have a fair amount of editing. Then maybe I can dive right into the writing tomorrow morning.
***
I got my editing done! Tomorrow I’ll be able to start writing (or rather, blocking) first thing. I hope that helps me be more productive.
Blocking: time spent: 5 minutes
Editing: Time spent: 5 hours, 1 minute
Writing: Time spent: 2 hours, 11 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 2695 words
Writing: Average speed: 1342 words per hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 34 minutes
My takeaway for today: Tomorrow, try writing first before editing, and then do the editing later in the day.
Today I’m going to try writing on my gaming keyboard in 4thewords.com but I am going to try not to edit as I go. I just prefer the feel of the gaming keyboard, and if I’m going to be writing a lot, I want a nicer keyboard.
I’m also going to try the mindset shift I thought about yesterday. I realized that the few writers who I have read about who write 8-10k words a day tend to write in longer bursts, 3 or 4 hours minimum.
I recently read a Facebook post by an indie author who is not only a part time lawyer, but she writes 10k a day. She takes a few days to plot the book, but then can write one in a week, and her average writing speed is 2000-2500 words an hour. She tends to write in a 5-6 hour block in the evenings.
Also, Rachel Aaron (in her book 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love ) described her writing day as writing 4 or 5 hours at a coffeeshop. Elana Johnson (Writing and Releasing Rapidly) mentioned writing in one or two chunks of 2 hours each during the day if she can fit it into her schedule, but she also talks about often doing the bulk of her writing late at night in a longer chunk. (To be fair, Elana also can write in 15-30 minute sprints when she’s waiting for her kids, too.)
I’ve been writing in chunks of 90 minutes. I know I need to get up every hour or two because of my back, but I’ve been taking “breaks” that end up being an hour or more.
However, I want to try a mindset shift with the intent to write for a chunk of 4-5 hours, and the only breaks I get are bathroom breaks. This change in how I think about my writing sessions might be what helps me to keep my breaks to a minimum, but also might help me write more and faster if I do my writing in larger chunks.
Anyway, I’ll try it and see. The larger chunks might be tough since I’m not used to it—it may be that I need to work up to it and build up my stamina, like a marathon runner.
***
I got some editing done before breakfast, but after breakfast I was distracted by a problem with the paperback version of The Gentleman Thief that I uploaded yesterday, and the final acceptance of the paperback version of volume 1 of my series. So I went through my launch checklist and performed the tasks I needed to do after the paperback version went live. I also checked email, which took a little time since I also discovered some unread messages in my Facebook group about the weddings Contemporary Romance anthology I’m part of. I hate how my Facebook notifications lately have been very spotty! I didn’t get notifications for any of these messages!
I also didn’t realize that I had forgotten to edit three entire scenes of volume 3, when I had thought I was editing each day as I went. I should have edited at least one scene yesterday and didn’t do it at all. Then I wrote two scenes yesterday (I finished one scene and started another, which is almost done), so now I have 3 scenes to edit.
The editing is going to take a while, so I might not get to writing until after lunch.
***
Ugh! I hate when I have to stop and do research when I’m editing! It always takes so long! I didn’t even finish editing the scene before lunch!
***
I finally finished editing, but now it’s late in the day and I haven’t written anything yet! Ugh!
Originally I started cycling (editing before writing) in order to ease into my writing session. This does work, but when I write a lot, then the editing takes longer, and I end up writing later in the day. I don’t think this is a good idea. My tracking has shown that I tend to write faster when I write earlier in the day, and I can tell that later in the day I’m feeling tired. (Which is so weird because I have been a night owl for the longest time!)
I think tomorrow I’ll try writing first before editing, and then do the editing later in the day. I’ll see if I need the editing to ease into the writing or if I can just move into writing after blogging, maybe.
Even though it’s late and I’m tired, I have to get writing done! I’m going to try for three or four hours, if I can.
***
I only got 2 hours of writing done, and I finished the scene but now I have to block the next one before I can start writing.
I’m also feeling very tired, so instead of writing more, I’ll do some editing. I finished two scenes today (one was mostly done when I started) so I have a fair amount of editing. Then maybe I can dive right into the writing tomorrow morning.
***
I got my editing done! Tomorrow I’ll be able to start writing (or rather, blocking) first thing. I hope that helps me be more productive.
Blocking: time spent: 5 minutes
Editing: Time spent: 5 hours, 1 minute
Writing: Time spent: 2 hours, 11 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 2695 words
Writing: Average speed: 1342 words per hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 34 minutes
My takeaway for today: Tomorrow, try writing first before editing, and then do the editing later in the day.
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