Hat tip to Rap Sheet who brought this to my attention.A lot of this has been said before, but one thing stood out. Mosley suggests that on completion of your work, you tape the whole thing and then listen to it. He claims it will point out a myriad of problems. Has anyone done this? Was it helpful? I don't want to spend the 10 or more hours this would take if it isn't. Also how many people write three hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year? He also totes this as necessary.
I'm not the kind of writer that needs to be inspired but this does seem out of reach for anyone who isn't living off of their royalty checks and advances. But maybe most writers do this. What is your usual schedule?
9 comments:
The guilt over that kind of schedule would kill me. My goal is to write *something* every day. I shoot for a scene but sometimes it's just a sentence. I don't like it but that's life right now... and it's better than the guilt I'd feel if I were neglecting my kids for the sake of the almighty schedule.
I think men/fathers can afford to be more cavalier about things like schedules when they are not the kids' primary caregivers....
I have never taped myself. Not sure I would suggest it. Not everyone has a good reading voice.
As for writing everyday...nope. Haven't written anything in the month of August. When I want to write something, I find the time. But then, I'm not the greatest role model...don't really believe in rewriting. Get the tone down right in your head, write a decent first draft, make corrections, send it in. If they don't like it, write another story.
I was asked for a rewrite on a new novel and I'm really struggling to find the motivation. In fact, I haven't found it yet and haven't even opened the file in more than a month. Not good.
Christa-When I had kids under five, my sole ambition was to read a book, not write one.
Steven-I have a novel in stories an agent told me to rewrite as a novel. I have yet to find the motivation to begin that project. It seems hopeless and you're right about the voice thing, maybe I can get someone with a better reading voice to do it for me. HA!
I've never been one to write every day. If I go more than a week or so without taking a day off, it gets really difficult. I usually write five or six days a week, but I put in fairly long hours on those days.
That's a pretty ambitious schedule. One my husband adheres to and I've tried to this summer. And it does pay off. Another thing Mosley said was that this sort of schedule allows the novel to percolate in your head so you subconscious can work on it for you. I think that makes sense.
I tend toward James's type of schedule. My goal is to write 1000 words a day which I'm able to do five days while I'm at work and usually one of the weekend days, though the weekends have taken a hit the last few weeks. Every once in a while though the plot goes off the rail and I usually have to take some time off to figure out where I went wrong and how to fix it.
As far as revision goes, it's a necessity for me. I write nasty, messy, and virtually incoherent first drafts. It can take me a couple drafts to even find my story.
I edit as I write so my first draft is pretty coherent but often ends too early or starts too slowly. That's what my first reader said about my novel and that's what I'm working on. In a month, I'll begin to face the real challenge-finding an agent.
I don't know about recording your voice and then listening to it, but one of the best things you can do is read the material out loud. What looks good on paper may sound awkward when you actually read it and pronounce it. I get a little self-conscience when I do it, so it's usually late at night on the opposite side of the house where no one else can hear.
As for writing everyday, I think that's a lot of baloney. It may work for some people, but I don't think it's some key to success. It's a matter of personal preference, sort of like pen or pencil, computer or long hand. It's whatever works for you. When I try to write everyday, I realize that most of what I produce is basically typing, not writing. I'd rather spend the time thinking about the story rather than forcing my fingers to tap tap tap.
This summer was the first time I was ablt to write every day for an extended period of time, only getting up to scrub a toilet or make the bed as distraction. And I did notice that the story came easier because it was percolating in my subconscious all the time.
Also I do read stuff aloud to my writing group, and hear it that way. If often tells me something is too long, too boring, repetitious, but the whole book seems like too much.
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