Techniques for Productivity

[deilaitha]

This may sound weird and get me chased around with rolled-up manuscripts, but I actually like editing. For me it's getting to spend more time with old friends. I see editing as polishing a quenched sword. Sure, it looks like crap now, but with every pass something wonderful is coming to light, and you can see the finished blade coming to light before your eyes.

I am jealous, but not jealous enough to chase you around. I love the finished product of editing, just like I love the way my house looks after I clean it--but it's the editing or the cleaning that I don't enjoy!
By the way...if you want a job cleaning houses, let me know, lol.

 

[C Hollis]

I write until the characters shut up and leave me alone. That could be 20 minutes or 20 hours.

Really there is no rhyme or reason to my productivity. I don't care for word count minimums, however I do like to get at least 1000 words a day. That being said, if I don't get 1000, I don't get 1000. If I step out of my office with a smile on my face, then I have had a successful writing session.

I don't care how long I spend at the writing desk, just as long as I spend some time there.

I found if I get in a rut, I will walk away in the middle of a scene so when I return the next day, there is a built in launching pad to get the juices flowing.

I am also one of those loons who like editing. Well, to a point. I am in the midst of copy-editing (the last two phases of my process) and I am impatient. The book is so close to being done, I find I have to slow myself down and do it right. But watching the book transform from a chunk of raw steel to a shining blade is quite satisfying.

 

[Butterfly]

My writing goals tend to run on a monthly word count goal that depends on how I feel at the time. Either a 50,000 king of nano copy month, or a 30,000 month. I find it helps to reduce the 'burnout' by alternating them. A busy month and a not so busy month. The burn out can be a problem sometimes, I tend to take a few days away and just think about the story rather than try to write it then.

For editing, I aim for a chapter a day. For 40 chapters it should take 40 days of reading, restructuring and rewriting. But won't always be on target. Extensive rewriting will take a couple of extra days. If there is a lot of restructuring to do then it needs a plan and an outline, current order vs proposed order minus any cuts and plus any new chapters that are needed. Then it's time to sort out that section.