How Do You Actually Write?
How do you actually get your writing work done on any given day. I realized I’m not sure how I do it, so I thought I’d chronicle at least part of it here.
I need to generate a new chapter for a client. We know what it’s going to be about and the point, but the details are missing. Since the book is really an allegory, it’s the story I have to create, or the next phase of the story.
- I started right at 9 by re-reading the notes I’d taken when my client and I talked last week.
- I played the Bumble Bee game over at Orisinal for about 3 minutes.
- I wrote about 300 words setting up the situation - which took about 15 minutes.
- The various scenes or chunks of this story seem to be taking about 15 minutes each to draft… I draft one and need to pace around a bit, or come over here and blog about it… some thinking time is needed to move to the next chunk.
- Then I got interrupted because I found out I’d gotten a bad link in an email - that took about 12 minutes to sort out.
Whew! Just over 1,000 words in almost an hour and a half. Not bad, for draft material. Now I’m going to take a break with a bit of gardening.
How do you actually get something written?
Write well and often,
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Tags: draft, freelance-writing, home-business, rough-draft, work-at-home, writers, writingRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Ghostwriting, Notes from a Writing Coach
7 opinions for How Do You Actually Write?
Claudia
Apr 14, 2008 at 11:48 am
Hi, Anne, like you I do an array of mental and physical tasks to get content written. I always try to remain aware of how long I’m sitting, and get up and do stretching exercises at least every 30 minutes. It keeps my back from aching, and allows the content to breathe. I find that when I stay relaxed and oxygenated, it’s easier to produce.
Oh, and I always have water or tea nearby to keep from dehydrating.
I’ve enjoyed your blog for over a year now, never dreamed I would be a b5media blogger! Thanks for your good information.
Anne Wayman
Apr 14, 2008 at 12:28 pm
which is your blog, claudia… I should know, but…. put up a link for us.
Claudia
Apr 14, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Sorry, I thought the comment function would automatically include it!
The Good Musician at http://www.thegoodmusician.com
Personal blog–Fried Okra Productions at http://friedokraproductions.blogspot.com
Joan
Apr 14, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I block out the various projects with estimated time allotments for each. It’s amazing how productive deadlines make me. If I don’t have a deadline, I set one for myself. I keep regular office hours just as if I drove downtown to a job. I’m like Claudia with the stretching every hour. Otherwise, I can hardly crawl away from the computer at the end of the day.
Anne Wayman
Apr 14, 2008 at 5:49 pm
By four I feel stupid so I generally quit writing… deadlines I set I know I can slip and I often do… if the client sets them or we agree, I’m all over it.
Kathleen L
Apr 16, 2008 at 7:20 am
I have different writing times and styles.
When I have another job to go to: I write when I have the opportunity to write. When I am inspired to write, when a story is burning in me, I carve out time, on breaks, at lunch, during lulls in work load. I write long form on the back side of discarded reports. Recycling and all.
When my job is writing and/or I am doing a freelance piece: I interview subjects and write during my scheduled — on the clock — time. I am lucky because I can write under the presser of a deadline. I like deadlines too Joan, they keep me honest. They help keep me on track. When writing from my home office I start about 8:30 a.m., deal with the e-mail issues and then start pulling out the assignments. Then I attempt to stop about the time the kids get home from school as they have issues with not demanding mom’s time when they got home, can’t blame them though, so I try to stop about 3 p.m.
I too make myself get up and move around. I don’t have a set time limit. I go by the level of coffee in my cup. I like having background noise to keep my mind from wandering too far… we have workmen doing a major street project outside, I can hear them, so having the TV on or the Radio or a CD playing helps me focus when I am at home. (But this did not used to be a problem when I lived on a ranch, because the ranch sounds were not distracting.)
Anne Wayman
Apr 16, 2008 at 8:43 am
I think I’ve said I get stupid around 4 in the afternoon, so I always try to stop then, or a bit before.
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