On occasion, my chapter will have a little contest we call NEW (No Excuses Writing) to prod us into getting new pages written. And one of the things that always amazes me is how fast some of my friends write. They sit down and boom, they’ll have 20 pages in an hour or two. Or they consistently write 10-15 pages a day.
Wow.
I must say I have, on occasion, written that many pages at a sitting. But it’s not the most common outcome for me. The story has to really be flowing for me to do that. As a fairly accurate, consistent measure, I write 3-6 pages a day. And there is nothing wrong with that.
Everyones creative process is different. For me, I have to be able to tap into my character’s specific point of view to write a scene, especially a very emotional scene. If I’m sick, or too many other things are going on, sometimes I can’t get there in my head. So the scene has to wait another day.
I’m a linear writer – I cannot just see a scene and write it to put it in later where it fits. I know writers who can do that and that’s great, but it just doesn’t work for me. Often I will know specific things that are going to happen, but I can’t write the scene ahead of time. I just make a note then when I get to that point, I write the scene. If I tried to write it early, I wouldn’t know my character’s true emotional state (what has or has not been resolved in their world), nor would I know so early which character’s POV the scene would need be in. So I would only be giving myself more work to do later in editing.
The hardest part about being a writer is learning your specific process. It takes trial and error, and often years, to figure out. But it’s worth the effort. Knowing how many pages you can consistently produce will benefit you when a contract comes your way. Deadlines are negotiable, within reason, so knowing how long it will take you to produce that next book is the best gift you can give yourself.
Don’t worry about keeping up with how many pages everyone else writes. Learn your process and then they’ll be trying to keep up with you.
tracewords said,
January 16, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I enjoyed this.
20 pages in one sitting would mean one heck of a binge-writing weekend for me – no phones, no motorcars, not a single luxury – except for the ol’laptop, an endless supply of coffee, and about 48 sleepless hours.
annaliserussell said,
January 17, 2008 at 1:15 am
While I have done 20 page days, they are the rare exception for me. However, I have a critique partner who can put out first draft pages at an amazing rate – she scares me that way sometimes ~Annalise