Last week, I talked about how when I started writing, I started by writing a page of something every day. That worked great...for a while. But things change.
After a series of moves, the computer, which once had a private room of its own, had to be set up in the living room next to the TV. I no longer could go and write whenever I had the time. I had to find times when I was alone and the TV wasn't being used.
Some people don't mind noise when they write. I do. I don't need absolute silence, but I can't write with a TV show on in the background. I don't even put music on. Ambient noise is okay, but conversations distract me.
So, I modified my writing schedule. I do keep to a schedule. That's just the way my brain works. But the schedule is pretty flexible, allowing me time to write when I have time, and allowing me days off when I'm busy with other responsibilities.
The trick to the schedule is that every time I modify it, I make myself responsible for more pages per week. When I first had to go off the page-a-day, I modified my schedule to two pages for four days of the week. So, instead of seven pages a week, I was responsible for eight.
At the moment, my weekly goal is twelve pages, but that is soon to work up to sixteen (I hope). It sounds like so little, but some weeks, getting those twelve pages done is hard. (For example, this week. But that's another story.)
What about you? Do you have a weekly goal?
Thursday, July 7, 2011
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I love the little catch to your schedule! When writing is easy, it probably means you aren't growing. It's fantastic that you're pushing yourself to write more and more. I have daily goals, so weekly goals are very general. (ie, write, edit) Good luck getting to 16 pages! :D
ReplyDeleteKate DiCamillo writes 1k per day - "No more, no less." It's worked well for her. Sometimes I write thousands in a day, and sometimes nothing for days. There's something to be said for slow and steady.
ReplyDeleteWell I wanted to write my manuscript in a month, so I figured an approximate number of words (80,000 give or take) and then divided 30 days into that and did it that way. I woke up at 8am and worked until whenever I was done.
ReplyDelete<3 Gina Blechman
I try to set a regular schedule but I don't do very well with it. Life always seems to get in the way.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a schedule but I know I should especially with kids distracting me. I know I should do something different because I haven't gotten hardly anything written this summer.
ReplyDelete