THREE PAGES?!?
No, seriously, only three pages? I’ve been writing for four hours, and all I have to show for it is three measly pages? That’s not even one page per hour, and it feels like I’ve plowed through fifteen at the very least.
This was one of those times when I wasn’t interrupted a thousand times by someone needing something. Well, except for the dogs who needed to be let in. Then out. Then back in again. Then scratched, patted, and given their evening treats.
But that didn’t take long.
The rest of the time, I was nose to the grindstone, or fingers to the keyboard, making lovely words flow from tapping keys.
All for three whole pages of words.
Three.
And my brain? It is fried, my friends, fried. 2,000 words turned my mind to soggy playdoh.
Writing is hard work, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Even if the plot is right there, begging to be let out onto the page, that doesn’t mean it comes out clean. Like any birth, there is a lot of pain, sweat, and mess that needs cleaning up in order to be recognizable as something worth editing later.
I will admit that my first drafts tend to be rather clean, mainly because I found that if I don’t make my point clear early on, it will get lost by the time I’m ready for the first edit. That means fewer pages at a time, but in the end, a little less editing.
…Sometimes…
So, what’s your page limit? When you’re deep in the throes of pounding out plot, are the pages piling up at your feet (or on your hard drive), or does it only seem that way? Do you look at what you’ve done and chortled with glee at your double-digit progress, or did you groan in disbelief at the single-digit count?
Or… are you happy with whatever you get written, because writing, despite being hard work, is what drives us?
-Karen-
This writing business is indeed, hard work. I think 2000 words is a pretty good result.
The story I wrote last night about the haunted bridge took me about 3 hours and it was only about 900 words, so I guess that puts things into perspective.
You raise an interesting point. I’m writing a novel at the moment and what I like to do during a session is plan a scene beforehand. I sketch out what I want to happen and if I succeed in covering everything I want to cover in 3 or 4 hours I am happy regardless of word count.
I have a weird way of writing books. I tend to write them in scenes rather than chapters. It’s as if I’m watching a film in my head.
I also act the scenes out and read the dialogue aloud. I have found that doing that helps me to decide if something is believable or not. It’s a bit of a mish mash but in the end it seems to all come together.
I know this pain. I’ve been writing-less for months due to all the baby stuff and the other day I had some inspiration and had to wait most of the day before I could sit down and write what had come to mind. Of course, all I managed was about two sentences in an hour and I felt so deflated afterwards. There’s so much I could have done with that hour with my newly super-efficient (by necessity) housekeeping skills.