Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Pacing Myself

Most of my June blogs will (probably understandably) be process blogs... I am writing a novel in 30 days—or at least the bulk of one, so it seems understandable that that is ABOUT all I can hold in my noggin at a time. The first issue, when LOOKING at the writing, but not actually STARTING is... how fast do I really need to go? Yes, I need to average 1667 words a day all month, but there are some things I know about myself and my schedule, that... were I a THINKING person (debatable, yes.) I would take into account. See... I am not a sprinter. Honestly, I don't even WANT to be... My Freshman roommate (college) could be a daily party girl then cram... not me. I was a daily party girl, sure... but I had to spend a few hours EVERY DAY keeping up on reading and homework. Work hard/play hard... SAME DAY. So I have to consider that... NOT capable of cramming... no all-nighters for me... And what else?


The Evil Day Job

Monday through Friday from seven to five, I am COMMITTED. Oh, I hear you... I check in here... I read a couple blogs... but that is the stuff of BREAKS. The reality of it is THAT is a time unavailable for a WriMo. I need to be able to commit it to doing the job that pays.

Additionally, I am ALSO committed to blogging daily. I have some guest bloggers scheduled, but that STILL takes time to coordinate. So I think I will call my early morning, PRE-work, SHOT. That is my blog time.


What's left to write?

About two hours between work and bath on my COMPUTER (provided the blog is under control) and maybe 90 minutes in the tub. (see, I'm not the only one) PLENTY of time. But I should chop that tub time in half for PLOTTING—all that planning stuff that has to happen if I am going to have a coherent thing when I get done... So about 2.75 hours for writing on any given weekday. There WILL be exceptions (the water polo banquet the 8th for instance) but hopefully THAT day, I can plan not to plan... or something...

Weekends I have more time (though not a ton more—nobody in my family has, as yet, volunteered to do laundry or bathrooms just because I want to write all month *hmph* but ideally I will at LEAST get another hour in.


And then there is NOVEL stuff...

I also know for a fact that I go faster at first. Set up is EASY. Early character interactions are EASY. It is all about laying out the facts. Mid-novel things get MUCH harder. So I should PLAN for things getting harder, yes? See how smart I am? *cough *

Seriously though-- the 50% - 75% part of the book are particularly hard for me... always HAVE been (except LEGACY, but that was build up to the next book) So I need to plan the SLOW DOWN... when each word costs more effort (and time)

With all that in mind I have plotted my word count goals... in spite of being able to do MORE on the weekends, I am doing a 1667 goal for weekdays for the first 2 weeks, with a 2500 per day on the weekends added on. My REASON, is after the halfway mark, I allow to slow that pace a little... I also am planning for my neighborhood picnic, on which I will write a little in the morning, but will have consumed too much BEER for the afternoon to be worth much (this the 18th)... but my last week, weekdays, I am only expecting 1000 words a day from myself. This pads both for DIFFICULTY and... finishing the darned thing if it will be significantly longer than 50K words (which surely it will)

So that is the plan... and that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

And so I will end, not with the mojo, intended to inspire writers, but with my GRAPH--you heard me--the GRAPH is the finale!  HA!

Needs some work on resolution, but you should be able to see that weekends bump on what I am expecting, and the whole darned thing slows down at the end.  I will try to make it clearer before I post it with progress... how's that?

18 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

Wow, aren't you organised? See that's why I wouldn't be able to do this thing. My work commitments leave me drained! I wish you LUCK!!!

Unknown said...

Good Luck with your NoMo! Very brave of you!!!

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Hart, I've got to spend some time at the Facebook site and see how I'm supposed to log time, etc. I'm hoping to get a good deal done on some days and just regular productivity on others . :) My graph might look like yours, actually!

Hart Johnson said...

Jessica-work can do that to me, too--it is why USUALLY I only write in the bath later--it allows the necessary wind-down, but June shouldn't be bad--no grants and no meeting prep.

Tessa, Thank you!

Elizabeth--yeah, at the end when it gets hard, I am definitely back to normal. I will have to see if Jason has managed our widget--otherwise we will be more a 'thread to report' kind of system for word count...

Jan Morrison said...

Well my deario - good luck with this - I start my revision today - 49 days and I too am consumed with thoughts of pacing - only in hours. I need to do just about 3 hours a day to meet my sched. These early days that'll be easy - I'm reading over my first draft and have six hours down for that - I'm a speedy reader so probably take less time. My thing will be if I finish the task under hours no problem. So I can pick up time that way. I'll check in on your process but probably won't comment much. This feels just like when I was in Dublin and there were thousands of us standing around waiting for the race to begin and we were mostly all nervous (not the Kenyans) and psyched and it was cool and a bit rainy just like today. And we're OFF!

Unknown said...

You're very organized. I'm trying to gear up too. Glad to work with you on BuNoWriMo.

CD

Sugar said...

Yay naked writers and old men in tubs!!!
I am not organized..I have no plan. I am just going to cross my fingers and hope I can finish at 50k.. I'm aiming for no sleep, and weekend cram-writing! We have four baseball games this week, and then the whole job thing..but I'm not going to let myself make excuses..I will do it, you will do it! we can do this girly!!!

Hart Johnson said...

Jan--I try to 'bank' progress, too, as SOMEWHERE something will go SLOWER than planned--sadly--but your revision timing is perfect for a September querying, yeah? Seems that bodes well for one of the periods agents are really looking for new stuff! Good luck!

Clarissa--I just PLAY organized on my blog--I'm actually somewhat of a disaster--but I'm glad the disguise is working! Glad to have you doing BuNoWriMo, too!

Sugar--as mentioned... the plan is a ruse... URGH! Baseball! I had a couple years there that both of my kids played--6 nights a week we had SOMETHING for baseball! Thankfully, they've both given it up *shifty* (there are things I miss about it--and I prefer it to swim meets, but the swim meets are at least less frequent.) You can do it too!

Erica Mitchell said...

Wow! You have this so sorted out I kinda want to tuck my tail D: I started out plannin for the event and thought I had the plot going and how many word each chapter would average and the average word per day kinda thing. Then one of my characters went bonkers in my head and changed everything last minute, yes 6 hours before midnight everything changed so now I am kind of doing this as a "pantser". SCARY!
I have days, where I can push out 7k at a time (sounds like giving birth and kinda is) so I have no idea what I will average or when. Crossing fingers that I don't hit plot holes, thats the biggest concern since my darned MC went and changed the whole beginning!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Stick to the plan, Hart!

B. Miller said...

I am amazed at the level of planning you're putting in to this. I'm sure you'll meet your goal by the end of the month! Good luck on this incredible project!

You should stop by my blog today when you get a chance... you're in it! :D

Hart Johnson said...

Erica-I'm terribly impressed you've ever had 7000 word days! The reason I need to plan and pace myself is because I CAN'T do that. I have to get on top and stay on top *cough* I'm giggling at your bossy MC

Alex-I'll try!

B. thank you! Hopefully all will go smoothly--my healthy dose of stubbornness helps! *heading to your blog*

Anonymous said...

Good luck!!

Can you do any plotting in the bath though? That's often the most productive time I spend all day! :)

Hart Johnson said...

Alex-I plot like a MADWOMAN in the bathtub! I do my best thinking naked! Thank you!

Lisa McLellan said...

OMG!You are amazing and I bow to you! I'd have a mental meltdown trying to do all that you do!
I need an hour in the morning just to wake up, never mind do anything productive.

I'm thoroughly enjoying your blog, and your great pictures, when I can keep up! Thanks! And good luck!

Hart Johnson said...

*snort* Lisa, you DID get that while I can MAKE a helluva plan, I never follow it, yeah? You're fabulous though. You made me smile right before bed, which means HAPPY dreams!

Readers Dais said...

My goodness, thats a new experience, do writers really write wihin a plan...god knows
anyways all the best freind :)

Hart Johnson said...

*snicker* I have to TRY! between my day job and my family, if there is no plan, it just can't get done. I do a lot of improvising as I go though!