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    • CommentAuthorVetes
    • CommentTimeMar 1st 2008
     (1222.1)
    I've been writing a story for almost three weeks now. I have about 37 pages of what will be about a 220 to 250 page story.

    Sometimes it's hard to stay on task. I've made it my goal to at least write a page everyday. I'm trying to find new tricks to keep myself going. I find that writing one page a day is now fairly easy. I'm thinking of moving it to 2 pages a day.

    Also the internet becomes the Procrastination Machine. Any more help procrastinating would be great.
  2.  (1222.2)
    37 pages in 3 weeks is not bad at all, downright impressive really.

    Something I found helps, is to set shorter term goals. For instance, I'm editing this horrible commercial film project right now, when I get lock on 20 minutes (of a 60 minute video) I have a good sushi dinner out. Or I hit the bookstore and pick up something new, a nice splurge but nothing that breaks the bank or distracts me too much. I know it sounds Oprah-like ("Treat your spirit" or some shit) but there have honestly been late nights, deep in Final Cut Pro when i've been working almost completely for a plate of Salmon Maki.
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      CommentAuthormuse hick
    • CommentTimeMar 1st 2008 edited
     (1222.3)
    i tend to have more than one project at the go at once so i can utilise my adhd by bouncing around. am pushing on for 40,000 words of my novel at the moment and have completed that in a time which make me wonder why nanowrimo* was such a problem for me

    *for those who don't know it runs every November and you are supposed to write a 50,000 word novel.
  4.  (1222.4)
    yeah, its really hard to write on a solid schedule for me, working full time and involved with the music scene. i justdont have the discipline yet to force myself to stay home when there is so much going on. in the past year, i have seriously only gotten about 5 full pieces done, with about 10 half finished/ in the deep idea stage.its pretty weak.
    • CommentAuthorzenbullet
    • CommentTimeMar 1st 2008
     (1222.5)
    I'm with the you're doing fucking awesome keep it up crowd.

    Also don't focus on the page count right now, or how far along you are, just keep moving, like the shark.
  6.  (1222.6)
    Yeah, what Zen said. Something you just have to turn off and just write. Write until you're blithery and tired and then do something else for hours. Then come back to it and rinse, repeat. I know it's hard to focus, just staring at a computer screen (or a typewriter or notepad, if that's your thing). I think a good way not to get distracted is work off-line complete(remove the friggin' modem from your computer or disconnect your internet) and then just work.
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      CommentAuthorScribe
    • CommentTimeMar 1st 2008
     (1222.7)
    Personally I just fall into a zone. Some days I can write for hours on end and the words just come to me, and I never leave my computer. Other days I have a hard time just stringing a coherent sentence together.

    When you feel it, just do it.

    I learned when I'm not writing, but still want to work on my project, I do research to fill the time until something clicks.
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      CommentAuthorAlan Tyson
    • CommentTimeMar 2nd 2008 edited
     (1222.8)
    Stephen King suggests writing 2,000 words a day. He admits, in On Writing, that he does not stick to this religiously, rather spending whole months tinkering followed up by a day or two of furious, red-eyed composition. But he also says that just having the 2,000 word goal helps tremendously.

    Conversely, a writer I recently heard speak at my school, Eric Miles Williamson, said that a page a day is fantastic - at the end of a year, you have a 365-page novel. Not bad advice, I say.

    I tend to follow the King school of thought, because it feels a little more intuitive, based on writing more when you're really in the mood. But I can see the logic of a more orderly schedule.
  9.  (1222.9)
    That's pretty kickass. I haven't written any fiction more then about five pages since I was 16, so I'm impressed.
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      CommentAuthorJon Wake
    • CommentTimeMar 2nd 2008
     (1222.10)
    I'm one of those guys who has to have a good I idea of where I'm going or else I'm never getting there. The upside is that when I finally sit down in front of the computer with my three notebooks full of notes and storylines and characters, the "blank white" never intimidates me and I know I have 'x' number of pages to accomplish 'y' in the story. This makes it so much more rewarding, because I have these built in landmarks. It's like doing a long run: if you don't know where you're headed, it's really easy to get discouraged. But if you've passed the house on the right that you know marks the half way point, your ego gets a boost and you know all you have to do is keep moving your legs.

    I also have to acknowledge that I'm still a journeyman at the craft of storytelling, and that as I get more and more practice, I'll need less and less prep work. Pro's like Ellis or Bendis or Kirkman or Waid or any of those cats who have to write on a day to day basis to survive get so much practice that they likely don't have to do all the grunt work anymore.
    • CommentAuthorVetes
    • CommentTimeMar 2nd 2008
     (1222.11)
    I'm really trying to pump this story out, which is a series of shorts tied together really covering genres of all kinds.

    I have noticed that if I set no goals for the day other than my writing goal, i tend to write a lot more. It's hard to do this though. There's so much out there to look at ad do.

    I know one thing though. I I get a stretch of a few days off from work in a row in the next few weeks, I'm gonna write like a maniac and try and write the whole story. It'll probably involve some whiskey and my once every 6 month cigarette as a requirement to do.
  12.  (1222.12)
    I get into a zone when I put on some good music, have a solid idea of what I want to write, and just sit down and do it.

    I can write about 10 pages a day. More if I push myself. I just NEED to get a story done, before it leaves my head, so I just write and I write till it's complete.

    Pretty easy when you've got some NIN on, or some Blonde Redhead. Find something that inspires you and just listen/watch/do it and get writing.

    Works for me.
    • CommentAuthormunin218
    • CommentTimeMar 2nd 2008
     (1222.13)
    I have so many ideas, and ive been procrastinating, too.

    i know what its like...
    • CommentAuthorScottS
    • CommentTimeMar 2nd 2008
     (1222.14)
    I finished one 200+ page manuscript (well, I finished a really rambling first draft at least) using the NaNoWriMo model (1667 words per day for 30 days, doing a minimum of 50k by the end of the month). I marked the cumulative goal for each day on the calendar and did my best to hit the goal each day. For the most part I succeeded, and when I fell a bit behind I made up for it on weekends when I could go to Barnes & Noble or Tattered Cover and just sit and write with no distractions. I did the NanoWriMo "official" month in November and hit past the 50k goal, but haven't actually finished the story yet... most because I don't have that deadline looming over me anymore. I really need to just set a deadline and get working on it again.

    I think I just rambled a bit there, so to bottom line it: I like the NaNoWriMo model. Pick a 30 day period, do 1667 words per day.

    Oh, and for anyone interested, scriptfrenzy starts in April. Writing a 100 page script (minimum) in 30 days. This time around they're allowing any kind of script, not just screenplays. Should be fun. www.scriptfrenzy.org
    • CommentAuthorPooka
    • CommentTimeMar 2nd 2008
     (1222.15)
    i wish I had the solitude and time to sit down to write. I've always loved telling stories, and I used to be really good at it. prized student in college kinda thing...but with business and kids and drama bullshit I have to deal with I never have a quite moment to settle down and write...hell...the only reason i'm typing now is because everyone's still asleep...
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      CommentAuthorroque
    • CommentTimeMar 2nd 2008
     (1222.16)
    oh jesus, I have a terrible time with this. I write like blazes for a week and then forget about it for three months. every time I sit down to write I feel guilty, like I should be cleaning the house or doing something that will actually make money (heh). strangely enough, surfing the internet never gives me this feeling of restless guilt.
    • CommentAuthorVetes
    • CommentTimeMar 2nd 2008
     (1222.17)
    roque, that is exactly how I felt until I started writing this novel.

    I'm going to find somewhere where I feel absolutely uncomfortable to write. That's where I write the most. I need a PC to be there though so I'm limited to the college I graduated from that 3 miles from my house.
  18.  (1222.18)
    Personally I just fall into a zone. Some days I can write for hours on end and the words just come to me, and I never leave my computer. Other days I have a hard time just stringing a coherent sentence together.

    When you feel it, just do it.

    I learned when I'm not writing, but still want to work on my project, I do research to fill the time until something clicks.


    I'm very similar to Scribe.
  19.  (1222.19)
    You know what I'll do when I'm not driven by fiery inspiration? I'll open a few different files and that way I keep busy. My ingrained CTRL + TAB flip when my attention span winds down then brings me to another file rather than my email or the web. And I keep the inertia of writing. So I get more words per file, and more files than if I tried to zero in on one. It keeps the imagination sizzling.

    Also, print out your work, go at it with a pen on hard copy. You'll look at it differently, it'll give you some mule work to warm up the machinery later, and it'll pin you down for a good hour even if you come up with nothing new.
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      CommentAuthorWaxPoetic
    • CommentTimeMar 12th 2008
     (1222.20)
    i'm impressed at your rate of accomplishment and very happy to read that others do the same things i do when it's Time to Write or create something at any rate.

    i tend to like to keep things short and moving around as well. because i have a typewriter and many many journals instead of a computer at home, i keep them out and move them from one part of the desk to another and flip through them and fill them one or two pages at a time - somehow they have all got different feels to them, different sorts of writing or planning going on in them, one is mostly poetry, one is fairly well fleshed out story bases, one is personal reflection, one is for morning thoughts, one is almost entirely handiwork stuff, etc.

    moving around mentally and physically seems to work pretty well to keep me motivated and to keep things fresh. from what i'm reading here, that kind of things seems to work for many of us.

    tho, procrastination is so much fun that lately i've been doing it productively and i'm beginning to get suspicious.

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