There’s a fascination around how writers write. I'm guessing this is because we’re all seeking ways to capture the magic that happens in the creative process. (Do you write with pen or computer? Do you have your own space? A special time?) It’s my deep belief, however, that there are no absolute, right methodologies when it comes to one’s own creative undertakings. What’s right is what works for you. There may some common patterns, but I feel so strongly about this that I hope it raises your hairs should anyone try to impose a single or "correct" way for you to go about your writing. The magic is what you conjure up in the way that best works for you and your lifestyle. Some of us are single or working full-time jobs or raising kids. All of these things factor into how we best manage our creative output.
Having said this, I’m eager to hear about your writing habits--individual and bizarre quirks--in your comments here. I’ll also include you in my giveaway of 2 copies of my first novel, Night Swim. I’m hoping that together, our comments will showcase our differences and honor the variety in our approaches. Finally, if what you’re doing isn’t working, maybe something here will spur you to try a different approach that will take you to a more productive place. I’ll share mine first.
1) Do you have a schedule or best writing time?
Mornings are by far my best writing time. I pretty much stick with a five-day schedule, M-F, but will work evenings and on weekends if I have a deadline. These days, however, I don’t have to maneuver my time around child issues and demands (carpooling, teacher meetings, after-school activities), which is significant. I have much more time during the day but I still schedule walks and errands for afternoons whenever possible.
2) Word count - How many words do you write per day? Does it matter?
When I’m drafting a new novel, I set out to write 500 words a day, five days a week. First drafts are the most fatiguing for me, so 500 words per day feels doable, doesn’t overwhelm me, and adds up. The simple fact of making weekly progress fuels my confidence to keep going until I get that first draft on the page. After that, I don’t think about word count. I think in terms of chapters, and scenes, characters, timelines, and plot issues. When writing short essays for magazines, word count is a given part of the equation. In those instances, I think in terms of how many hours I need to complete the task.
3) Are you an outliner or not?
I’ve come to understand that I’m an experiential learner and that outlining doesn’t work for me when I'm drafting a novel or short story. I have to do the writing and rewriting, make a mess, and redraft many times to get to the center of what I’m doing and to figure out where I’m heading. During revisions, I won’t hesitate to jot down notes, use file cards for character descriptions, create lists on my yellow legal pads as I become conscious of plot and timelines, but a true outline, which I’ve tried, doesn’t accelerate the process for me. In fact, it seems to have a reverse effect. Rather than taking me deeper into the story, it pulls me out of it and the process becomes too intellectual or logical for me. This isn’t an argument for or against outlines, it’s simply about what works for my individual drafting style.
4) Do you put your drafts away to rest?
Yes. I keep going by stopping. That sounds contradictory, but I believe in giving myself time for my subconscious to do its work. For both short and longer work, I build in time to step away. It helps me detach from the words so when I return, I feel much freer to delete and rearrange, to let go of what isn’t serving the piece as a whole, the larger intention and vision of the novel or short story. This cooling process might last a day, months, even a year if I’m working on a novel, particularly if I’m feeling blocked, blind, stuck, or tangled. When that happens, I’ll work on something else to give my mind and emotions a break.
Now it’s your turn. What about you?
Jessica Keener is the author of the best-selling novel Night Swim. Publisher's Weekly says of her new story collection, Women In Bed,“[Keener] demonstrates a versatile voice and ability to deliver as much exquisite detail as the stories’ brevity will allow.”
Participate in the comments below for a chance to win a copy of Night Swim!
I am just stopping in now to see your comments. Fantastic. Keep them coming. Thank you!
I write most every morning. Believe it or not, I do better with background noise. Sometimes I stop writing and listen, then go back to writing. I am a member of a wonderful writing group. I drive over 20 miles every Friday morning to the meeting and get helpful feedback. Then I go home and use their suggestions (sometimes). I do not count words or pages. What comes comes.
I've created different ways to write throughout the years, depending on what my life is like. My husband is now retired and I don't do well with having someone in the house when I'm "up in my head." I also have a home business, so I'm always distracted about what needs to be done with my clients. In order to make time and a schedule (I block out writing time in my day planner), I've found this works terrifically well for me: three days a week, I set the alarm, get dressed, eat breakfast and go off to work. I work at a table in our local Barnes and Noble store from 9-4. I wear my Bose headphones and listen to a type of music designed for creatives, something that brings focus. (link below) Everything that goes on in B&N has nothing to do with me and I can easily slip into the nether world of my novel. The headphones prevent people from coming up to me and talking. The staff now knows me and bring me the tea I always order. I feel as if I'm giving my work the attention it deserves and I'm getting so much done.
I do, once in a while, have a day at home when Dan is gone, and I love sitting up in bed, with my pooch, phones turned off, front door locked, and writing in my pj's. That's more like a vacation. Currently, I'm at the coast with three writer friends doing a writing retreat for two weeks. Our organization, Oregon Writers Colony, owns a house that is our writing home. We pay a small fee to stay there. Again, this immersion time gives me the "head space" to go deep.
And I'm so with you Jessica, on not being an outliner. I call it organic writing as I have to let the characters tell me their stories. It's like reading a novel, discovering as you go along. I just read a fabulous article on this subject and will add that link at the end also.
Thanks for everyone else's input. I do think mornings are best for me now as my mind is uncluttered and open. When I was a visual artist, I loved the nighttime. Interesting how we change over the years.
Creative Mind System
http:/
It's always fascinating to see how other writers work. My own writing habits vary cyclically but generally I am most productive early in the day (all morning and before 3 pm). Being a freelance journalist/blooger who also writes occassional fiction, I don't have a daily word count goal although I do have set numbers of things I try to accomplish each week, including blog posts/articles, query letters, contest submissions, social media posts, online community management and research, not all of which lend themselves to specific word counts. I don't outline. I'm a notecard suffler instead and I use post-it notes to help with organizing things. I always let my drafts rest overnight. I also run most things past some friends who act as beta readers who help me catch my typos, things I oever looked and plot holes. It's not as clear cut a routine as those of other writers but it works for me while still providing plenty of flexibility.
Early morning DOES seem best, that meditative peace and focus are essential. The mind opens and pours out.
I have a schedule but it varies depending on what else I'm doing. I try to make sure I have a couple of two hour slots in a week during which I can just work on my novel. Then I work on other writing projects at odd times during the week.
Word count varies, with my novel it depends on where I am. At the moment I'm adding 1000 words per two hour session, but that will change quite soon when i move into more of a plotting stage rather than writing stage. With poetry, word count doesn't matter at all.
I wrote a very basic outline for my novel then I'm working on it in quite an odd way, doing bits of plotting then filling in the details before moving onto the next session.
And yes I do put my drafts away.
Thank you, Jessica for confirming that I am not the only one who shrinks creatively at the hands of an outline! I write the outline after the bulk of writing is done. It is not what time of day I write that is the key. My key is setting times in my calendar to write that don't feel too squished by the before and after.
I love early mornings when it's still dark and it feels like the day hasn't really started yet. I get a sense of timelessness that relaxes me and allows me to slip into a kind of meditative state that helps me focus on my writing. Lately, though, I find I can reach that state whenever I don't feel rushed or pressured, and sometimes I can write in the afternoon or evening. The key for me is to feel relaxed and focused.
I agree that it's different for each writer. I find mornings best, but often also "get into it" again around mid-afternoon, and then can go on longer than I thought. Some days are easier than others. I block time in my schedule to write. I turn down invitations for some social events in order to have uninterrupted time to write. I need a solid block of at least a couple of hours, preferably 3 or more, to be most productive. I am fortunate to no longer have young children or another full-time job.
I need an outline, though it is constantly changing. I use my outline to go back and find where to fit in important bits (I'm writing a memoir; it may be different with a novel.)
I have been exploring the possibility of writing software, specifically Scrivener. Anyone have experience with this? I think it might help me keep track of all of the points I want to make, the scenes to make those points, the characters involved, etc. I'm just not sure if the learning curve of using new software is worth it.
Finally, I need regular exercise - daily. That keeps me sane and productive. Oh, and healthy, hopefully.
Reading your writing habits is helpful, as I'm beginning my first book after having been accepted by a wonderful Literary Agency in New York, and my proposal is going to market this week.
So far, after writing several chapters, I'm beginning to see 'how' I write. I don't have any set time, but don't like being distracted. I just let my mind go to the scenery, and recall all the perceptions I had at the time of the incidents, and then write it as it comes to me, as it's a memoir. There's an overlying story, which I've set out to capture. My memory doesn't seem keen at first, til I recall the emotions, sights and sounds, my thoughts and reactions to what was happening in various cities, and others' reactions to the well known character I'm writing about.
There are particular incidents of interest, so I wrote out a list of the incidents, and as I write, more and more content comes to the fore. Had anyone asked me about the incidents I wouldn't have remembered much, until sitting down to write it out. It's become rich with content, and I don't have any particular style, except to use the best economy of words my vocabulary will allow, while keeping it uniquely my own voice. When I begin to question what I'm doing, I leave it along and get out for a walk or watch a movie, do email, dishes, whatever, and suddenly greater insight takes over and I have a fresh cache of story to tell.
I plan to make a daily schedule and see what I can get out when I sit down to write. I find aesthetic environments are best, and calm happy people enhance the process. Once I start I find hours pass in a snap, and I go back and re read and edit the next day or so, til I can't make it any better on my own. That's when I ask someone to take a look and offer any commentary. I don't usually change anything, but it helps me feel more certain I've done all I can.
I appreciate your creating this group and sharing your creative process with us all. I look forward to hearing other insights to this new-for-me process.
These are the same questions that have kept me busy this month as I entered NaNoWriMo. I write in the mornings, I like the peace and I can listen to any music without hearing: Why do you need to listen to that?? I can gather my thoughts and spy on people as they walk passed my house. I try to write as many as I can, but have no real fixed amount of words I need to get. Some days writing goes better then the next, on other days I just stare at my screen empty. Some times I do make an outline, but mostly I write on the spur of the moment, when inspiration hits or when I know were the story need to go. All drafts gets rest time, the trouble with me however is that it's hard to edit. Some times I let my friend edit for me, but then she gives it back and it's not my writing style any more. It's a difficult process something I need more structuring in I guess, haha.
Like your post, it's very recognizable.
what a relief to hear the cooling process can last up to a year. After writing over 50,000 words of my third novel, I got well and truly stuck. I used to be someone who wrote every day so your article made me feel much less guilty about taking some time out. Thanks very much for your honest and interesting piece :)
Mornings are my best time, too, Jessica, but if the juices are flowing, I keep on writing. I was inspired that Ernest Hemingway's daily word goal was 500. And now you, too. I tend to be very wordy so I often write 2,000 before I get 500 I can keep. I've written my way into both my memoir and my upcoming novel. So I guess I'm not an outliner but I may try that next time around. My drafts love resting! Sometimes over night, sometimes for weeks. It helps for my mind to have time to refresh. Editing is the big challenge for me. I spent six weeks working daily on editing on a 375 page manuscript. Good luck with your novel!
Interesting that you find first draft the hardest part of writing. I'm the opposite. I love coming up with characters and story line, hate all the editing that is necessary.
1. Mornings, hands down, every morning for at least 3 hours.
2. I don't do word counts. I write and see where it takes me.
3. No, outlines hamper me. Time lines, charts, notes, not an outline
4. Yes, a cooling period often helps. As my writing mentor, Ursula K. Le Guin has said, you need to let the vessel fill up again, after you've emptied the cup.
Jessica, it does seem to be such a personal preference. I know writers who like to write into the late night when the house is still. Others squeeze it in between work and parenting and... life. I do a lot of my social media to-dos in the morning, write in the afternoon. I haven't worked on a long MS but shorter articles or essays. Mostly I pound those out then edit, tweak and revise until I can recite them in my sleep. I try to always let an article rest for several days before I send it out or publish it. I see mistakes a lot more clearly when I do.