Monday 28 December 2009

Write that book, you've got 365 days.


I guess it's that time of year where we all think, what goals can I make for the new year. 2010 -- it's a nice round number, lets achieve some nice goals to round the year off, shall we? I know many are making goals to read a certain number of books in 2010. I have the goal of six... Six!? you say. Well, I also have the goal of finishing two novels... so there.

But... but... but... writing a book is SOOOOO hard. I don't have the time. I don't have the skills (we'll talk about that later), I don't have the space on my hard drive, I think my dog ate my laptop... RUBISH!

I try to average my novels at 90,000 words. If you divide that number by the 365 days in a year, that's 250 words a day. That's less then your average blog. Hell, I know some people who are blogging their novels. SO, take the next four days and set a goal of writing each day. It's really not that difficult.

The key is: DON'T EDIT!!! And I mean it. Just finish the first draft. Get your story down on paper, or in probably 99% of the cases, on screen. When your 109 days in and you realize you've written... (crap, I need a calculator) 27, 250 words, you'll feel so proud of yourselves. 2011, you can edit your work. You accomplished something really cool!

This blog is 250 words. Now was that so hard?

8 comments:

Laurie said...

Thanks for following my blog. It gave me the opportunity to discover your wonderful Writers Blog - fascinating and informative.
Best wishes
Laurie

Kimberly Franklin said...

Great advice, even though I often fall victim to the editing while I'm writing game, which usually isn't too much fun. My goal this year is to completely finish my book, which if everything goes as planned (then again what does?) will be done by June. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, at least.

Good luck on your two novels! That sounds like a serious undertaking, but a lot of fun at the same time.

Ann Elle Altman said...

Laurie, have been following new blogs the last couple of weeks and enjoy it. I will be sure to read what you have written.

Kimberley, I hope you get that novel finished. Nothing beats the feeling of knowing it's done.

ann

Anonymous said...

A smashing good post!! One of my goals is to finish a rough (ROUGH) draft of a novel. I'll finish one in a few days, but I'd like to finish another.

250 a day isn't hard at all... and even if I write poorly, I'll be writing. The habit is the THING.

Thanks!! I'm in. :)

Corra

Ann Elle Altman said...

Corra, I meant to inspire new writers but I'm glad you're on board. It's not really a contest.

ann

Anonymous said...

Oh, it's a contest. Everything is a contest. :)

Anonymous said...

I just discovered your blog, and look forward to reading more of your thoughts on the writing process! This particular post made me think of NaNoWriMo--have you ever tried it?

Ann Elle Altman said...

Katherine, I have tried NaNoWriMo and won it two years back. I think it's a wonderful idea!

ann