When people first found out I was publishing a book, I got many congratulations, and a fair amount of people who said they either could never write a book or didn’t even know where to begin. This week’s blog is meant to go over how I write. Who knows? Maybe when they see how I do it, they’ll think to themselves “That looks pretty easy. I think I can do that too.” I hope so. I love reading new ideas.
When I write, I go very slow. I’m sure you’ve picked that up already after reading my extensive outlining process. It doesn’t end there though. When I finally sit down to actually write my story idea, on the first day, I only write one page.
I do this because this is one of the hardest steps of the writing process. Actually starting it. For that reason, I give it the respect it deserves, and devote all of my writing efforts for that day to fulfilling this one task.
Given the amount of outlining that I’ve done prior to sitting down to write page one, it may seem like this is actually an easy task when you get right down to it. It’s not. It still proves to be a challenge every time. I may have had this idea kicking around in my head for a while before I started to map out how I want the story to take shape, and I may have already spent at least two months outlining what I want in the story, how I want it structured (and I could keep going on and on), but this is the first time I’m seeing the words put down on a blank canvass. This is the first time I’m actually composing the words, and reading the story myself, and seeing how it makes me feel.
On the latest story I’ve written, even with an outline to rely on, it took me almost an hour just to write one page.
From there, it’s about building on my initial success. The next day, I’ll challenge myself to write two pages. I’ve already accomplished one of the toughest tasks in the process: beginning. Now it’s about proving to myself that I can guide the story where it needs to go. These pages still take some time to write, but not as long as it takes to write that opening page. The following day I push myself write three. And after that four.
Can you guess how many pages I strive for after that?
If you guessed five…
…you’d be wrong.
After writing ten pages in four days, I feel I’ve proven to myself that I can meet my writing goals for my next story. I’ve already started, and increased my writing quotas for four consecutive days. By this point, the story is also well under way, I’ve found that I can guide the story where I’ve wanted it to go, and I’ve settled on a style and structure for the book. Now it’s all about maintaining this routine.
So on that fifth day, I go back to writing just a single page. I’ve just pushed myself four days in a row, and spent between two to three hours on the fourth day fitting in writing with the rest of my responsibilities for the day. It’s a nice little reward, allowing myself a bit of a break, only having to write for around a half hour that day. After all, it’s not about writing the book as fast as possible, but writing it as best as I can.
But that fifth day doesn’t just act as a break. It acts as the start of the process all over again, because the next day I write two pages, the day after three…
I start getting into a rhythm with my writing. I’ve developed a four day routine so I can fit in my goals with whatever else is also going on in my life. If I miss my goal one day, that’s fine. I’ve got a new challenge to tackle the next day. And the more I keep it up, the more my daily wins overwhelm any minor setbacks.
So, if you’re an aspiring writer, after reading how I tackle my writing, what do you think? Are you ready to take that scary first step towards writing a book yourself?