Tried, True and The Next Novel
I’m currently working on my sixth novel, which means my days (and most nights) are made up of blocks of time devoted to meeting set goals. Each writer has their own process to get to "the end" of a draft—some authors just sit down and start typing, letting inspiration dictate where the story takes them. Not me! Not ever! No, thank you! I've used the same method for all five of my books based on my journalism training—writing to a word count. (The inspiration part happens separately and well before I sit down to write. I'll share details about this in a future newsletter.)
For book six, I’ve projected the first draft to clock in at 90,000 words, which is then divided into 12 chapters and then subdivided into three sections. (90K/12 equals 7,500 words per chapter. 7500/3 equals 2,500 words per section.) If I write at least one section a day, I’ll have a draft completed in 36 days…36 nonconsecutive days. (Hey, man, I’m keeping it extra real in 2023.) This is just the first draft and things will change. However, the core of the story and its characters are familiar enough for me to start to think and talk about them as if they're real people, and as if it really happened.
My apologies in advance to everyone who I'll be interacting with over the next few months. I'm going be extra spacey until I turn book six into my editor, and even then, I'll still be distracted. This is why all my bills are set on auto-pay.
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For book six, I’ve projected the first draft to clock in at 90,000 words, which is then divided into 12 chapters and then subdivided into three sections. (90K/12 equals 7,500 words per chapter. 7500/3 equals 2,500 words per section.) If I write at least one section a day, I’ll have a draft completed in 36 days…36 nonconsecutive days. (Hey, man, I’m keeping it extra real in 2023.) This is just the first draft and things will change. However, the core of the story and its characters are familiar enough for me to start to think and talk about them as if they're real people, and as if it really happened.
My apologies in advance to everyone who I'll be interacting with over the next few months. I'm going be extra spacey until I turn book six into my editor, and even then, I'll still be distracted. This is why all my bills are set on auto-pay.
Want to read more? Subscribe to my newsletter .
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