# Who basically writes a book a month and how?



## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

I was just reading Elle Casey's recent blog post and it got me thinking about this concept of a book a month. I know a lot of people here write fast - Amanda, I'm looking at you! I know there are a lot of threads about writing faster, scheduling our days etc, but I would like to hear from those who specifically aim at a book a month give or take a few days, and who consistently do this through the year. And by a book, I mean somewhere in the novel range - 50,000 words and up. I'm not dissing novellas, but I'm not writing novellas, so I'm looking for advice on novels.

I'm a fast writer and this is my full time gig, but I procrastinate, I lose confidence, I get distracted by life. I also get sidelined by book cover work, but I love it and the extra income is great.

For book a monthers, how do you stay sane? How do you switch your brain from one series to another or book to another? How do you let go of a book - I'm forever tinkering. How do you have the confidence in yourself to feel a book can really be finished in a month (I _know_ it can, but I don't _feel_ it can)? How do you make a plan for your year and actually get yourself to stick to it ?!  Does it ever feel like a drag? Is switching between series or genres the answer to keeping it fresh?

How do you handle books that require a bit more research? Give them more time or just up your productivity each day?

How do you mentally give yourself permission to be this prolific? I still have a lot of inner voices telling me that this writing thing is just a sideline - even though I've made more doing this than anything else in my life (but I've always worked in the Arts so the bar wasn't that high ) - and I can't put it front and center when there are so many other important things in life to take care of.

I worry about letting readers down - is a pen name the answer for tackling other projects? For feeling less judged and freer to experiment? But what are the marketing consequences of that for those who have?

And of course, scheduling, writing faster etc if there's anything not covered in other threads or even just a repeat here for those of us who specifically want to get to the book a month or so stage.

Book a monthers, help!


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## lostagain (Feb 17, 2014)

I'm kind of a book a monther. That's how long it takes me to write my contemporary novels.  While now I'm writing serials, I write about 18K a week. I'm all about word count goals. I force myself to hit 1K by lunch time. Another 1K by dinner and then 1K before bed. That usually motivates me to get the words done by dinner time while leaving me the out of evenings for days like today when I'm pretending to write while I get my car's oil changed.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

That's a loaded question!  I write a book a month and homeschool my kids. The short answer is that writing is like a muscle, and like any other, using it makes it stronger. 

Start with goals you can achieve and raise the bar often to keep from growing stagnant. Have big picture goals and tiny, little ones. In fact, I would highly recommend delving into personal development (if you haven't already) since so much of this is about mindset. Listen to personal growth podcasts, read books, blogs, whatever you can get your hands on. SJ Scott, Hal Elrod, and Jeff Sanders are good places to start. Also, spend time listening to writing podcasts. There are a ton of great ones. Self Publishing Podcast, Sell More Books Show, Author Strong, Author Biz, Rocking Self Publishing, Creative Penn, and lots more.

I write at the same time every day - starting around 4:30am. It's such a habit that even when I'm really tired, it comes naturally. Well, as long as I've done my job outlining and writing beats beforehand. It's tricky and challenging without that. I also do switch genres, going between three different ones. It does keep things interesting and fresh.


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## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

My name is Augusta (sometimes) and I am a book-a-monther.  I write while my kids are in school.  One of my 'tricks' is to leave non-writing work for a separate non-writing time.  For example, if there are things I need to research, I make a note in the text and highlight it for later.  Then I do the research during my non-writing time, usually in the evening.  I skip anything that slows down the writing itself, make a note, and go back to it when it's convenient.  That keeps the work flowing. I also plan out my schedule in advance.  Today I've already hit my daily word count because I need to go out and do annoying life things (we just moved) so I made sure that the words were finished early.  Now I'm going to finish this reply and go out to get an EZPass, among other things.  Good times.  Anyway, compartmentalizing really helps me get the work done.  And lists.  I am the queen of lists.


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## lostagain (Feb 17, 2014)

I'm reading this thread and it's clear I don't think enough, lol. I just do. I send off my first draft to the development editor and move on to the next one while I wait.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Might be worthwhile to read this article on fear in publishing and writing. Dean also has a very useful hour+ long lecture on the topic that helped me out a lot earlier on.

Dare to be bad, have fun, and write!


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

MeganBryce said:


> Heather, you're asking everything I'm feeling. Not how to do it... I imagine it's just B-I-C (butt in chair). But _emotionally_, how do you do it? Because _this_:


Thanks all. I love all the practical suggestions - and just the insight into the mind of someone who is doing what I want to do - so keep 'em coming.

But Megan, this is exactly it. The real difficulty is likely in my brain LOL. I think it's a lot like trying to lose weight. If you focus on the end goal, it becomes overwhelming and you quit. I suppose it means focusing on the smaller goals then, but then you can also feel you're not really getting anywhere.

Augusta, that might be part of my problem. My kids are in school too, but I don't seem to have writing and non-writing time - it all blends together. I'm often writing late, late into the night and I feel burnt out in the day -which is actually when I have the uninterrupted time. I'm a night owl, so I write better at night, but I'm not getting enough sleep and am writing when people are around to distract me for part of the time.

Thanks Jim, I've gone to look at that link.

Violet, I think I do overthink. I think more about writing than actually doing it!

I think aiming to be part of the book a month club takes a very specific mind set. I want to be capable of it, I believe I'm capable of it, so I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing 'wrong' that I'm not making it.

I'm sooooooo impressed by those who do.


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## Briteka (Mar 5, 2012)

The last two months I've written and published four novels and plan on doing two novels a month from here on out.

I've always been prolific, publishing 8-10 10k erom shorts a month for three years. With the changes to KU, I decided it was finally time to move into novels, and I have focused on my two most successful pen names, abandoning the rest. One pen name was my gay romance pen name, and the other was my paranormal romance pen name.

The writing part is the easiest bit, believe it or not. I spend ten hours a day writing 10k words. This happens usually between 2 and 10, and I just set my target word count tool in Scrivener to 1000 and do not move until that 1000 is written. It usually takes me about half an hour to write that 1000 words, and I spend the other half an hour browsing the internet, going outside to have a vape or playing with my cats.

This schedule usually gets me a novel within a week, as my novels usually fall between 60k and 70k words. The next week is spent editing and creating a cover for the book just written.

As for research, I don't really write things that require research. I might need to look up something about the city the book is placed in or bring up a photo so I can accurately describe something that I don't have a clear image of in my head, but these are all things that can be done in seconds with Google.

There's always been times when I've procrastinated and produced less than I planned. My solution? Shrug it off and get back to writing. I don't feel guilty about it. I don't dwell on it. I just shrug it off. I think that helps me not get burnt out. If I need to take the day off, I don't guilt myself about it. I just take the day off and get back to work the next day.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Hi, Heather. I stupidly didn't hit "quote" before I started writing, and I'm on my tablet which makes copying and pasting difficult when I'm sitting here with muffin crumbs on my hands and a cup of coffee beside me. So bear with this wall-o-text reply.

*What I do:*

I write 100,000 to 120,000 words per four weeks. Whether that equates to a single novel or four novellas depends on the month. (I have my main pen name, and currently two smaller pen names I'm experimenting with, to see whether I have the potential to break out in other genres, so each pen name currently gets four months per year for production. I rotate months, so it goes Pen name 1, Pen name 2, Pen name 3, 1, 2, 3, etc. throughout the calendar year.)

Obviously, being able to do this full-time is key. It took me about two years of writing as a second job to get to that point.

*How I avoid procrastination*

The book business is also the sole income for my husband and me. He recently quit his job, too, to take over portions of my business (and it has been very, very helpful!) so the fact that if I don't produce my 100K words per month we might not be able to pay our bills really keeps me focused. Now I have the opposite problem to you: I get too tempted to work all the time and have to focus on taking enough days off that I don't burn out and/or go totally crazy. We are stable, but any self-employment gig comes with a fair amount of unpredictability, so the small but constant threat of losing our shirts keeps me working hard.

*How to not nitpick forever*

How do I let go of a book? I guess I've never had that problem before, so I'm not sure i have any good advice there. The fact that I find typos and awkward sentences in works by authors I admire like crazy (Nabokov, Dillard, Mantel, etc.) keeps me real about this: my books will never be perfect. If Vlad's and Annie's and Hilary's aren't perfect, Libbie can't expect herself to be perfect.

I am careful to work with good editors, whether they're the freelancers I use for my indie stuff or the dev editors at my publisher, and I trust the majority of their suggestions. I do one draft on my own, and one with the book's editor, and I call it good. (Though my publisher puts their books through more types of edits--copy, proof, advance read, etc.) It does help that all my editors have commented on how "clean" I tend to write, so the fact that I usually have fairly coherent sentences, tight story structure, and minimal typos speeds up the process all around.

*My out-of-control confidence*

Confidence has also never been an issue for me--at least, not where my writing is concerned. I know I'm a strong writer with a good grasp of many aspects of craft. I know I produce books people want to read. I don't get the jitters about my books; I have a sound process for developing a story before I begin to write it; I've tested it through 15 novels; I know it works reliably. I trust my method and my own skills.

As for how you can know that you'll finish a book a month--well, if you write five days a week, seven hours a day (eight-hour workday with an hour for lunch), that's only 714 words per hour. It feels downright LAZY when you break it down to that level. And it kind of is. If writing is your only gig, and you don't have health issues or whatever that prevent you from just DOING IT, you should be able to exceed 100K in a month without breaking too much of a sweat.  100K per month is quite manageable.

*Drag*

Is it a drag sometimes? Hell yes. Any job is a drag at least once in a while. Sometimes I just need to finish a few books because they're under contract or readers are expecting that sequel or whatever, and it's 100% NOT what I'm excited about writing right now. But it's on the agenda, and I can't move on until it's done, so I just have to haul my ass through it. The ONLY book I've been excited about writing since November 2014 is still ahead of me--I don't get to start it until November 1, 2015. You can bet I'm counting the days until I hit that book. And I think all the passion I have for it will make it my best book ever. Meanwhile, I'll have written 10 books I wasn't passionate about, but they're making readers happy and earning me money, so I can't complain.  But I'm really looking forward to November.

For me, being able to switch between pen names, genres, and even series within those pen names has been great. I like knowing that each month I'll be in a different head space, writing with a different voice, etc. It makes things less monotonous than I think they would be if I were just doing one brand all the time.

*How I manage research*

A lot of my books require a ton of research, because historical fiction is my primary brand and it's tricky that way. It's lucky for me that I love to read history nonfiction anyway; I spend most of my free reading time getting lost in history books about subjects I find fascinating. So I soak up a lot of research about my chosen topics at my leisure, then do supplemental research (looking up specific dates, finding out how crinolines work, etc.) "on the fly" as I'm writing. Good old Google.

For example, I told my trad publisher I want to pitch a book about Calamity Jane this spring. Started reading biographies about her in July, and will keep reading about Calamity through the winter just because the topic has grabbed me. By the time I actually sit down to write that book, most of what I need to know should be in my head already.

*Just Do It*

How do I mentally give myself permission? I wish I could offer some advice to you there, too. I've never had that problem. My identity has been "professional writer" since I was a child. Everybody around me knew that I intended to become a full-time writer when I grew up. Even my bosses at my various jobs knew that I was a writer first and foremost, and only did those jobs because I had to. It meant I never had a long-term career before writing, but I didn't care: writing was always my long-term career, and I just hadn't landed there yet.

In addition, I come from a family of professional artists, so creative careers were par for the course in my experience. That is unusual, though. Most people don't get to grow up with "painter" or "yarn spinner/weaver" (which my sister does) or "actor" or "opera singer" or "writer" as perfectly valid career options. Most people are raised to believe that creative pursuits can't pay the bills and must be hobbies. I'm sure it's very difficult to break out of that mindset, if you've grown up with a family/community that expects you to put a "real job" first and creative production last.

But I think you do it this way: it's considered very normal (in the USA, at least) to put your career front and center. This is your job. Everybody has to get up in the morning and get dressed and go do their job until the workday is over. Just because your job is writing books doesn't make it any less jobby. You still have to do it. Every day. You still have to hit 100K words per month (or whatever your goal is.)

*Pen names*

I love working with pen names. I think you should use them for branding purposes, not necessarily for concealing your identity--mostly because it's just not that hard to figure out who's really behind a pen name. But for branding, they're great. Use them where you don't expect much crossover between audiences.

Currently, I have a pen name for historical and literary fiction (those genres see plenty of crossover between audiences, so no need to separate those brands, though I do indicate whether a book is more commercial or more literary with its cover. My beautifully illustrated covers below are obviously more commercial, as they hearken to classic fantasy and sci-fi novels, but with a distinct historical feel. The more esoteric Baptism for the Dead has a cover that feels less commercial.)

I also have a pen name for paranormal and contemporary romance--which Paul and I begin promoting/attempting to break out on October 1, yay! There isn't a lot of crossover between HF and lit fic, and the romance genres. Therefore, a new pen name was needed.

The third current pen name launches in February 2016 and is focused on young adult sport stories: mostly equestrian sports (i.e. HORSEY GIRLS!!!) but I'm also planning a series based around a summer camp. Obviously there wouldn't be a lot of shared interest between teens' horse/summer camp stories and steamy paranormal romance, or literary fiction. (I'm super excited about this pen name, because I've wanted to write books about horses since I was a wee child.)

As for marketing consequences of different pen names--it's a lot of balls to keep in the air, for sure. Having an assistant has helped TREMENDOUSLY with this. But I had two pen names before Paul came to work for me, so it's manageable without an assistant--you just have to be a little more organized and focused. Being aware of what promotional efforts actually work well, and which aren't giving high enough ROI (whether your investment is money or time) helps a lot. Then you can cut out all time-wasting efforts and streamline your promo hours so you're only putting effort into what works.

You can't be afraid of letting readers down. You WILL let some of them down. It's not a reflection on you; it's just that you and that reader didn't make a love match. You haven't loved every author you've ever read, right? Same will hold true for readers of your works.

*What has worked the best for me*

Outlining. Specifically, outlining the way I outline, which puts a sharp psychological hook into the reader from the first chapter and pulls them inexorably along to the end of the book (or better yet, the end of the multi-book series.) Outlining before I write saves me a ton of time, so I never enter the dick-around phase, where I fiddle with the plot and characters and have to go back and delete days' worth of work because I wrote off in the wrong direction.

I go over all that in Take Off Your Pants. If you do want to increase your speed, it might be a good book for you to check out.

Peace out!


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## elizabethsade (Feb 3, 2015)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> Thanks all. I love all the practical suggestions - and just the insight into the mind of someone who is doing what I want to do - so keep 'em coming.
> 
> But Megan, this is exactly it. The real difficulty is likely in my brain LOL. I think it's a lot like trying to lose weight. If you focus on the end goal, it becomes overwhelming and you quit. I suppose it means focusing on the smaller goals then, but then you can also feel you're not really getting anywhere.
> 
> ...


I don't know if I technically count because I'm not published yet, but I do write in the realms of one book a month. Probably could include editing, if I was writing full time (silly day job). But on average I dictate 5k-6k a day throughout the day, and then spend more time cleaning it up. Depending on whether or not I take days off, that can be 1-2 novels a month.

Since I haven't published yet (and gotten that crucial external validation) I run into a lot of self-doubt and confidence issues. Somedays it's hard, some days it means I don't start writing until the evening (my normal writing time is scheduled in the morning). It's basically been a long progress over the past year of starting to trust myself as a writer. I've also been 'banned' from evaluating my writing by my writer friends, because I can't objectively assess it. Well. By that I mean, I focus on all of the negatives. Instead of the positives.

I don't focus on how many words I write in a month - honestly, that would terrify me. Instead I focus on each day's list, each day's goals. I get those done, and then I focus on the next day. It is very similar to weight loss (good for me, I'm doing both). If you focus on, say, writing 3k-4k a day (or whatever you need to hit a novel a month), that might help get you over that mental barrier.

I don't procrastinate (much...) because if I want to make this my job, I have to slot it in around the day job. And I very, very much want to leave my day job in May. (Due to reasons, that's when I'd be leaving anyway. So it's either make writing work, or get a new job.)

I do find getting started for the day to be the hardest part. Sometimes it requires kicking myself off the internet and settling down on the couch with my digital recorder (I use Dragon, especially now since I have tendonitis) and recording what I need to. By the end of the hour, sometimes I don't want to stop. But I do, because I don't want to risk burnout.

Good luck.  I hope it works out for you.


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## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

ElHawk said:


> Hi, Heather. I stupidly didn't hit "quote" before I started writing, and I'm on my tablet which makes copying and pasting difficult when I'm sitting here with muffin crumbs on my hands and a cup of coffee beside me. So bear with this wall-o-text reply.


You can hit quote on any comment written on the last page of the thread and it will add the quote wherever your cursor is sitting. Of course that means that if this thread had gone to a 2nd page you could not quote the OP, but in this case you could have done. To do this just swipe down to the appropriate comment and tap Insert Quote.


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## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

I should try writing a book in a month and post it here, just to give you guys a laugh.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

I'm more a book every two months since the birth of my son last December, but before that, I managed a book a month, and if I can ever get my dictating to be accurate enough not to take forevah to clean up then I might be able to get back there.



Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> For book a monthers, how do you stay sane? How do you switch your brain from one series to another or book to another? How do you let go of a book - I'm forever tinkering. How do you have the confidence in yourself to feel a book can really be finished in a month (I _know_ it can, but I don't _feel_ it can)? How do you make a plan for your year and actually get yourself to stick to it ?!  Does it ever feel like a drag? Is switching between series or genres the answer to keeping it fresh?
> 
> How do you handle books that require a bit more research? Give them more time or just up your productivity each day?
> 
> ...


-The brain switching business? For me, it's about immersion. I have certain books that I read and shows that I watch when I'm writing a certain book, and I often see stuff that I want to read/watch and tell myself, "No, that will just make you want to write X. So, wait until you're working on that book, and then you can binge that."

-Letting go of a book isn't a real issue for me. I'm so damned sick of it after my three-times-through editing process that I'm happy to never look at it again, lolo.

-I think the confidence comes with practice and time. (And saying stuff to yourself like, "Elle Casey does it, why not me?") After you've got four months down and four books, you feel pretty okay about yourself, you know?

-I don't make plans for myself other than, "You will write X number of books." If I tell myself that I *must* write X, then my brain will rebel. I'm doing better at this, because it's obviously better to put out your series books one after another, but sometimes thinking of writing another book is this same universe makes me pouty.

-Yes, it sometimes feels like a drag. But it felt like a drag sometimes when I was only doing 2K a day in the evening after my day job. And it felt like a drag when I was only writing one hour a day during the first trimester of my pregnancy. The drag thing has less to do with output and more to do with attitude, in my opinion. It's really mind over matter. You have to learn some tricks that will make you fall in love with your WIP all over again--it's kind of like a relationship, I guess. Sometimes, you need to put on some sexy lingerie or have a date night (i.e. go back to the well that inspired you in the first place.)

-Dealing with the inner voices is its own thing. I've got mine, and they don't always shut up when I want them to either.


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## KL_Phelps (Nov 7, 2013)

A book a month would be great.


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## J.A. Cipriano (May 27, 2014)

I tell myself one simple truth. I can't sell a book that doesn't exist. 

I also have about 40 books outlines right now. I need to write even faster if I want to write all of them because at this rate, I'll have 40 more by the time I finish these ones.

I don't really have a problem switching characters and stuff in my head. Usually by the time I finish one book, I'm ready for the next one. 

I let go because I have to get to market. This probably stems from my history in production. Also I think all my books are terrible. This feeling grows with each revision, so I let them go before they wind up in a drawer.


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## Seneca77 (Aug 17, 2015)

KL_Phelps said:


> A book a month would be great.


I'd be happy with a book a year.


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## ChristinaGarner (Aug 31, 2011)

I'm enjoying this thread very much. Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to go over their process.

I find that I can write drafts fairly quickly, (60k in a month) however a few things slow down my actual output:

I need time off between drafts. I generally take 2 weeks while my editor is reviewing my MS. I need to come back with fresh eyes. Ideally, I would be working on a different MS while I let the other rest, but that isn't the way it works out. I tend to take a few days to do nothing and then the rest of the time I'm catching up on the life stuff and doing promo work. (Tweaking ads, interacting with my street team, booking promos, creating copy)

I also rewrite--A LOT. I've been known to throw out 50% of my first draft as the story evolves. I think my stories are better served by doing so and I'm willing to take that time. So if I do 3 drafts and a polish with time off in between the drafts, I'm looking at 4-5 months. Definitely not the same output as some of you!! But I'd honestly be pleased with that if I stuck to it. I often end up taking a show (I work freelance in film) and then I'm working 60-70 hours a week and not writing much at all! I'm taking the next 6 months off and plan to get one novel published, another at least 2 drafts in, and a series of 6 shorts. 

My plan is to tweak my schedule so that it's sustainable and I get more efficient as I go.


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## over and out (Sep 9, 2011)

Definitely check out Libbie'sbook. It's got great advice in addition to what she's posted in this thread.  It has helped me immensely. Thank you Libbie!


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## SA_Soule (Sep 8, 2011)

ElHawk said:


> I go over all that in Take Off Your Pants. If you do want to increase your speed, it might be a good book for you to check out.


That book changed my writing life forever!!! It helped me plot out a novel in less than a week.

_PLEASE_ get a copy and read it. Absorb it. Live it! I cannot recommend it highly enough. I've read a ton of great books on plotting, but this one just "clicked" with me and did speed up my writing process.

Once the plot outline is completed based on Libbie's guidebook, I write out a chapter-by-chapter outline to fill-in more details about each scene. That took about a week. Then I set a goal of writing one chapter a day (about 2,000 words) and by month's end, I have 30 chapters and a complete first draft.

But the hard part is staying focused and getting that word count done every day. *sigh*


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## 84687 (May 31, 2015)

I write around 50k words a month, sometimes more, sometimes less. I suppose that works out at about one contemporary romance every six weeks or so as mine are around 60-70k. I know amongst my group of writing friends I'm considered fairly prolific, and I've written over 50 novels over the years. All the other advice on here is sound, especially knowing roughly what you're going to write before you sit at the keyboard - I plan out the next scene in my head when I'm not at the keyboard so I'm ready to go when I sit down. I try to write 2k a day and not go to bed until I've written that. Some days I don't make it because I'm busy so I just add the total to the next day, and I do the same if I've reached my 2k and write a bit more, I add the words to the next day - that way I've written words for that day before I start! That's a great motivator.

Regarding giving yourself permission etc, I feel that the universe has giving me some small talent and it would be a sin NOT to use it! I just love writing so much that I want to do it all the time and I get irritable if I can't. I still work full time by the way, so it's definitely possible to write a book a month and work - I write in 15 minute batches, before I go to work, before dinner, after dinner etc. You need to find a genre you love and then just keep going! I do have pen names and also write racier novels and paranormal too, although I concentrate on contemporary, and I don't find it easy to keep switching. The key is to try to finish one book before you start another - not finishing is a big problem for many beginner writers. Good luck!


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

I didn't know you can set a word count in Scrivener? How is this done?


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## 77071 (May 15, 2014)

I generally release novellas, but I write about a novel's worth of words most months.  It's just not all on the same novel-length stories.  

For me it's helpful to switch between stories, but I don't think you'd get a full length novel done every month if you did that.  

For those who release a novel a month, I think it's fair to say many of them probably work ahead a bit, rather than rushing at the last second to get the story written, edited, and published all in a month.


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## goneaway (Jul 23, 2015)

Vinny OHare said:


> I didn't know you can set a word count in Scrivener? How is this done?


Project-> Project Targets

Session Target at the bottom of the box. I think that's what they were referring to anyway!


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## Briteka (Mar 5, 2012)

Vinny OHare said:


> I didn't know you can set a word count in Scrivener? How is this done?


In the Windows version, it's under Project --> Project Targets. It brings up a box where you can set overall draft target count and session count. I like to write in fullscreen mode, so I slide the box over to the upper right, and there's just enough visibility to see it.

That silly box basically controls my life.


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## Cheryl Douglas (Dec 7, 2011)

I do this full-time too and have been releasing a 65k word novel every month for three of the past four years. I do it by writing 6-7 days per week, 2500-3000 words per day, broken down into two writing sessions. I type about 40 words a minute and do very little self-editing. I leave that to the pros I hire. It takes me three hours a day at most, so I usually don't feel spent by the effort. I break up my sessions into morning and afternoon, whenever possible, leaving plenty of time in between for other activities. 
There was a brief period a couple of years ago when I was feeling a little burnt out, so I cut back to a book every other month. My income took a serious hit and I started feeling as though I was losing the momentum I'd worked so hard to build, so I increased my output again. I think the problem at the time is that I was trying to work on two series at once and I wasn't passionate about one of them, so it felt too much like work. 
Now I'm working on a series that I really love and 3k words a day is easy, for the most part. If I had one piece of advice based on my personal experience: if you want to be a prolific writer, make sure you're passionate about every project.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

I write at least two books a month, sometimes three. It all comes down to outlining first and then forcing myself to work eight hours a day, five days a week. I don't let myself off the hook. The work has to be done, so I do it.


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## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

Briteka said:


> That silly box basically controls my life.


Me, too. I am Scrivener's b*tch and I love it.


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

I go away for a little bit and then there's so much good stuff here! Am perusing and will comment - if I have anything worth saying


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

ElHawk said:


> How do I mentally give myself permission? I wish I could offer some advice to you there, too. I've never had that problem. My identity has been "professional writer" since I was a child. Everybody around me knew that I intended to become a full-time writer when I grew up. Even my bosses at my various jobs knew that I was a writer first and foremost, and only did those jobs because I had to. It meant I never had a long-term career before writing, but I didn't care: writing was always my long-term career, and I just hadn't landed there yet.
> 
> In addition, I come from a family of professional artists, so creative careers were par for the course in my experience. That is unusual, though. Most people don't get to grow up with "painter" or "yarn spinner/weaver" (which my sister does) or "actor" or "opera singer" or "writer" as perfectly valid career options. Most people are raised to believe that creative pursuits can't pay the bills and must be hobbies. I'm sure it's very difficult to break out of that mindset, if you've grown up with a family/community that expects you to put a "real job" first and creative production last.


Thanks Libbie - that was a fantastic post! I do have your book, but haven't had a chance to read it yet - looking forward to it.

I quoted this one part because this is where I find myself frustrating . I have always been a professional artist of one sort or another, and my family has been beyond supportive of all my endeavors. I've posted before about struggles with writer's block. I've never had a singing block or a photography block!

I guess the difference is that there was always some sort of accountability to an outside source which had hired me. They were the ones who gave me 'permission' or validation to do what I did. I just hired a personal trainer to help me get in shape and lose weight, and already I've improved because I have to answer to her each week!

I'm not answering to anyone else with my writing, but I have no desire to seek a trad contract and that sort of 'permission'!. I've got to consider myself as permission enough!

I also get burned out on one book once it's done, but I won't move to another series because I believe I MUST just work on the first series till it's finished. I could have taken the break but still put out another book in a new series . . . I am working on a coloring book right now, so I haven't completely dropped the ball, but I could have done more.

And I need to find an editor I'm happy with. I'm not complaining about anyone, they were fine, but I already write clean and have great betas and a great proofreader. I need a fast editor I can really trust to make a reasonable difference that's worth the expense.

I'm learning so much about what's not working in my own approach from all your responses - thanks so much!


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I write at least two books a month, sometimes three. It all comes down to outlining first and then forcing myself to work eight hours a day, five days a week. I don't let myself off the hook. The work has to be done, so I do it.


Hey Amanda, I know you work and plan quite a few books ahead - you amaze me. I understand the 8 hours a day work ethic, but what does a typical month look like for you? Does it have a set arc of when you outline, when you write, when you pass off to an editor etc? Do you work on 2 or 3 books concurrently or do you do one after the other? And are your months consistent in their pattern - enough that you can plan editing well in advance? I'm assuming the answer to that is yes


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## AriadneW (Feb 16, 2013)

I could do it if I didn't have to work. It takes me about 3 months to write a book now, that's writing part time after hours. Things at work are changing and my youngest is off to school next year, so I've been thinking of leaving work to give it a go in the new year.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

I hope to get to the point of writing a novel a month, but I will happily settle for four a year, plus all the novellas, serials and short stories I can fit in. I think that would be a very good rate, and my goal for 2016. After that, who knows?

The advice on this thread is great. Learn your craft, have faith in yourself (or fake it until you make it), and be persistent and consistent.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> Hey Amanda, I know you work and plan quite a few books ahead - you amaze me. I understand the 8 hours a day work ethic, but what does a typical month look like for you? Does it have a set arc of when you outline, when you write, when you pass off to an editor etc? Do you work on 2 or 3 books concurrently or do you do one after the other? And are your months consistent in their pattern - enough that you can plan editing well in advance? I'm assuming the answer to that is yes


I have kind of developed a system where I edit 3-5 chapters of one book before starting my writing for the day. I glaze over after editing a bit. That allows me to edit in shorter bursts. For example, I have five chapters left to edit on my grim reapers book tomorrow before sending it off to my editor. Then I will write five chapters of a pen name book. That will take up about seven hours of my day tomorrow. I tend to write three weeks out of every month and use the fourth for final read-throughs and formatting. Sometimes I fall behind, but not generally. I work ahead so I can build time in here or there to catch up.


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## 84687 (May 31, 2015)

No I didn't write like that straight out of the gate. I started writing faster after NaNo in 2010, when I realized that every day when I sat at the computer, I didn't have time to go over and over the previous words I'd written. If I wanted to meet the 50k target for the month, I just had to read the last sentence and then start typing, and that's how I write most days now. If I make a change, like invent a dog for a character or something, I'll just make a note and wait until I've finished and onto the second draft before I change it. Otherwise I'd tweak incessantly and never get anywhere.

BICHOK (bum in chair, hands on keyboard) is the only way to do this, just to keep going and write a good amount, whatever you can manage, whether it's 50 or 500 words or 2000, every day.

Regarding giving yourself permission - I NEED the money, or rather I WANT the money to make my family more comfortable, and I desperately want to leave work, so that gives me the permission I need in order to dedicate those hours to writing. If I'm making money from it, I don't see it as a time-wasting hobby that I'm doing while I should be washing the dishes or something. It's a business, and now I'm bringing in money, the family are much happier to leave me alone for a few hours to work!


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## Rich Amooi (Feb 14, 2014)

I'm not even close to a book a month but my productivity has increased BIG TIME this month as I work on my fourth book. I'm finally starting to find my groove and system a year after I published my first book. I'm almost at 3k a day now. Planning ahead is huge-the outlining. What else has helped? Reading Libbie's book _Take Off Your Pants_ helped a lot! _5000 Words Per Hour_ by Chris Fox was just as awesome. I also use Chris's writing app on my iPhone and love it! Then of course _2k to 10k _by Rachel Aaron. Man, these books have some killer info that make so much sense. But my brain doesn't absorb information very well so I had to read each of these books twice and now it's starting to finally sink in. I think I will read them all one more time for good measure and hopefully I will be set then. 

Sorry to interrupt your thread since you're looking to hear from people who are already writing 100k a month but I just wanted to let you know what helped me get to the next level. Lookout 100k, I'm coming to get ya!


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## Marina Finlayson (May 2, 2014)

Is the common thread that all you book-a-monthers outline? I don't, and though I can write a first draft in a month, the revision usually takes me a couple more.


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## Seneca77 (Aug 17, 2015)

Being fairly new to the writing biz, I'm amazed at the output some of you are reporting. I have to ask...how do you fit in such productivity and work a fulltime job (or more) at the same time? Everything I'm seeing says that, in addition to quality writing, a good story, professional edits, attractive cover...the best thing that sells your first book is a second, and so on. I just don't seem to have the time. Am I just not as passionate? Too lazy?

In any case, bravo to those who have posted here sharing their experiences. Hopefully I've taken a step in the right direction by purchasing a book that is urging me to take my pants off.  

- Bob


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> I guess the difference is that there was always some sort of accountability to an outside source which had hired me. They were the ones who gave me 'permission' or validation to do what I did. I just hired a personal trainer to help me get in shape and lose weight, and already I've improved because I have to answer to her each week!


Maybe doing sprints with other authors might work for you! I have a few friends who routinely do sprints, where each day they sign into their sprint group and then are answerable to each other for writing X words that day. It works great for them. They've invited me to try it, but as I sometimes have to drop what I'm doing and take care of other business stuff mid-stream, I declined. With my luck, I'd end up failing at my sprints every time I tried to stick to it. Ugh.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

AriadneW said:


> I could do it if I didn't have to work. It takes me about 3 months to write a book now, that's writing part time after hours. Things at work are changing and my youngest is off to school next year, so I've been thinking of leaving work to give it a go in the new year.


Yep -- that was about my average speed when I was working full-time, too. You'll definitely be a book-a-monther when you're doing this full-time! (Assuming that's your goal.)

I am really looking forward to the end of next year, when my production schedule will slow WAY down. By then, I estimate I should have enough series out under enough pen names that I can afford to scale way back for a while and have some "me time." A little traveling, maybe. But for now, when my business is in its early stages, it's nice to be able to build up inventory on a regular, mostly-predictable schedule.

*Nicknacks* - no, I didn't start out this efficient. It took about a year to figure out how, when, and where I work best (and Rachel Aaron's book _2K to 10K_ is full of good advice on how to figure that out for yourself!) but once you hit the stride that's right for you, you'll know it.

*Marina Finlayson* - I'm sure there are some speedy writers out there who don't outline, but the majority of fast writers do. Outlining is just a trick to help you use your writing time as efficiently as possible. When you are on a tight schedule (because you have a book under contract, or have promised it to your readers by X date, or just because you want to build up a backlist as quickly as you can) efficiency is a huge boon. There are lots of really great benefits to NOT outlining, and allowing your brain to get super-creative and explore all the possibilities of your book. But it isn't the most efficient way to approach production, so if you NEED to be efficient for any special reason, outlining is a huge help.

I still write books "by the seat of my pants" when I can afford to. It's fun. I just don't take that approach with anything that needs to come together, by a particular date.



Seneca77 said:


> how do you fit in such productivity and work a fulltime job (or more) at the same time?


Writing is now my full-time job. From 2010, when I started pursuing a full-time writing career with real focus, until June 2014, when I quit my day job, I didn't watch TV (got rid of it), didn't spend more than a half hour at most per day dinking around on the internet, and almost never went out with friends. I went to work, came home, spent an hour at the gym, and wrote until it was time to go to bed. Every single day. On nearly every weekend, I went to the library and wrote for five or six hours, each day. I wanted that full-time writing career BADLY. So I sacrificed for it.



> Everything I'm seeing says that, in addition to quality writing, a good story, professional edits, attractive cover...the best thing that sells your first book is a second, and so on. I just don't seem to have the time. Am I just not as passionate? Too lazy?


I can't say whether you're passionate or not; I don't know you. I doubt you're lazy. Everybody has lots of interests and obligations in their lives. It's hard to know how to juggle them all. Everybody also has 24 hours in every day. If you're serious about your goal of making good money from your writing, you will find some things you're comfortable sacrificing in order to get to that point. There will also be things you're not comfortable sacrificing, or can't because of pressing responsibilities. That's okay. Or maybe you'll look at the sacrifices necessary to get there and decide that full-time writing isn't your goal after all. That's okay, too. It was a difficult, stressful haul to get here. I think it was well worth the sacrifices I made, but others in similar situations may not agree with me. We're all different when it comes to what we value and what kind of pressure we can handle.

I will say this, though: I still don't miss TV. Now I actually have the leisure time to watch TV if I want to, but I find there's just not much to interest me. Once you break a habit like sitting in front of a glowing box for a couple of hours a day, you find out pretty quickly that you don't miss it.



> In any case, bravo to those who have posted here sharing their experiences. Hopefully I've taken a step in the right direction by purchasing a book that is urging me to take my pants off.


Woo!!


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I write at least two books a month, sometimes three. It all comes down to outlining first and then forcing myself to work eight hours a day, five days a week. I don't let myself off the hook. The work has to be done, so I do it.


How did you box out your excuses? What kind of the mindset do you have where goofing off or feeling tired/lazy doesn't enter your thoughts? What is your 'why?"

How I wrote fast:

1. Knew I could type fast.
2. Knew more books = more money
3. Knew I had no money and it takes 2 months to get paid.

What helped write fast was remembering to write the best book I can at that time, and that pulling something from within you onto the sheet has to be judgement free. It's going to be ugly since when you bring it to reality it is always worse than in imagination, it is now a real thing. So just drag it out, don't think about it until edit.


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## Matt Ryan (Nov 16, 2012)

Some great posts! Thanks for sharing everyone.

I find writing/publishing speed fascinating and have been studying it for some time. Elle is one of my first heroes of speed and she has some great advice that she puts into action. I know the mystical unicorn that is the book-a-month writer seems like a herculean task to most, but is it? Throw out the excuses and what it really comes down to is a dirty word, MATH:

Chris Fox states he can write up to 5k words an hour. So, in theory a 40 hour work week would produce 200k words or 3 novels A WEEK. Not possible you say? Let's look at Elle who states 2k to 3k words an hour. Let go with the low of 2k. Again, standard 40 hour week would produce 80k. That's a healthy novel in just one week, right!? Woo hoo, the next three weeks off! Don't write like Elle Casey or Chris Fox? Let's take a look at someone who's slower, Russell Blake states 700+/- words an hour. Surely most of us can get somewhere near this number, right, 12 words a minute? So let's put up the 40 hour work week again(Mr. Blake works 70+) and we have 28,000 words a week. That's a novel about every 2.5 weeks. Even in all these scenarios if you add in the 50% writing time to edit, you are under a book a month, way under if you can write 2k+ an hour.

Want to know how you can write a book a month? Do the math. Figure out how many words on average you can write per hour. I'd say an average person can achieve 1k per hour. Average novel of 70k... that puts you at 70 hours per book or less than two standard 40 hour work weeks. Another week to edit and you can take the whole fourth week off and you still get weekends off all month! If you're a part timer like me, simple, I work on writing 4 hours a day, 20 hours a week, and that produces a book every other month. Still not bad, 6 books a year working 4 hours a day.

Wait, what about hanging on FB, family, friends, parties, ME TIME? I have a life you know. Again, I'm only talking about working a standard 40 hours per week, where most jobs wouldn't allow such activities during work hours anyways. Now, I know many have physical and other disabilities that don't allow this amount of butt-in-chair time. Then it's more about figuring out what you can do and be disciplined about implementing it.

If I was a full timer I wouldn't be asking how someone can write a book a month but why can't I? What am I doing with all these hours?


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

DGS said:


> How did you box out your excuses? What kind of the mindset do you have where goofing off or feeling tired/lazy doesn't enter your thoughts? What is your 'why?"
> 
> How I wrote fast:
> 
> ...


It's just not a consideration. I cannot enjoy my weekend until I hit my chapter count.


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> It's just not a consideration. I cannot enjoy my weekend until I hit my chapter count.


I hear ya. So many times I would be at exciting events and not feel it, the guilt and anxiety would just kill the vibe.


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## Jessie Jasen (May 30, 2015)

I've done A LOT of research on how to write books fast. From actual writing (dictation, fast typing) to asking people who are pulling a book or two per month how they do it to experimenting myself.

I can write a novel (50-70,000 words) within two weeks. I've done it with every single novel I've written so far (around 5), BUT I've encountered obstacles. My main obstacle was pantsing instead of plotting. Second obstacle was lack of research.

I talked to people who are writing fast, publishing fast and having success (among them Amanda). To cut a very long story short, these are my conclusions:

1) Figure out what you want to write about and then do the research (if needed)
2) Outline your project -- as detailed as you can
3) Make a plan and a schedule you'll stick to -- even when asteroids are falling from the sky
4) Learn to type fast -- the more you know what you're writing about, the faster you'll type
5) *Make it a habit -- don't skip days or weeks, unless you're going on a holiday*
6) Read regularly -- at least a book a week to stay up to date and to allow creative juices to flow

The moment you start skipping days and weeks of writing, you'll lose your mojo. You'll lose your track.
The reason why Amanda is so good at what she does is that she sticks to her schedule as if it's the First Commandment. When you know what you're doing and you do it regularly, it becomes a habit like brushing teeth: You do it automatically and spontaneously, without having to evaluate what you're doing every time.

That said, I'm off to continue my research on outlining&#8230;


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

My publishing schedule could loosely be called monthly if I define monthly to mean the same month every year


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

I love this thread! Thanks for starting it.

I've only recently published my first novel, after a huge and slow learning curve in which I basically went from fostering some of the most horrid myths about being a writer & writing, to actually getting a good feel for what it actually takes to put together a satisfying story & then self-publish it.

But now I'm writing the second novel in my debut trilogy, and putting ALL the information on productivity I could find to good use.

So far, over the course of August (but actually in 18 days) I wrote 60K. With a full-time job and a toddler at home. That would normally count as a full length novel, but I had to throw almost 30K away because I replotted, AND my average novel length (if you can call it an average, given that I've not finished that many novels yet  ) is ~100K.

I'm still mighty proud of those 60K though! Because I've proven it to myself: I CAN do it. I can write consistently, and consistently much. All I need is a good outline, and to plant that butt in chair every day I can.

I can still only dream of writing a full novel every month, but even if I manage to complete a mere three novels a year (editing and all) I will still be HUGELY happy!


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## HN Wake (Feb 24, 2015)

I LOVE KBOARDS!  

I was reading through this thread yesterday and remembered I wanted to check out Libbie's book.  I clicked over to Amazon, read the reviews, and purchased.  Then I started reading at about 7pm.  I have finished it AND my outline for novel #3 is 80% complete.  UNREAL.  Seriously, unreal.  Novel #1 took me a year to write.  (Nothing like doing it the hard way when you first start out.)

Halfway through Libbie's book,  I clicked back to Amazon and left a 5 star review.  I never leave reviews.

Libbie: you are a godsend.  I'm so excited to write I have goosebumps.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

There are a number of books I've written in a month, but I never set out to do so. I write on average 5-6 novels per year and often some shorter works as well.

For those whose recalcitrant brains operate like mine, and resist all attempts at planning, outlining (URGH) or target word counts/chapters, here is what I do:

1. Work on your stuff every day, no exceptions not even for Christmas, even if you only look at it for half an hour, work on it. Doesn't matter what it is, writing, editing, research, whatever. It all counts and it's all necessary. You can't always see the progress, but that doesn't mean it's not there.
2. Burnout is a very real thing. When you feel you're scraping the barrel, do something else. Edit if you were writing, or do research. Or grocery shopping. Or work on a different manuscript.
3. Work out what your non-productive triggers are and structure your work so that you eliminate them. For me, the counterproductive triggers are big time trying to push myself to meet a certain word count. I write RUBBISH when I try to squeeze another 1000 words and it's an utter waste of time. Your brain will work differently.
4. Give yourself permission to recharge when you feel you need to. I pick up my flute or wonder around the garden until I see that I should really clean the pool filter, which then sends me back inside, because that's a far worse job than writing!
5. What's this thing called TV?


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## Briteka (Mar 5, 2012)

Seneca77 said:


> Being fairly new to the writing biz, I'm amazed at the output some of you are reporting. I have to ask...how do you fit in such productivity and work a fulltime job (or more) at the same time? Everything I'm seeing says that, in addition to quality writing, a good story, professional edits, attractive cover...the best thing that sells your first book is a second, and so on. I just don't seem to have the time. Am I just not as passionate? Too lazy?
> 
> In any case, bravo to those who have posted here sharing their experiences. Hopefully I've taken a step in the right direction by purchasing a book that is urging me to take my pants off.
> 
> - Bob


I think for most of us, writing IS our full time job.

I have no idea what your work schedule is or how fast you write, but even with a full time job, it is possible. There's 168 hours in a week, and if you work 40 hours, that leaves 128 hours. Maybe deduct another 10 hours for travel time and such, that's 118 hours. Deduct another 42 hours for sleeping, that's 76 hours. If you write 1000 words an hour, that's a novel a WEEK. Of course, that doesn't leave any time for a personal life, but friends and family are overrated anyway.


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## Katherine Stark (Jul 30, 2015)

I consider myself a fast writer until I look at you guys! When I was working full-time, for the past year and a half I was averaging around 30-40K words a month, which I considered phenomenal. Since I was laid off, I've been managing 70K+ months (granted, only two months so far, but still). I'm finishing Self-Pub Novel #2 today, in the six-ish weeks since I started my self-publishing endeavor.

However...

I just can't bring myself to write 8 hours a day. At least, not yet.

My brain gets all rubbery on me. I start to hate my characters, my prose, my plot, everything. I can manage 1K every 30 minutes (I work in sprints) for anywhere from 2K to 5K. I think the most I've EVER written in a day is 5600 words, though I've had a lot more days like that in the past two months than ever before. So at my pace, I feel like I SHOULD be getting 16,000 words a day in an 8-hour workday, right?

But let's be real. Even at a day job, do any of you honestly spend every minute of those 8 hours doing your work? And how much of your work is peripheral nonsense--answering emails, fielding phone calls, fetching coffee for your boss, fixing corrupted spreadsheets, whatever tedious nonsense keeps you from the job you were actually hired to do.

I think writing-as-a-business comes with plenty of that, too. We have to edit our books, format our books, look at cover options, be active on social media, tinker with keywords, update websites, arrange promotions... there's a lot of "work" that comes with writing that isn't actually telling a story. And then there's reading! Which is critically important, at least for me. I have to stay on top of what's current in my genre. And I have to refill my creative well. For me, reading good books after writing is as important as stretching my muscles after working out. It's how I keep the linguistic center in my brain limber and prevent it from locking up and shutting down from overuse (or keep it from traversing the same tired old path over and over that makes all my sentences sound exactly the same).

I would love to reach a point, if I continue writing full-time, where I can write for 4 solid hours every day. That should give me 8,000 words a day, and easily give me a novel every two weeks, including editing time. I can vary projects between this pen name and my traditionally published works, too, to keep things fresh. If I write four solid hours every day, then I can spend four solid hours editing, reading, and doing all the other managing the business-side trivia.

Until I'm fabulously wealthy and can hire an assistant to do it for me, of course 


Also--YES, I believe there is great importance in giving up needless time-wasters. TV is a big one. Internet, too. Video games, hanging out with friends, etc. But please, please, don't cut them out completely. You need to live life in order to draw from your experience and put it in your books. You need to refill your creative well with other great creative works. And you ARE allowed to take a break. But get your work done first. And be choosy in what you put in your head. You probably don't need to binge-watch 8000 different TV shows--just pick the 3 that truly speak to you. Find a reasonable amount of time to spend on friendships, relationships, etc. I'm very fortunate in that my husband is as big an introvert as I am, and we're mostly content just to occupy the same room as each other  He has his hobbies and I have mine. We make time for the ones that overlap (games we enjoy playing together, going out to dinner, movies, etc). Then we get back to work.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Katherine, I love bumming on the internet and would not give it up for anything. These days I also find that I spend more time marketing than writing simply because I've used up my creative potential for the day and I can actually sell more books by marketing than by pushing myself to write yet another book (the book will get written anyway, just not within a month, usually). I'm in a genre where backlist is king and older books are worth for more than the new ones. I market the hell out of those books.


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## Briteka (Mar 5, 2012)

Marketing and social media are definitely time-consuming aspects of the business, but I personally find them fun. I've completely dropped Twitter simply because I hate it, but I like posting to my pen names' Facebook accounts. I usually do three posts a day, and it's actually fun, so I don't consider it work. Paid advertising is fun to me too because I think I get some sort of rush from it. It's truly like gambling. You drop a hundred dollars into Facebook each day and try to turn that $100 into $110 or $120.


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## TLC1234 (Jun 20, 2015)

Post deleted.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Marketing is not just fun, it's necessary, and becomes more necessary the more books you have. 

It's all very well churning out book after book, but if youre like me and have 21 books already, it's worth much more if you can get more people to buy your entire catalog than it is to release a 22nd book

/thread derail


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

DGS said:


> How did you box out your excuses? What kind of the mindset do you have where goofing off or feeling tired/lazy doesn't enter your thoughts? What is your 'why?"


I'm not Amanda, so Amanda, forgive me for butting in on this question somebody else asked you... but I thought it was an interesting question and I wanted to throw in my two cents on it.

After you develop the habit of sticking to your work when it's work time, the excuses simply don't have the power they used to have. You just go, "Yeah, Excuse X sounds great, but I need to get this work done, so I can turn my attention to Excuse X when the writing obligation is fulfilled." Like developing the habit of exercising regularly, it takes some determination and willpower in the initial stages. But once you get yourself into the habit of doing what you need to do when you need to do it, the excuses suddenly have no power anymore. You just do what it has become your habit to do at that time: write. (Or go to the gym. Whatever.)

Feeling tired and lazy enters the thoughts of people who have developed a strong routine just as often as it enters the thoughts of people who haven't developed the routine yet. But those who have developed the routine just ignore those thoughts when they arise. Push yourself to stick to the work for maybe 7 - 10 days in a row, and it will happen to you, too. Suddenly you just won't feel like it's worth it to pay attention to the distractions anymore.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

HN Wake said:


> I LOVE KBOARDS!
> 
> I was reading through this thread yesterday and remembered I wanted to check out Libbie's book. I clicked over to Amazon, read the reviews, and purchased. Then I started reading at about 7pm. I have finished it AND my outline for novel #3 is 80% complete. UNREAL. Seriously, unreal. Novel #1 took me a year to write. (Nothing like doing it the hard way when you first start out.)
> 
> ...


Aww, thanks! Stuff like this makes me really happy I wrote it.


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## Writer&#039;s Block (Oct 29, 2014)

Love your stapler VeronicaSicoe. 

If I had one of them on my desk I'd never get any writing done


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## Steve Margolis (Mar 31, 2015)

I still have a full time job, so writing consistently is difficult. I published my first book last month and it was a huge learning experience. The whole book took about 6 months from start to finish, including things like learning my way around Amazon and securing a cover. Now I believe I can realistically put out one book every two/three months.

As many of you have commented- outlining is the key for me. Once that's complete, the writing goes much faster.

In 2016, I'm hoping to write full time.


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## Jessica R (Nov 11, 2012)

I like the "judgement free" statement. I decided I wanted to write a book more quickly, and i decided that I would do it under a pen name so I didn't worry about if it was good enough, if it was too much like something else, if I'd be embarrassed. I think it's very freeing. I can decide later if I want to use that pen name or not, but I know I can!
Watching a tv show/movie in my favorite genre can actually make me feel inspired and give me good ideas. I also watch movies and notice what they're doing with plot and character development. So I'm not cutting out the idiot box. 
I like outlining with index cards or a notebook, but I recently got Scrivener. It's fun to do the same thing but on the computer, and my lil girl doesn't try to swipe my cards. Still haven't figured out how backup works, though.
My youngest just started kindergarten! So I'm excited that I will have mornings to write! I'll be happy if I crank out a book every six months though.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Marina Finlayson said:


> Is the common thread that all you book-a-monthers outline? I don't, and though I can write a first draft in a month, the revision usually takes me a couple more.


Sometimes I pants (that's my nature by default), but usually I outline and write out beats. I definitely write faster when I do both. I also spend WAY more time in revisions when I don't outline.

For example, in April, I wrote 150k words and wrote two books. I outlined the first one ahead of time and it went through the beta reading and editing process quickly enough to be published on May 28th. The second book I wrote that month, however, was a different story altogether. (Ha! Even a different genre.) I had no time to outline, and though I did manage to write it fast, it was a mess. By the time it was finally ready to see the light of day, it was near the end of July.

Two books written in the same month, and the difference between outlining and not: two months between publication dates. I can't recommend outlines and beats enough. Not only does it help the actual writing to come easier, but it helps the entire process. Not that any book will be perfect, but there's something to be said for a book that doesn't need a complete overhaul in revisions.


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## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

Marina Finlayson said:


> Is the common thread that all you book-a-monthers outline? I don't, and though I can write a first draft in a month, the revision usually takes me a couple more.


I outline (a general one, not too specific) and then I write scene by scene, deciding at the outset which scene(s) I want to write today. I think Amanda does whole chapters at a time. I do not write 5k per hour. I generally don't even write 5k per day, but I still manage without a last minute sprint. If I don't hit my goal during the week for some reason, I make it up at the weekend. My books tend to be between 50-60k, although my new series is between 40-50k. The rest of my books will continue to be in the 50-60k range because that seems to be my natural length. I'm fairly disciplined (not to suggest that other people here are not) and used to working under intense deadlines. Before I started writing full-time, I was a lawyer and before that I worked in ad sales for a daily paper. Both of those jobs involved constant deadlines and keeping track of your time. Some of it is personality, though. I always did my homework the day it was assigned, etc. I'm that kid.


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## DanielPotter (Aug 24, 2011)

Disclaimer: I'm still pretty early in the journey and I'm no where near a book a month.  

I've always looked at writing a book a month as impossible for me.  However funny things happen when you write a book and people enjoy it.  Now I have people, not that many to be sure, but people who have written to me to thank me for my work.  

I've found that the single most motivating thing I've ever encountered.  I'm now doing 10k a week, 2k each workday with a makup session on saturday as usually life kills at least one writing evening a week.  After a 2k day my brain is done, spent, writing is the last thing it wants to do.  I don't force it.  But I'm going to have a 1st draft done of a 100K book by mid october, that will be less than three months. Thats exciting. It will be a hot mess, as my first drafts always are and require heavy revision. But I see the book a month thing as a glimmering possibility now, when I get rid of the day job.  

This book will probably take 6 months after editing and such but thats much better than 2 years.  With luck this time I will have the motivation to be writing the next book while its at beta readers and copyeditors.  So maybe the third book will come on 4 months after the second. Practice makes perfect.  

Anyway thoughts from a newbie. 

Thank you all for sharing.


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## CDForness (Nov 25, 2013)

Jim Johnson said:


> Might be worthwhile to read this article on fear in publishing and writing. Dean also has a very useful hour+ long lecture on the topic that helped me out a lot earlier on.
> 
> Dare to be bad, have fun, and write!


Hi Jim;

Thanks for the article. Do you recall what the name of the Video Lecture is? I see he has about 28 of them and there are a few that might fall under the topic of Fear.

Thx for your time.


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## bohemianedu (Jul 24, 2014)

Stacy Claflin said:


> That's a loaded question!  I write a book a month and homeschool my kids. The short answer is that writing is like a muscle, and like any other, using it makes it stronger.
> 
> Start with goals you can achieve and raise the bar often to keep from growing stagnant. Have big picture goals and tiny, little ones. In fact, I would highly recommend delving into personal development (if you haven't already) since so much of this is about mindset. Listen to personal growth podcasts, read books, blogs, whatever you can get your hands on. SJ Scott, Hal Elrod, and Jeff Sanders are good places to start. Also, spend time listening to writing podcasts. There are a ton of great ones. Self Publishing Podcast, Sell More Books Show, Author Strong, Author Biz, Rocking Self Publishing, Creative Penn, and lots more.
> 
> I write at the same time every day - starting around 4:30am. It's such a habit that even when I'm really tired, it comes naturally. Well, as long as I've done my job outlining and writing beats beforehand. It's tricky and challenging without that. I also do switch genres, going between three different ones. It does keep things interesting and fresh.


Another homeschooler! Yay! Me too. I'm working writing a book a month myself. I find it is about mindset. Also, filling myself by reading, watching tv, and reading non-fiction quite often, but that's because I write from my subconscious. Filling myself up this way, embeds a cadence, many frameworks, and material to pull from. Breaking the word count up in 1000 word chunks helps too. Sometimes though, like last night I wrote straight through. Then rewarded myself with reading.


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

ElHawk said:


> I'm not Amanda, so Amanda, forgive me for butting in on this question somebody else asked you... but I thought it was an interesting question and I wanted to throw in my two cents on it.
> 
> After you develop the habit of sticking to your work when it's work time, the excuses simply don't have the power they used to have. You just go, "Yeah, Excuse X sounds great, but I need to get this work done, so I can turn my attention to Excuse X when the writing obligation is fulfilled." Like developing the habit of exercising regularly, it takes some determination and willpower in the initial stages. But once you get yourself into the habit of doing what you need to do when you need to do it, the excuses suddenly have no power anymore. You just do what it has become your habit to do at that time: write. (Or go to the gym. Whatever.)
> 
> Feeling tired and lazy enters the thoughts of people who have developed a strong routine just as often as it enters the thoughts of people who haven't developed the routine yet. But those who have developed the routine just ignore those thoughts when they arise. Push yourself to stick to the work for maybe 7 - 10 days in a row, and it will happen to you, too. Suddenly you just won't feel like it's worth it to pay attention to the distractions anymore.


Good stuff. It's like a muscle. The issue is that once you've put the book out, it takes about a week for that muscle to start going weak while you celebrate! I must have something in my brain off because I've done this 3-4 times now, just coasting to 'holy crap I need to start writing again!' from good income. Maybe I need to think 'I'm going to write for a living. Really." but then I know I want to do more than just that. So then it's "maybe I do this writing thing and make good money while I can." The fear is helpful.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

CDF said:


> Hi Jim;
> 
> Thanks for the article. Do you recall what the name of the Video Lecture is? I see he has about 28 of them and there are a few that might fall under the topic of Fear.
> 
> Thx for your time.


It's lecture #13&#8230; Starting or Restarting Your Writing. Covers fears and a whole bunch of other stuff worth reviewing.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

DGS said:


> Good stuff. It's like a muscle. The issue is that once you've put the book out, it takes about a week for that muscle to start going weak while you celebrate! I must have something in my brain off because I've done this 3-4 times now, just coasting to 'holy crap I need to start writing again!' from good income. Maybe I need to think 'I'm going to write for a living. Really." but then I know I want to do more than just that. So then it's "maybe I do this writing thing and make good money while I can." The fear is helpful.


I don't take time off between projects. When I finish one, I turn to the next one. I take weekends off and work Monday through Friday. If I finish on a Friday then I start the next book on a Monday. If I finish on a Wednesday I start the next book on a Thursday.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Marina Finlayson said:


> Is the common thread that all you book-a-monthers outline? I don't, and though I can write a first draft in a month, the revision usually takes me a couple more.


I found that I write faster and more efficiently when I have some sort of outline to work from, whether it's a sentence per scene or chapter or a little bit more. I spent a couple months this year specifically writing into the dark, without an outline, on some short stories, and I enjoyed the experience, but the writing was harder than I expected it to be, because I found myself staring at the wall almost as often as I was laying words down on the page.

During my non-day job time, I made the time to write around 260,000 words from Jan to Apr this year across six novellas and parts of four more, all of which had some form of outline in hand. I can't ignore that experience and production. So, back to some form of outlining for me for now.


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I don't take time off between projects. When I finish one, I turn to the next one. I take weekends off and work Monday through Friday. If I finish on a Friday then I start the next book on a Monday. If I finish on a Wednesday I start the next book on a Thursday.


How many hours per day? Start working as soon as you wake up?


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

DGS said:


> How many hours per day? Start working as soon as you wake up?


I am a late riser. I usually get up around noon. Then I run any errands I have to do, or mow the lawn, etc. I generally start around 3 p.m., but it could be later. I had an audio giveaway earlier so I just started at 8:30 p.m. tonight. I will do at least five chapters. I might do more if the mood strikes. Sometimes I take breaks between chapters and do housework. Sometimes I don't. I'm kind of all over the place with that stuff.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

It never ceases to amaze me how many hours successful writers spend mowing lawns. Maybe I should un-do all my efforts to grow a native forest in the back yard and put the horrible, ugly, desiccated (or waterlogged, take your pick) lawn back in.


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## whatdanwrote (Oct 18, 2012)

Read "Take Off Your Pants." Boy, that worked for me. Wrote a book I'm happy with in three weeks. I've never been an outline person, but that book completely changed that for me. So good.

I'm about to start a new book. It think I'm going to chart my progress, just to see how it works.

Thanks Libbie!


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I am a late riser. I usually get up around noon. Then I run any errands I have to do, or mow the lawn, etc. I generally start around 3 p.m., but it could be later. I had an audio giveaway earlier so I just started at 8:30 p.m. tonight. I will do at least five chapters. I might do more if the mood strikes. Sometimes I take breaks between chapters and do housework. Sometimes I don't. I'm kind of all over the place with that stuff.


Oh right, you go by chapters, not time. I like that. Screw it, time to put writing as the dominant thought, and everything else second. Cheers


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## lostagain (Feb 17, 2014)

Nicknacks said:


> This is brilliant--I am so saving this thread, thanks for starting it!
> 
> The way I see it, these prolific 1-3 novels/month peeps didn't do that straight out of the gate (and please do correct me if I'm wrong! It happens, I'll own up to it.) It's a daily effort. Right now, I'm a book a 5+ monther  But the plan, Stan, is one every 3 months by this time next year, then faster & faster without sacrificing quality. I've got all the mental blocks you mentioned (plus oh-so-many others), and kicking them all to the curb one by one.
> 
> You'll get there, I'll get there! For now, my inner squirrel wants to look at more book covers


Yes. I did write my first book in 6 weeks. But then I rewrote it 7 more times, lol. (and it could probably use another rewrite but I'm not sure I want to know) I've played with different methods. I've done 10K days a few days in a row, but that was awful. I've learned that I do the best with a steady word count goal each day. And 3K a day is completely doable for me now.


Marina Finlayson said:


> Is the common thread that all you book-a-monthers outline? I don't, and though I can write a first draft in a month, the revision usually takes me a couple more.


I don't. But I did just by Libby's book because I'm a Virgo and I like structure, even though I guess I'll still pants away after reading it, lol. But I also write pretty clean. I self edit along the way. When I finish my first draft I do one read through fixing grammar I notice and change word use so I don't say couch three times in one paragraph, and then it's off to the dev editor.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

bohemianedu said:


> Another homeschooler! Yay! Me too. I'm working writing a book a month myself. I find it is about mindset. Also, filling myself by reading, watching tv, and reading non-fiction quite often, but that's because I write from my subconscious. Filling myself up this way, embeds a cadence, many frameworks, and material to pull from. Breaking the word count up in 1000 word chunks helps too. Sometimes though, like last night I wrote straight through. Then rewarded myself with reading.


I've been surprised at how many homeschoolers there are here.  Sounds like you have a good system down!


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## Marina Finlayson (May 2, 2014)

I'm glad to hear that not everyone who writes a book a month is an outliner. It gives me hope!


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## Sam Winterwood (Jun 25, 2013)

HN Wake said:


> I LOVE KBOARDS!
> 
> I was reading through this thread yesterday and remembered I wanted to check out Libbie's book. I clicked over to Amazon, read the reviews, and purchased. Then I started reading at about 7pm. I have finished it AND my outline for novel #3 is 80% complete. UNREAL. Seriously, unreal. Novel #1 took me a year to write. (Nothing like doing it the hard way when you first start out.)
> 
> ...


I have that as well. Read it slowly, then reread. I still pull it out.
After reading I sat down and the outline just flowed out. And I have to say the story has made more sense than any other I've written.
I've tried this several times using the books method. One time I had no clue what I was going to write about and within an hour or so (probably less) a novel in a new world with totally unknown characters was there

In other words, get this book.
(I still have do my Amazon review)


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I don't take time off between projects. When I finish one, I turn to the next one. I take weekends off and work Monday through Friday. If I finish on a Friday then I start the next book on a Monday. If I finish on a Wednesday I start the next book on a Thursday.


Yep, I don't either. I take two days off per week (except when I've got a huge deadline breathing down my neck, like right now) and occasionally Paul and I might take a three-day weekend if we've got something to celebrate or if we've been especially stressed of late. We try to take two or three weeks of travel-vacation time per year, as well. We actually have our vacation time all planned out for 2016 already.

I launch right into the next book as soon as I'm done with the current project. Usually, by the time I get to the end of a project I'm totally sick of it and really stoked to write that shiny new thing, so I don't want to stop, anyway. I just want to work on something that's a lot more fun than the thing I've become tired of.

ETA: I'm the exact opposite from Amanda. I'm an early riser. I am usually wide awake by 6:30, and at the office no later than 7:30. (I live in a tiny town, so I walk across town to my office, which is in the upper story of an adorable, gingerbread-esque house built in 1890. The lower story is a book store. Isn't that fun?! But anyway, commute to work varies depending on the weather, how reluctant my cat is to eat his pill in the morning, and how many deer I have to avoid on the way.) I write until about noon, walk home and have lunch/discuss business stuff with Paul for an hour, and walk back to work until around 4:00. It's about 7 hours of writing total, and I aim for at least 5000 words per day.

After work, I walk over to the gym, work out, and then walk home and make dinner. I'm back home and in non-work mode by 6:00.

p.s. Thank, Dan!


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## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

Libbie,
Any chance of a paperback version of Take Off Your Pants! ?


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## Seneca77 (Aug 17, 2015)

So Libbie,

I read your book _Take Off Your Pants_, did exactly that, and everybody laughed. I want a refund!

Seriously, just finished it and will be putting everything you teach into practice this upcoming long weekend. Can't wait to re-energize my writing now that I have a logical outline to follow. In my first book, I started off as a pantser, then decided an outline would be a better method. But I really didn't have an idea of what I should outline and how. Your book distills it down to an easy-to-manage form. I'm about a fourth of the way through the sequel and can already see how your techniques will be an improvement. Don't know if I can finish it in a month, but I'm going to try!

Thank you!

- Bob


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## lostagain (Feb 17, 2014)

I just read Libbie's book too. I made notes and when I finish my current WIP tomorrow I'm going to give this outline stuff a shot. If I could get more than 18K a week in I'd be thrilled.


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> I was just reading Elle Casey's recent blog post and it got me thinking about this concept of a book a month. I know a lot of people here write fast - Amanda, I'm looking at you! I know there are a lot of threads about writing faster, scheduling our days etc, but I would like to hear from those who specifically aim at a book a month give or take a few days, and who consistently do this through the year. And by a book, I mean somewhere in the novel range - 50,000 words and up. I'm not dissing novellas, but I'm not writing novellas, so I'm looking for advice on novels.
> 
> I'm a fast writer and this is my full time gig, but I procrastinate, I lose confidence, I get distracted by life. I also get sidelined by book cover work, but I love it and the extra income is great.
> 
> ...


I am not a "book-a-monther" and I think the reason why I've held back on pushing so many out there is that I did that way back when I was writing 350-page non-fiction books and I literally almost killed myself doing it. So I think sub-consciously, I hold myself back because I don't want to go through that again. I do have a hard time now making myself start on anything, because I know how hard it is to get through the process. Especially now that all the "other stuff" like editing, finding covers, formatting, etc. is added on. I really admire those who sit down and DO IT and get lots of books out there.


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## 67499 (Feb 4, 2013)

Patty Jansen said:


> It never ceases to amaze me how many hours successful writers spend mowing lawns. Maybe I should un-do all my efforts to grow a native forest in the back yard and put the horrible, ugly, desiccated (or waterlogged, take your pick) lawn back in.


With Patty, I too have been mulling over how much lawn Amanda mows each day in addition to her usual 8 million words written per day. She must have a lawn 50 miles on a side or very fast-growing grass. Where I live, a lawn is not your friend - it tends to fill up with pythons, gators and fire ants. So I don't have a lawn to mow, which explains everything about my sales rank.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

On average, it takes me about 12-20 days to write a full-length novel. However, I'm the worst procrastinator and often take two months off after I finish a book. Then, I realize I have a release date impending and panic, further putting the book off because of stress.

That's where I'm at right now. I will be writing a book in 6 days


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## Kessie Carroll (Jan 15, 2014)

I grabbed Take Off Your Pants and plugged my WIP into the outline. It not only showed me where my plot was weak, it also helped me figure out this finale that was giving me such trouble. I can't wait to use it to generate a whole new book from scratch!


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

OK, Libby, I got a copy, too.

I'm the world's biggest pantser, but wish I could plot more. I might learn something new


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## Scratchy_Bitey (Nov 28, 2013)

My novels are between 60-70k (novellas around 30k) and it takes me a month to write one, then the extra time to format, edit, but I'm already on the next one while the previous is with my editor. I'm releasing something every 1-2 months right now, but I hope I can get to every month! That would be great considering I have a pen name that's sadly neglected. Right now, I'm alternating series on my main name until they're both done. They're set in the same world and cross over a little, so switching is fairly easy.
I plot the entire novel before I begin so the story stays on track and I set a word count goal to hit every day. I have an app on my Mac called Word Count Dashboard that tells me how many words I need to get each session and averages it out if I get more or less. It's great!
It pretty much comes down to backside in chair time and lists. I love a good list for keeping myself on track!
I don't finish for the day until I've at least hit my minimum words, then I can have fun making teasers and covers. 
It's been cool to see everyone else's process!


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

I'm waiting for my husband to stop using the tablet so I can read Libby's book. Grrrr. Now you all have me curious.


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## HN Wake (Feb 24, 2015)

In the car this weekend I even banged on about Libbie's book to my husband.  Game changing.

After the long weekend I'm going to sit down and start up novel #3.  I'm aiming for my first 5K a day after this thread!


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

I used to plot. Studied those beats worksheets, character worksheets, and so on. Then I got caught up in a horrid case of writer's block that lasted for months, and when I came out of it I decided I was going to shake it up and write the way I used to write, when I was a kid. So, no outlines, no beats, just the random note about something. I will fill out a character sheet as I go, just so I have easy access to things like jobs, nicknames, eye color or whatever I've described about the characters.

I'm trusting my subconscious to work on the story behind the scenes, and I've found I'm writing better, and writing more. Now all I have to do is get that butt in chair bit down and write. I think if I can do that consistently (every day is my goal), I can be one of those novel-a-month people, if I want to.


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## S.R. Booth (Oct 6, 2013)

This thread inspired me to buy Libby's book, too! I remember hearing about it when it came out but _knew_ it wasn't for me because if I write a whole outline, I feel like I've written the story and I'm done with it!

I've only read a couple of chapters so far but it's already giving me all these great "Ah ha," thoughts. I'm about 42,000 words into my WIP but I plan to go back to page one and implement some of Libby's great advice. (Of course I'm going to finish her book first so I don't have to start over at page one each time I read a chapter and learn something new. ; >)

Thanks, Libby!

Oh, and back to the original subject, I wrote the first draft of my first book in a little less than a month. I didn't realize I was actually going to write a book at that point. (I've written pages of stories over the years just to tuck them away after a few thousands words.) I think I could have written it faster if I'd had any type of goal *because I was very interested in the subject.* I've tried writing about more popular/marketable subjects that I didn't have as much interest in and the writing just drags ...


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Chrissy said:


> Libbie,
> Any chance of a paperback version of Take Off Your Pants! ?


Yes, and a revised edition, too. I'm shooting for October, but haven't been able to get around to it yet because I'm tied up with a book that's under contract for my trad publisher. Their stuff takes priority, because I've signed documents that legally compel me to write things for them.  But as soon as I can manage it.

Bob, Kessie, Patty, HN and S.R., thanks for your enthusiasm over TOYP! You guys are awesome.

Violet -- 18K a week is nothing to sneeze at! Don't be too hard on yourself.


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## Jos Van Brussel (Feb 13, 2013)

I’ve been averaging around 100,000 words a month for around six months now, finishing 18 short romance novels in the process (about 35,000 words each). What essentially pushed me to quit messing around was the prospect of having to go back to work (I quit my job the year before and had been dabbling with different genres and different pen names without much success). Since I focused on one pen name and one genre and started writing like the proverbial wind, my income increased to the point that it now sustains my family.

To my detriment, I’ve had to accept that outlining doesn’t work for me (and my chosen genre). I’ve tried it time and time again, and only managed to lose a lot of time (my hard disk is littered with outlines that never came to fruition). In fact I was doing quite well when I decided to try this outlining thing again at the end of July. I spent August writing two outlines and have had to accept defeat after trying to turn them into novels. I finally gave up and returned to my trusty pantsing ways, and am finally moving ahead again. I did lose one month’s worth of production and income, so I won’t be going down that road again.

I shoot for a daily word count (currently 6000) and use WriteOrDie, which forces me to push out my fresh words of the day (relatively) painlessly. I try to do this as early in the day as possible. Then I transfer my morning words to Scrivener and spend the rest of the day editing. I keep track of the story and the characters as I write, spending a little time going over all the ‘elements’ in the story: who’s doing what to whom where, how and why, and ponder a bit over possible future developments (without actually committing to any storylines—merely priming the subconscious pump). Then the next day I read over my list of elements and start writing again.

This system has worked very well for me, but then it’s something I’ve learned through trial and (a lot of) error over a period of about a decade (I wrote my first novel in 2005 and am now at #3. I think I must have read all the writing advice books available, read all the blogs, facebook posts, forum threads and generally anything I’ve been able to glean from writers more successful than me (in other words, every other writer out there) and have finally had to conclude that every writer is different and that what works for one person, often doesn’t work for another. So I think I’ll stick to this for now .


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

All right, all right. I bought it too.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Frack me. So did I.


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## missielady (Aug 26, 2015)

I also bought Libbie's book and am experimenting with her outlining technique.


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## EmilieHardie (Jan 2, 2014)

I bought the book too!

On topic:
I don't currently write a book a month but I have plans to try (while working full time) next year. The reason I can even contemplate it is:
a) I outline (though my method has already been seriously improved with just the first few chapters of Libbie's book)
b) I dictate and can therefore hit well over 5k per hour (I currently write fanfic, and am using that to get myself used to self-set schedules and producing regularly) - I strongly recommend Chris Fox's 5k An Hour to anyone interested in trying
c) I live alone and so can organise my life around writing
d) I'm systematically getting rid of distractions like TV, and finishing off books I have on order at the library or that I bought and never read so that there will be less distractions around next year
e) I've been slowly learning to eek out small parcels of time to get just a few more words in, and developing routines to make everyday chores more efficient

I'm currently sitting on about 75k words per month, and am getting the 'inexperienced words' out of the way so that everything I write next year will be more publishable. From what I've found, that kind of production requires the commitment to make your writing the complete center of your life (outside work, at least for me).


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## My Dog&#039;s Servant (Jun 2, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I don't take time off between projects. When I finish one, I turn to the next one. I take weekends off and work Monday through Friday. If I finish on a Friday then I start the next book on a Monday. If I finish on a Wednesday I start the next book on a Thursday.


My brain's fried and Google isn't helping me, but a famous NY editor/author (came from a big name film family...will come to me...nope), anyway, he wrote an interesting book about the authors he'd worked with, among them, R.F. Delderfield, the "God is an Englishman" huge bestseller way back when. Editor shows up in Delderfield's village to talk to him but is told that the author won't emerge from his office until 5 p.m. or so, which is his quitting time. When author finally emerges, he happily informs editor that he finished the latest book at about 3 that afternoon. Really, says editor. So what did you do for the next two hours? I started the next one, of course, says author.

Next day works for me. Ten minutes later? Maybe not so much.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

I've just finished reading Libbie's book. I'm not allowed to swear on this forum so I'll just leave you to fill in the asterisks in saying that it's f***ing brilliant.

It made me realise that I do a lot of that stuff already. I just don't write any of it down. Guess that makes me a closet outliner?


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## Kate. (Oct 7, 2014)

Patty Jansen said:


> I've just finished reading Libbie's book. I'm not allowed to swear on this forum so I'll just leave you to fill in the asterisks in saying that it's f***ing brilliant.
> 
> It made me realise that I do a lot of that stuff already. I just don't write any of it down. Guess that makes me a closet outliner?


The "inverse triangles" thing was _huge _for me. It's so obvious when it's explained - and I think most good writers already do it subconsciously - but being aware of it has been amazing for my draft.


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2015)

Jos Van Brussel said:


> I've been averaging around 100,000 words a month for around six months now, finishing 18 short romance novels in the process (about 35,000 words each). What essentially pushed me to quit messing around was the prospect of having to go back to work (I quit my job the year before and had been dabbling with different genres and different pen names without much success). Since I focused on one pen name and one genre and started writing like the proverbial wind, my income increased to the point that it now sustains my family.
> 
> To my detriment, I've had to accept that outlining doesn't work for me (and my chosen genre). I've tried it time and time again, and only managed to lose a lot of time (my hard disk is littered with outlines that never came to fruition). In fact I was doing quite well when I decided to try this outlining thing again at the end of July. I spent August writing two outlines and have had to accept defeat after trying to turn them into novels. I finally gave up and returned to my trusty pantsing ways, and am finally moving ahead again. I did lose one month's worth of production and income, so I won't be going down that road again.
> 
> ...


Jos, I enjoyed reading this, and I'm going to bookmark your comment so that I can come back to it for inspiration. 

I'm currently doing my version of the "5 down and 1 in the hole" Liliana Nirvana technique. I'm writing novellas. (You say you write books at around the 35,000 length.) The five will go to my editor in November, and I'll publish the five in December. Then I'll have two more for January and two more for February. (Although, after reading your inspiring post, I may produce more than two a month after I publish my five.)

I do outline. I read Libbie's book, and I gave it five stars. I also mind map, which has been working well for me. (Here is a blog post on mind mapping I found, but there's lots more information on mind mapping out there. -http://www.iainbroome.com/blog/mind-maps-stories.)

That said, you've had success as a pantser, and I know other authors have as well. Fortunately, there is no ONE way to write a book.


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## Jos Van Brussel (Feb 13, 2013)

Jolie du Pre said:


> Jos, I enjoyed reading this, and I'm going to bookmark your comment so that I can come back to it for inspiration.
> 
> I'm currently doing my version of the "5 down and 1 in the hole" Liliana Nirvana technique. I'm writing novellas. (You say you write books at around the 35,000 length.) The five will go to my editor in November, and I'll publish the five in December. Then I'll have two more for January and two more for February. (Although, after reading your inspiring post, I may produce more than two a month after I publish my five.)
> 
> ...


Thanks Jolie. It's true, there are probably as many ways to write a book as there are writers. And I do think that if I hadn't spent years studying story structure and fiddling with outlines I wouldn't be able to pants my way through my stories now. I dabbled in screenwriting for three years, and lived and breathed story structure and outlining during that time. I guess it's all one great learning process and different for each one of us. Regarding Liliana's technique, I don't think I could do it. Each time I finish a book, I can't wait to publish it .


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## Deke (May 18, 2013)

This also has me mystified. It takes me two months just to get an MS beta-read, incorporate notes, revise, edit, and format. I tell myself the book-a-monthers are writing in some standard repetitious formula, but have no idea if that is true.  So I want to read some books that were written in a month. Any suggestions? Free Book 1s would be great.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Patty Jansen said:


> I've just finished reading Libbie's book. I'm not allowed to swear on this forum so I'll just leave you to fill in the asterisks in saying that it's f***ing brilliant.
> 
> It made me realise that I do a lot of that stuff already. I just don't write any of it down. Guess that makes me a closet outliner?


That's largely the reaction I had as well. My subconscious was working much as she described, but not quite in such a focused fashion. The book acted as a lens to bring it all together.


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## Jessie Jasen (May 30, 2015)

I positively absolutely love this thread. It pumps me up with positive vibes.


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## anotherpage (Apr 4, 2012)

VioletVaughn said:


> I'm kind of a book a monther. That's how long it takes me to write my contemporary novels. While now I'm writing serials, I write about 18K a week. I'm all about word count goals. I force myself to hit 1K by lunch time. Another 1K by dinner and then 1K before bed. That usually motivates me to get the words done by dinner time while leaving me the out of evenings for days like today when I'm pretending to write while I get my car's oil changed.


But don't you have commitments? husband, kids? dogs? tiredness? the need to just unwind and watch a show or two? Like am i the only one who gets sidetracked?


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## anotherpage (Apr 4, 2012)

Stacy Claflin said:


> That's a loaded question!  I write a book a month and homeschool my kids. The short answer is that writing is like a muscle, and like any other, using it makes it stronger.
> 
> Start with goals you can achieve and raise the bar often to keep from growing stagnant. Have big picture goals and tiny, little ones. In fact, I would highly recommend delving into personal development (if you haven't already) since so much of this is about mindset. Listen to personal growth podcasts, read books, blogs, whatever you can get your hands on. SJ Scott, Hal Elrod, and Jeff Sanders are good places to start. Also, spend time listening to writing podcasts. There are a ton of great ones. Self Publishing Podcast, Sell More Books Show, Author Strong, Author Biz, Rocking Self Publishing, Creative Penn, and lots more.
> 
> I write at the same time every day - starting around 4:30am. It's such a habit that even when I'm really tired, it comes naturally. Well, as long as I've done my job outlining and writing beats beforehand. It's tricky and challenging without that. I also do switch genres, going between three different ones. It does keep things interesting and fresh.


But to hit that book a month are you aiming for 50,000 words for each book? how long do you spend outlining? And if you are up at 4:30. What time are you in bed by? Do you not watch tv or movies?


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## anotherpage (Apr 4, 2012)

MeganBryce said:


> Heather, you're asking everything I'm feeling. Not how to do it... I imagine it's just B-I-C (butt in chair). But _emotionally_, how do you do it? Because _this_:


You hit the nail on the head there EMOTIONALLY

As writers we are prone to get down. ( at least i do )

Juggling life that gets in the way, a job, kids, dog, partner, their needs, their wants. Then not seeing success. uuurgggh makes me want to toss in the towel


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## anotherpage (Apr 4, 2012)

Briteka said:


> The last two months I've written and published four novels and plan on doing two novels a month from here on out.
> 
> I've always been prolific, publishing 8-10 10k erom shorts a month for three years. With the changes to KU, I decided it was finally time to move into novels, and I have focused on my two most successful pen names, abandoning the rest. One pen name was my gay romance pen name, and the other was my paranormal romance pen name.
> 
> ...


Wow you are a monster. APPLAUD you. Eroms i could always write fast. I remember doing 6 to 7 k eroms at one point in a day. But regular books that require more story and less waffle take me longer


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2015)

Nearly a decade of doing NaNo has made me possible for me to write a novel in 30 days (with first drafts generally being in the 50-70k range). I'm a pantser and it's the only way that works for me.  Outlining even though I see it all in my head just frustrates me and leaves me blocked a lot.

Now, if we're talking writing and revising that bugger...yeah, I'm still trying to get that process down to under a year (Aisuru took 6 years, so I guess under a year would be an improvement LOL). Being able to do it in just 30 days would be freaking amazing! Tons of props for anyone who can do it. I know in my case a big part of it is just I force myself to just set aside time and do it, like I do for drafting, and get back on a schedule. 6 months of tons of overtime at work really derailed me from that.



kalel said:


> But don't you have commitments? husband, kids? dogs? tiredness? the need to just unwind and watch a show or two? Like am i the only one who gets sidetracked?


I can't speak for others - but at least when I'm doing NaNo, I can hit about 2,000-4,000 words a day just setting aside 1-3 hours a day for writing. I have no husband or kids, do have a sweetie and 2 dogs and 1 cat, a cranky old house, and aging car, and a full-time job that requires a lot of creative energy and at times 60-80 hour weeks. And I love HO games and mobile games and read voraciously and have butterfly syndrome a lot. I used to watch lots of TV too. I still was able to write.

For me, it's basically if I want to do it, I'll make time for it. And if I don't, I won't. Now I fully acknowledge, I do not write every day when I'm doing a new novel, but then I also will do a big 5-6 spurt on Sundays to make up for the missed days (and have come close to hitting 10,000 words then). ;-)


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

kalel said:


> But don't you have commitments? husband, kids? dogs? tiredness? the need to just unwind and watch a show or two? Like am i the only one who gets sidetracked?


I hate to say it, but it sounds like you're already looking for reasons not to do it (rather than do it). I work fifty hours a week. That's the same amount as if time I used to spend at my day job plus the commute. I take weekends off. You can write full time and still have a life, you just need to set a schedule and actually stick to it to get things done.


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## anotherpage (Apr 4, 2012)

ElHawk said:


> Hi, Heather. I stupidly didn't hit "quote" before I started writing, and I'm on my tablet which makes copying and pasting difficult when I'm sitting here with muffin crumbs on my hands and a cup of coffee beside me. So bear with this wall-o-text reply.
> 
> *What I do:*
> 
> ...


Interested in what you said here 'I have a sound process for developing a story before I begin to write it; I've tested it through 15 novels; I know it works reliably. I trust my method and my own skills. "

Please share this process of how you develop a story before writing. Would be great to hear from someone who is hitting 100k a month


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## anotherpage (Apr 4, 2012)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I hate to say it, but it sounds like you're already looking for reasons not to do it (rather than do it). I work fifty hours a week. That's the same amount as if time I used to spend at my day job plus the commute. I take weekends off. You can write full time and still have a life, you just need to set a schedule and actually stick to it to get things done.


When you worked full time before you went full time as a writer. How many hours were doing your job ( Do you have kids or a husband? )


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## Cookie Monster (Apr 6, 2014)

kalel said:


> Interested in what you said here 'I have a sound process for developing a story before I begin to write it; I've tested it through 15 novels; I know it works reliably. I trust my method and my own skills. "
> 
> Please share this process of how you develop a story before writing. Would be great to hear from someone who is hitting 100k a month


Try Libbie's _Take Off Your Pants_ book. This describes the method she uses to outline. It's been mentioned several times in this thread, and it's an excellent guide that many people find useful.

That being said, if writing is important to you, you will find a way to make it a priority. if you're getting distracted a lot or find yourself saying, "I have no time to write," while you have time for TV and other hobbies, you may not be making writing a priority in your life. That's fine, and writing doesn't have to be critically important to every writer. But when you question people who are writing 100k per month, asking if they have any kind of lives at all, the answer is yes, of course they have normal lives, with responsibilities and problems, just like everyone else. But they're able to put out that word count because they've made writing a high priority in their schedules.

How people find the time in their day to write will be different for everyone; if you want writing to be a priority, you'll have to find your own way to make that time. Everyone has a different life and different obligations. The right balance of those responsibilities and writing time is something only an individual can decide.


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## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

kalel said:


> Interested in what you said here 'I have a sound process for developing a story before I begin to write it; I've tested it through 15 novels; I know it works reliably. I trust my method and my own skills. "
> 
> Please share this process of how you develop a story before writing. Would be great to hear from someone who is hitting 100k a month


She wrote a book on it -- Take Off Your Pants.

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Off-Your-Pants-Outline-ebook/dp/B00UKC0GHA


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

kalel said:


> When you worked full time before you went full time as a writer. How many hours were doing your job ( Do you have kids or a husband? )


I worked forty hours a week. My commute was another hour a day (sometimes more). I don't have kids but I do live with someone (marriage isn't really my thing but we've lived together for a decade). Many people work full-time jobs AND have kids and family. It's a matter of scheduling and prioritizing. Kids obviously need time. Does the television? I pop blu-rays in while writing and keep up that way. I still have to get through five chapters a day. Today, for example, is Labor Day. I'm running an audio giveaway, I have to approve two of my witch shorts on audio, I have to listen to auditions for another, AND I have to start a new pen name book. Things have to get done, so they'll get done.


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## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

Deke said:


> This also has me mystified. It takes me two months just to get an MS beta-read, incorporate notes, revise, edit, and format. I tell myself the book-a-monthers are writing in some standard repetitious formula, but have no idea if that is true. So I want to read some books that were written in a month. Any suggestions? Free Book 1s would be great.


A lot of those commenting on this thread are not saying that they have published a book 31 days after they began writing it, but that it was written in a month. Slow going compared to Stephen King spending a week on The Running Man, which is a standalone later made into a movie by Starsky.

Each book in my signature was written in a month except the poetry collection which took 3 years.


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## Jessie Jasen (May 30, 2015)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I worked forty hours a week. My commute was another hour a day (sometimes more). I don't have kids but I do live with someone (marriage isn't really my thing but we've lived together for a decade). Many people work full-time jobs AND have kids and family. It's a matter of scheduling and prioritizing. Kids obviously need time. Does the television? I pop blu-rays in while writing and keep up that way. I still have to get through five chapters a day. Today, for example, is Labor Day. I'm running an audio giveaway, I have to approve two of my witch shorts on audio, I have to listen to auditions for another, AND I have to start a new pen name book. Things have to get done, so they'll get done.


Amanda, how many WPM do you write?


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## Jessie Jasen (May 30, 2015)

Mercia McMahon said:


> A lot of those commenting on this thread are not saying that they have published a book 31 days after they began writing it, but that it was written in a month. Slow going compared to Stephen King spending a week on The Running Man, which is a standalone later made into a movie by Starsky.
> 
> Each book in my signature was written in a month except the poetry collection which took 3 years.


I wish we could make money writing poetry&#8230;I'd write and publish a book like every week&#8230;


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Jessie Jasen said:


> Amanda, how many WPM do you write?


I have no idea. It takes me about an hour (maybe a little more if something big happens) to write a chapter. My chapters are about 2,200-2,500 words.


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2015)

No one puts how fast they write on their tombstone; or how many books they crank out in a year, just like no one puts how much overtime they worked on there.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

kalel said:


> But to hit that book a month are you aiming for 50,000 words for each book? how long do you spend outlining? And if you are up at 4:30. What time are you in bed by? Do you not watch tv or movies?


No, I haven't given up TV or movies, but when I decided to get serious, I cut way back. I usually watch one episode with my husband each night. What's more important? Watching shows or building a writing career? When do I go to bed? Between 9-10, aiming for nine.

My books range from about 60-70k, depending on the genre. I write anywhere from 57-90k in a month, and have even done 150k. Start where you're at, build your goals up little by little, and soon you'll be doing much more than you ever thought possible.

Outlining? It depends, but the more time I spend on it, the faster the writing goes.


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## Jessie Jasen (May 30, 2015)

Stacy Claflin said:


> No, I haven't given up TV or movies, but when I decided to get serious, I cut way back. I usually watch one episode with my husband each night. What's more important? Watching shows or building a writing career? When do I go to bed? Between 9-10, aiming for nine.
> 
> My books range from about 60-70k, depending on the genre. I write anywhere from 57-90k in a month, and have even done 150k. Start where you're at, build your goals up little by little, and soon you'll be doing much more than you ever thought possible.
> 
> Outlining? It depends, but the more time I spend on it, the faster the writing goes.


This is sound advice. Thanks Stacy!


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2015)

Jos Van Brussel said:


> Thanks Jolie. It's true, there are probably as many ways to write a book as there are writers. And I do think that if I hadn't spent years studying story structure and fiddling with outlines I wouldn't be able to pants my way through my stories now. I dabbled in screenwriting for three years, and lived and breathed story structure and outlining during that time. I guess it's all one great learning process and different for each one of us. Regarding Liliana's technique, I don't think I could do it. Each time I finish a book, I can't wait to publish it .


Jos, you're making a living at this; this isn't a "hobby" for you, and, most importantly, you know what works best for you - nobody else.

~~~

As far as the Liliana technique, a number of people share your opinion. They want to get their books out now rather than later. But I screwed up in the past with scheduling. So I believe her technique will get me back on track. 

Thanks for the inspiration, and I wish you continued great sales.


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## Briteka (Mar 5, 2012)

Mercia McMahon said:


> A lot of those commenting on this thread are not saying that they have published a book 31 days after they began writing it, but that it was written in a month. Slow going compared to Stephen King spending a week on The Running Man, which is a standalone later made into a movie by Starsky.
> 
> Each book in my signature was written in a month except the poetry collection which took 3 years.


I think King wrote Cujo in a weekend... and doesn't even remember doing it because he was blacked out on coke and alcohol.... Imagine pouring yourself a drink one night and then coming to, having written a classic novel.


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## Jessie Jasen (May 30, 2015)

Briteka said:


> I think King wrote Cujo in a weekend... and doesn't even remember doing it because he was blacked out on coke and alcohol.... Imagine pouring yourself a drink one night and then coming to, having written a classic novel.


LOL Agatha Christie wrote one of her romance novels in a weekend, and according to legend she was sober. 
Guess it's doable either way.


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## steffmetal (May 8, 2014)

I love this thread. It's seriously inspiring.

I am currently doing a book every six weeks or so - four weeks to write it, one to edit it, one for my editor to look at it (the file I give him is usually pretty clean). I have a schedule of books to write for about a year in advance, although I can shift things around a bit. These books used to be novella length - 30-40k, but are now coming out novel length because I'm getting faster at getting the words down. I set a timer for 20min increments - I can usually write 750 words in one of those "poms", and then I'll take a break for a couple of minutes, and then set the timer again. I like to finish each day on an even 1000 mark - so if I'm at 16,742 words, which is what I'm at today, I'll pump out an extra 260 words so I'm at 17,000.

I'll also often work on two books at once, usually doing 2000-3000 words on my main book, and then as a "reward" I can take a break and write 1000 words of the next book. That way, when I've finished one book, I'll often be starting with 10,000 words of so of the next book already written. I find once I've got 10k down, the characters start to come alive for me and it's pretty much a guarantee I can finish the book.

One of the big motivators for me is seeing how much frequent releases help my bottom line. Now I'm earning a certain amount I want to stay there! It's not very romantic but sometimes money can be a great motivator 

I've also just grabbed Libbie's _Take Off Your Pants_ book. Excited to dig into this process as I used to be a panther who is now doing really basic outlines, and that has helped my speed tremendously. I'm currently reading her She-King series, and am so impressed with the plotting and characters (I studied Egyptology at university). New fangirl right here.


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## Jessie Jasen (May 30, 2015)

With so many people buying it, I think Libbie's book is going to shoot to Top 100 bestseller list after this thread...


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## elizabethsade (Feb 3, 2015)

Jessie Jasen said:


> With so many people buying it, I think Libbie's book is going to shoot to Top 100 bestseller list after this thread...


I would say her book deserves it. XD I don't outline ahead of time besides the character arc, but I have internalized a lot of what she says. I tend to outline as I go along, to help with edits down the road.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

Deke said:


> This also has me mystified. It takes me two months just to get an MS beta-read, incorporate notes, revise, edit, and format. I tell myself the book-a-monthers are writing in some standard repetitious formula, but have no idea if that is true. So I want to read some books that were written in a month. Any suggestions? Free Book 1s would be great.


Free book ones written in a month by me:

-Breathless (written in 9 days) (80K)
-Slow Burn (written in 10 days) (80K)
-The Killing Moon (90K)
-Skin and Blond (is free on Google Play currently) (90K)
-Dancing Days (90K)

Don't feel like digging up individual links. This is my Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/V.-J.-Chambers/e/B002HR4N2K/


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Deke said:


> This also has me mystified. It takes me two months just to get an MS beta-read, incorporate notes, revise, edit, and format. I tell myself the book-a-monthers are writing in some standard repetitious formula, but have no idea if that is true. So I want to read some books that were written in a month. Any suggestions? Free Book 1s would be great.


None of mine are free except for The Sekhmet Bed, which wasn't written in a month, but I used exactly the same outlining process described in TOYP to outline Tidewater and House of Rejoicing--both historical novels with multiple main characters. Another of mine, Daughter of Sand and Stone, comes out toward the end of this year (from my trad publisher) and was written in three weeks. All very different books, even if they have some similarities (like TW and HOR, with their multi-main characters and huge scope of long-running historic events.)

Give them a whirl and see what you think. You can always return them and get your money back, since you're looking for freebies.  I don't care about the sale so much; I just want to illustrate that using the fundamentals of story to outline a book doesn't result in just revisiting the same story over and over again.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

steffmetal said:


> I'm currently reading her She-King series, and am so impressed with the plotting and characters (I studied Egyptology at university). New fangirl right here.


Oh, yay!  I'm always happy to hear that people still dig those books. They're my oldest, so it makes me feel pretty great that they're still out finding new readers.


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## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

Jessie Jasen said:


> LOL Agatha Christie wrote one of her romance novels in a weekend, and according to legend she was sober.


Yes but she probably had a very nice cup of tea, with an extra sugar.


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## lostagain (Feb 17, 2014)

kalel said:


> But don't you have commitments? husband, kids? dogs? tiredness? the need to just unwind and watch a show or two? Like am i the only one who gets sidetracked?


I do. That's why I only get 3K a day. I have to do laundry, clean the kitchen, walk the dogs (for an hour in the woods), grocery shop, throw the ball for the dogs a few times a day..... If I sat and wrote for 8 hours I'd probably get double it. I'm easily distracted.


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## blakebooks (Mar 10, 2012)

For what it's worth:  

1) Churning out dross isn't a particularly valid measurement of productivity. A good way to think of it isn't, "how do I make mediocre meals at a rapid clip" but rather, "how do I make good meals and enjoy the process?"

2) I've been averaging a novel a month every five weeks for four years. The secret? I work a 50 hour week, minimum, and when I'm working, I don't surf the web, wonder what else I could be doing, bemoan my existence, distract myself with endless minutiae. Writing is like digging a ditch - you do it one shovel full/sentence at a time.

3) If you don't up the bar each time you sit down to write, why bother? Most things pay better if you apply yourself the same number of hours. Ask yourself one question before starting your day: "How can I make this the best thing I've ever written, and enjoy doing it?" That answer will change your approach, and with it, the quality of your work.

4) Outline. Think through your primary story so you understand the beginning, middle, and end. What I do of late is jot down the three or four plots I'm going to use, and then outline each from beginning to end. If I want an 80K word book, I need roughly 40-50 chapters (mine run 1500 - 2000 words). If I have three plots, that means the primary will probably require 20 chapters, and the other two 12-15K apiece. If each plot doesn't have that much juice, I think up a new plot that does. "So and so makes a phone call" isn't a chapter. "Car chase, protag narrowly escapes, discovers key to moving forward..." - that's a chapter. If your plots don't have sufficient oomph to carry the day, push yourself to come up with ones that do. Or have a book neither you, nor the reader, cares much about.

5) Read really good books. Like eating too many Pringles, that sh#t sticks to you. Nourish yourself with fulfilled aspirations of others, and strive to match or better those successes.

6) The world isn't here to make you happy. Writing for a living isn't an exercise in self-fulfillment or some kind of lottery win. It's work. It can be self-fulfilling, but in the end people don't pay you because you're stoked about your day, they pay you for producing a product. Nobody working at Dreamworks is going "Man, I just don't feel inspired to write, so I haven't come up with a script this month." They make themselves do it, and those that don't, don't work in the business for long. That simple. It's a job. You can't do your job? Fine. Quit. Or work a part time job. Or find a different line of work.

7) All of this is fine, but what really drives me is one idea, with every book: Make Your Mark. That simple. If nobody ever read anything else you wrote, would you want them to read what you're working on? If not, rethink it - why not? If what you're working on isn't the best you can do, the best you've ever done, why are you wasting your time writing it? There are tons of crap books. Why add to the pile? Demand more out of yourself, and the words come. 2K words a day gets you 60K a month. 3K, 90K words. That's three hours if you're disciplined, and the other seven hours of your work day can be editing, promotion, etc. 

 The number one way to do it? Believe you can, you must, and that it's easy for you, regardless of what anyone says or thinks.

Then make it so.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

I think Pringles are disgusting. I'm not sure it's a good or bad thing.

Anyway, I've been averaging a full length novel every two months. I have realised that there is something in my process that needs a bit more time. If pushed, I could write faster, but I know that if I push, I start writing crap and it's just not a long-term viable situation. Realise your speed and then just do it. Shut up about writing, and write.


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

blakebooks said:


> For what it's worth:
> 
> 1) Churning out dross isn't a particularly valid measurement of productivity. A good way to think of it isn't, "how do I make mediocre meals at a rapid clip" but rather, "how do I make good meals and enjoy the process?"
> 
> ...


What he said.


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## Guest (Sep 8, 2015)

Patty Jansen said:


> I think Pringles are disgusting. I'm not sure it's a good or bad thing.


What she said.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

So glad Russell stopped by! He was one of the original authors who inspired me to aim for a book a month.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

blakebooks said:


> 6) The world isn't here to make you happy. Writing for a living isn't an exercise in self-fulfillment or some kind of lottery win. It's work. It can be self-fulfilling, but in the end people don't pay you because you're stoked about your day, they pay you for producing a product.


Yep.

I'm currently working on a book for my publisher. They want it all done by the 10th. I've been in the middle of a major move, so my schedule has been all jacked up lately. I've been working 15-hours days for the past 13 days, no time off, to hit that deadline. 12,000 to 14,000 words per day. Because it has to get done. That's the job, so you just do your work.

The reality of writing full-time is more similar to the reality of having a full-time cubicle job than it is to the fantasy writing full-time, which we sit around dreaming about in our cubicles when writing is still our hobby. It's still an awesome job and I wouldn't trade it for any other, but damn, it can be an effing grind sometimes.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

ElHawk said:


> Yep.
> 
> I'm currently working on a book for my publisher. They want it all done by the 10th. I've been in the middle of a major move, so my schedule has been all jacked up lately. I've been working 15-hours days for the past 13 days, no time off, to hit that deadline. 12,000 to 14,000 words per day. Because it has to get done. That's the job, so you just do your work.
> 
> The reality of writing full-time is more similar to the reality of having a full-time cubicle job than it is to the fantasy writing full-time, which we sit around dreaming about in our cubicles when writing is still our hobby. It's still an awesome job and I wouldn't trade it for any other, but damn, it can be an effing grind sometimes.


Same here. I'm really exhausted because I only got a few hours sleep last night, but I can't go to bed for another hour and twenty minutes because I need to put a book up for preorder after midnight. I need the link to upload a final draft on another book tomorrow -- a day when I will probably be writing six chapters and about 14,000 words. Instead of staring at the television for that hour and twenty minutes I'm getting a head start on tomorrow's work and writing a chapter. Why waste the time when I can get ahead?


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## Sam Winterwood (Jun 25, 2013)

It's artwork.
Work is in its name.

That's a lesson I learnt, probably the most valuable lesson, while doing fine arts at university.
You have to do the work, put in the hours.

I don't see any mystery in putting out a novel a month. Put in the hours, have a good system, and the job gets done.


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## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

valeriec80 said:


> Free book ones written in a month by me:
> 
> -Breathless (written in 9 days) (80K)
> -Slow Burn (written in 10 days) (80K)
> ...


You're killing me. I'm editing a book I wrote in a month, but it's taking me another month to edit the damned thing.


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

blakebooks said:


> 3) If you don't up the bar each time you sit down to write, why bother? Most things pay better if you apply yourself the same number of hours. Ask yourself one question before starting your day: "How can I make this the best thing I've ever written, and enjoy doing it?" That answer will change your approach, and with it, the quality of your work.
> 
> The number one way to do it? Believe you can, you must, and that it's easy for you, regardless of what anyone says or thinks.
> 
> Then make it so.


I LOVE when Russell pops in. It's like a slap in the face of bold, clean, slightly salty  fresh air!


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## Sam Winterwood (Jun 25, 2013)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> I LOVE when Russell pops in. It's like a slap in the face of bold, clean, slightly salty  fresh air!


I sat down with that in mind: upping the bar.
It was harder to write but I feel it's better than I have been writing in a while.


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## Guest (Sep 8, 2015)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> I LOVE when Russell pops in. It's like a slap in the face of bold, clean, slightly salty  fresh air!


I agree, even though I threw one of his books to the wall once for heaped up modifiers in the first two paragraphs to the point I had to scream. Still, there's no arguing with his success.


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## SteveHarrison (Feb 1, 2015)

Kudos to anyone who can write a book a month. I'm almost a year into my latest and nowhere near finished.


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## TLC1234 (Jun 20, 2015)

Post deleted.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Timothy L. Cerepaka said:


> I've been writing stories for almost a decade now, but this is the first year where I've written a book a month, mostly because I told myself I could do it and so I went ahead and did it (though I imagine that prior decade of practice probably helped me a great deal in learning how to write and how to write well).


Congrats on jumping that particular hurdle. Once I got past that mental block, my productivity soared as well. Best wishes on your writing!


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## countwordsmith (Aug 13, 2015)

Jim Johnson said:


> Congrats on jumping that particular hurdle. Once I got past that mental block, my productivity soared as well. Best wishes on your writing!


So true. A lot of what we do and don't do in life is about what we believe about ourselves.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Mercia McMahon said:


> Yes but she probably had a very nice cup of tea, with an extra sugar.


That's hilarious! 



blakebooks said:


> 3) If you don't up the bar each time you sit down to write, why bother? Most things pay better if you apply yourself the same number of hours. Ask yourself one question before starting your day: "How can I make this the best thing I've ever written, and enjoy doing it?" That answer will change your approach, and with it, the quality of your work.
> 
> The number one way to do it? Believe you can, you must, and that it's easy for you, regardless of what anyone says or thinks.
> 
> Then make it so.


Absolutely! This is what keeps me going, and even though I'm just at the beginning of my journey, I am determined to be as professional and prolific as I possibly can, and ENJOY it every step of the way.


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## TLC1234 (Jun 20, 2015)

Post deleted.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

I'm curious, does any of you hard-core book-a-monthers use dictation to write faster? How much? And how much faster is it in the end, considering the additional editing / transcribing efforts.


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## Ainsley (Dec 26, 2013)

Veronica Sicoe said:


> That's hilarious!
> 
> Absolutely! This is what keeps me going, and even though I'm just at the beginning of my journey, I am determined to be as professional and prolific as I possibly can, and ENJOY it every step of the way.


Just want to say you have the best avatar ever.


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2015)

Ainsley said:


> Just want to say you have the best avatar ever.


Yes! As I've told you before, I *LOVE* the avatar.   A sense of humor is sorely needed around here. Thank you.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

Veronica Sicoe said:


> I'm curious, does any of you hard-core book-a-monthers use dictation to write faster? How much? And how much faster is it in the end, considering the additional editing / transcribing efforts.


I'm still working on getting it to work for me. I've been at it since the end of June, and I've dictated roughly 170,000 words since then. (Not able to put out a book a month anymore, although I can draft in month. Takes another three weeks to get it published, however.)

Anyway, I can dictate at a rate of about 4100-4500 words per hour, but my adjusted words per hour currently is about 2200-2600. So... not great. It's a tad bit faster than I can type, but I still haven't gotten it accurate enough to really kick it up that next notch. Honestly, every time I go and try to correct the errors, the damned program crashes, and I lose everything I did. So, I save my user profile every five minutes while I'm training it. And then I realize my nine month old is eating paper (HOW did he find that envelope?) and then I take it from him and then he screams and then I'm like, "Screw training this stupid program, I'll just fix the errors in Scrivener," and then... Well, the improvement process is slow.


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## elizabethsade (Feb 3, 2015)

Veronica Sicoe said:


> I'm curious, does any of you hard-core book-a-monthers use dictation to write faster? How much? And how much faster is it in the end, considering the additional editing / transcribing efforts.


I do, mostly because I don't have a choice (hi tendonitis). I can dictate about 6k an hour, and with editing it shrinks down to 3.5k or so an hour because of how often my computer freezes. It's slowly getting better, and I'm getting ready to upgrade computers, so that'll help.

I could type faster, but not without hurting myself. So it works, and I still get about 6k a day when I'm writing.


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

blakebooks said:


> For what it's worth:
> 
> 1) Churning out dross isn't a particularly valid measurement of productivity. A good way to think of it isn't, "how do I make mediocre meals at a rapid clip" but rather, "how do I make good meals and enjoy the process?"
> 
> ...


Do they have gold threads sub section on this forum? Because this thread is now officially gold.

I'll add the idea of 'seeing what you can pull off' to keep things fresh in point 1. Reading a ton of Travis McGee books helped when I went to write my romantic suspense. His books are not similar, but his concept of taking some wisdom about the world and putting it at the right spot at the right time and easy to understand made me pay attention to when I could include some too- that challenged me at the same time, and I believe made the books more interesting.

The last point 8 is the threshold. I had people closest to me laugh when I said I'm going to write about billionaire cowboys because that sells. I had people tell me to go get a job even though they saw me putting in 4-5 hours each day with writing. People told me to quit after I was halfway through the book within the first 2-3 weeks. It took about 3-4 weeks of daily grind for them to start taking my writing seriously. If I didn't believe that I could do it, that I truly knew I could, then I'd given up. But curiosity to see if I could do it, the understanding that if someone else made a good living at it then I could too, and the nothing to lose attitude kept me going. 6 months later I made double what they made at their corporate gig in a month, and earned freedom since.


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## lostagain (Feb 17, 2014)

An update on how an outline worked for me. I bought Libbie's book last week. I sat down and spent about an hour doing her version of an outline. I was feeling crazy so I even did a plot. This was for an 18K book so it was a nice baby step. I started the book Monday. I just finished it. I usually struggle to get 3K a day and some days I'm still at it until 10 at night. It's mostly because I'm sorting out what to write next and where I'm going. But with an outline I found myself hitting my 3K by mid-afternoon, so I kept on going. 4 days to write a book that flowed. It was like when I have the magical story that comes out of my fingers. 

I'll keep doing this. Although, I'm a little afraid to jump back into my serial that's already got 4 parts written. I might have to start the outline on each of my four POV's and see where I get with it before committing. But man, I sure want to because 4.5K a day is a nice number that makes me feel efficient.

Two key points:

I did change a few of my previous plot points because as the MC developed she needed to do things a little differently than I had planned. I like growing the story with my character.

My plot points were set out as chapters, but some meshed together as one and other's became two chapters depending on how much time I needed for the characters to complete the goal in that step. 

This was not my first attempt at an outline/plot. But I think my mind was finally ready to let it happen. So if you're a pantser that really wants to be able to outline, just keep trying every once in a while, and maybe it will stick for you too.


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## hunterone (Feb 6, 2013)

blakebooks said:


> 7) All of this is fine, but what really drives me is one idea, with every book: Make Your Mark. That simple. If nobody ever read anything else you wrote, would you want them to read what you're working on? If not, rethink it - why not? If what you're working on isn't the best you can do, the best you've ever done, why are you wasting your time writing it? There are tons of crap books. Why add to the pile? Demand more out of yourself, and the words come. 2K words a day gets you 60K a month. 3K, 90K words. That's three hours if you're disciplined, and the other seven hours of your work day can be editing, promotion, etc.


This is the BEST THING i have read on this entire forum. "If nobody ever read anything else you wrote, would you want them to read what you're working on? If not, rethink it - why not?"

Exactly. BOOM! this is it.

We can all write things, chase other authors, try to do the same, copy and shovel out stories that are mediocre

But really is that what you want to be remembered for?

Thanks again Russell. Great reply.


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## CaraS. (Jul 18, 2014)

I read Llibby's book today and plan to try outlining a work in progress. I have basically been doing similar work regarding theme, plot and character goals. Years ago a piece of advice I read wasut your MC up a tree and throw rocks at her/him.   Another tip:Make something happen. I instinctively know when a story is dragging, getting boring and often remember....make something happen. If it bores me to write it, most likely it will bore a reader. Pacing, Libby has that correct. 

Anyway, think the book will definitely help my work.


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## TT Kove (Aug 20, 2015)

Sometimes I manage to write a book (whether a novel or novella) in a month, sometimes not. It varies. I bought the book everyone's talking about, so hoping that will help up my word count.  

By the way, what program do people use for dictation? I'd like to try it out. Typing hurts my fingers quickly.


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## HN Wake (Feb 24, 2015)

VioletVaughn said:


> An update on how an outline worked for me.


It's not often I have solid feedback for Kboards. This is exciting!

Since last week and Libbie's book + new outline, I'm managing 3+K a day and I'm putting in a solid 4+ hours. (Before last week I was thrilled with 1K a day.) The thought of finishing novel #3 well within 2 months has me super jazzed. (Image here: jazz hands.) And I don't feel I'll eventually be editing out the same % unused because I'm writing narrowly to the plot or character arcs. Super efficient. Uh, Libbie, thanks again. You have a fan for life.


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## MorganKegan (Jan 10, 2013)

TT Kove said:


> By the way, what program do people use for dictation? I'd like to try it out. Typing hurts my fingers quickly.


Dragon Naturally Speaking for the PC, or Dragon Dictate for the Mac. A noise-canceling microphone and/or a good digital voice recorder (check the Nuance website for their recommended ones.)


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## RuthNestvold (Jan 4, 2012)

I've been trying to "train my dragon" in order to increase my writing speed, but I'm just not all that comfortable with dictation. Words and sentences I type in still feel more "right" to me.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

RuthNestvold said:


> I've been trying to "train my dragon" in order to increase my writing speed, but I'm just not all that comfortable with dictation. Words and sentences I type in still feel more "right" to me.


I heavily hesitate to use dictation, for 2 reasons:

1) I'm not that comfortable hearing my own "Dexter accent" (as in Dexter's Laboratory) on a good day, but having to hear my own story in that tone _while I'm drafting_ would make me nuts. Typing is a lot more natural to me than talking. (even if I have to sacrifice some speed to it)

and 2) I mostly write while I'm in company. I don't want to deal with the looks. 

But I love reading about other people's strategies to up their wordcounts, and dictation is one of these unicorns I've been hearing about. Thanks, everybody, for chiming in with your experiences!


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

RuthNestvold said:


> I've been trying to "train my dragon" in order to increase my writing speed, but I'm just not all that comfortable with dictation. Words and sentences I type in still feel more "right" to me.


I desperately want to dictate, but I find that thinking/speaking seems to use a different part of my brain than thinking/typing. Everything comes out more stilted and forced, and I can't 'see' the action anymore in my head. I think I'm listening to my voice and editing what I say by what I hear. When I type, I simply repeat the scene I imagine in my head onto the page.

Does the disconnect get better with time?


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## elizabethsade (Feb 3, 2015)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> I desperately want to dictate, but I find that thinking/speaking seems to use a different part of my brain than thinking/typing. Everything comes out more stilted and forced, and I can't 'see' the action anymore in my head. I think I'm listening to my voice and editing what I say by what I hear. When I type, I simply repeat the scene I imagine in my head onto the page.
> 
> Does the disconnect get better with time?


When I first started, I could definitely tell a difference - sentences were stilted, more repeated, etc.

As time has gone on, and I've dictated probably 50-60k at this point, that's decreasing. I have to make fewer sentence-level changes, or can go paragraphs without rearranging/editing a full sentence. It's not perfect yet, but it's getting there.


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## lilywhite (Sep 25, 2010)

steffmetal said:


> I'll also often work on two books at once, usually doing 2000-3000 words on my main book, and then as a "reward" I can take a break and write 1000 words of the next book. That way, when I've finished one book, I'll often be starting with 10,000 words of so of the next book already written. I find once I've got 10k down, the characters start to come alive for me and it's pretty much a guarantee I can finish the book.


10K is about where the story starts to live for me too, in my longer books. And it's the hardest chunk to write, starting from the blank page. What if ... what if when I "officially" started that book, it was already at 10K. Holy crap.

I think -- I can't know, of course, till I've tried it out -- but I think you just changed my life. Seriously.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

RuthNestvold said:


> I've been trying to "train my dragon" in order to increase my writing speed, but I'm just not all that comfortable with dictation. Words and sentences I type in still feel more "right" to me.


I tried dictating a couple times but just couldn't get it to work. I write sentences much better than I speak them. I can ramble notes into a voice recorder or dictation software, but to think and then speak in prose is something that doesn't quite work for my brain. Maybe it's a trained thing, but I just work better thinking and then writing stories than I do thinking and speaking them out.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Jim Johnson said:


> I tried dictating a couple times but just couldn't get it to work. I write sentences much better than I speak them. I can ramble notes into a voice recorder or dictation software, but to think and then speak in prose is something that doesn't quite work for my brain. Maybe it's a trained thing, but I just work better thinking and then writing stories than I do thinking and speaking them out.


Yup, what Jim said.


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2015)

RuthNestvold said:


> I've been trying to "train my dragon" in order to increase my writing speed, but I'm just not all that comfortable with dictation. Words and sentences I type in still feel more "right" to me.


I type extremely fast. I've tried dictation, but it slows me down. If my hands stop working, I'll have to dictate. But until then, no.


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## Jos Van Brussel (Feb 13, 2013)

I haven't had much success with Dragon. No matter how hard I try, he keeps misunderstanding me. Bananas turns into 'by anonymous' or 'bonanno'. Cats turns into 'kept' etc. Even if I train him he still gets it wrong. So I'll stick to typing. I'm a fast typer so it's fine (I learned to type the old-fashioned way, with ten fingers on a typewriter in school).


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2015)

Jos Van Brussel said:


> (I learned to type the old-fashioned way, with ten fingers on a typewriter in school).


Yep! Best skill ever!  I learned in junior high.


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## 77071 (May 15, 2014)

Last night I checked the start and end date for my latest completed novel.  It tops 60k so I think it counts.    Start date was 8/8, end date 9/11.

I don't always write that fast, and I did work on some other stuff at the same time (so it was slightly more than a month).  I didn't have a ton of editing or publishing stuff to do during that time, which sped me up quite a bit.

I don't know how long it will take to edit and get out there.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

The way I look at it, if I typed 1000 words a day, every day, at the end of the year that's 365,000 words. Six 60K novels, or one every other month. One thousand words a day aren't that much, really. Maybe an hour's worth of work?

So, if I can conquer the procrastination, I can easily do six books a year. Just spending the time to do 2K a day would double that. Looking at it this way, it seems so easy I can't believe I haven't managed to get to this point. I mean, I've had some sucky years the past three years, but things have settled down and now I need to get back to work.

Of course, to me this seems easy, because I've been writing for a long time. I've put in the time to study and learn how to write. A new writer just starting out probably couldn't do a book a month, or even every two months, until they've got some experience and practice under their belts. Maybe a book every four months is doable, though. Get the basics down, learn what works for you (plot/don't plot, genre, length, etc.) and get that million words or whatever done, and let yourself fly!


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

We all know we can type fast--at least enough to post comments, tweets, e-mails, etc.  What takes all the time for me is deciding what to do next--which genre of book to work on, whether to write another novella, or novel, or short story, etc. I spend SO much time on all that it's not funny. And I can't figure out how to move past it. I think I'm stymied because although I have more than a dozen things on Amazon, very few of them are connected, and none of them have done exceptionally well. So that's where my block comes in.

Yes, I can write a book in one month. But deciding which book to write? That will take six months. LOL


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## Kessie Carroll (Jan 15, 2014)

bobbic said:


> Yes, I can write a book in one month. But deciding which book to write? That will take six months. LOL


:hugs: I know the feeling! I try to rotate--I write a book in one series, then a book in another series, and so on, keeping the rotation going. Keeps me from burning out. As for which one to write first, I go with the book that interests me the most. Nobody's going to want to read a book I wasn't wild about writing.


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## TheLemontree (Sep 12, 2015)

^^ Steven Hardesty, your covers are so fun I just clicked through and bought #1.  'Ludicrous spy thriller' is one of my favourite genres


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

HN Wake said:


> (Image here: jazz hands.) *snip* Uh, Libbie, thanks again. You have a fan for life.


I am always thrilled to be the cause of jazz hands. You're welcome!


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

Kessie Carroll said:


> :hugs: I know the feeling! I try to rotate--I write a book in one series, then a book in another series, and so on, keeping the rotation going. Keeps me from burning out. As for which one to write first, I go with the book that interests me the most. Nobody's going to want to read a book I wasn't wild about writing.


Thank you! Good advice. I'm to the point where I wonder if it's worthwhile to spend time on all of the novellas, to turn them into series. I guess I'm not wild enough about any one of them *right now* to get through them. I always want to start something brand shiny new! LOL


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

ElHawk said:


> I am always thrilled to be the cause of jazz hands. You're welcome!


I also bought and devoured your book. VERY helpful. Thank you.


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

ElHawk said:


> I am always thrilled to be the cause of jazz hands. You're welcome!


I finally got a chance to read the book too - excellent! I usually outline by writing down beats that are coming up, but I love your approach prior to that step. It has really made me think about a book I'm planning to write under a pen name. It's a bit of an experiment so I want to get it done fast to see if it's worth continuing down that path or not. I spent the time waiting for my car to be serviced by writing up an outline under your method - I'm excited to start writing today!


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

I found Rachel Aaron's book really helpful, too. Using her tracking method, I was able to figure out that I am actually more productive in the evenings. So now I get my gym time in the mornings and write in the afternoons/evenings. Much more productive that way!


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Yup, Rachel's idea to track the writing output by various times and locations changed my mind about my "optimal" time too. I thought early mornings were the best time, and I should rock them straight out of the gate. But it turned out I'm way more productive after lunch (measured in WPH, and the number of hours I can actually clump together).


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

I'm completely broke right now - or I'd a get a new computer that could handle dragon. I've used it before and it really helped my writing speed. I have issues with joint pain in both hands. So typing for more than an 1hr isn't doable . Oh to be young and spry again!!!!

But I was most productive when I was using Dragon. I was easily able to to write 5k or more most days in as little as a few hours. And those were good 5k's not gibberish.

And outlining. I'm evolving from a panster to an outliner. The work just flows more quickly when you've figured everything out beforehand.

Oh and there's this gem from epic Fantasy Legend Michael Moorcock:

http://www.wetasphalt.com/content/how-write-book-three-days-lessons-michael-moorcock

I would not literally try to write a book in three days - but there's some great advice in there.


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## J. Dane Tyler (Jul 8, 2010)

This is a great thread, and I've loved seeing so many great ideas. I fall squarely in the same camp as those saying they can't speak and write in the same way. I have a written and spoken voice, and the spoken one doesn't translate well for writing, so I won't be moving to dictation any time soon.

But Libby, I'd like to add my voice to those praising your work in your book. I especially loved how the book can be tailored to an individual's writing style. I considered myself an outliner for so long, but all I ever produced were outlines. I wrote a book in less than 90 days, nights and weekends, when I just let myself write. But your method seems to blend the two, and I can't argue with success, so I'm going to give it a shot on my next product and see what happens.

Thank you to all who've shared great insights and ideas.


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

Veronica, I have to say that I laugh every time I see your scary stapler. LOL


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## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

Vicky Foxx said:


> I'm completely broke right now - or I'd a get a new computer that could handle dragon. I've used it before and it really helped my writing speed. I have issues with joint pain in both hands. So typing for more than an 1hr isn't doable . Oh to be young and spry again!!!!
> 
> But I was most productive when I was using Dragon. I was easily able to to write 5k or more most days in as little as a few hours. And those were good 5k's not gibberish.
> 
> ...


Do you know that Google added speech-to-text functionality in Google Docs?

So you don't have to get a new computer if what you have now can open up Google Docs. [Note: It's under the Tools menu  ]


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## North Star Plotting (Jul 11, 2015)

Chrissy said:


> Do you know that Google added speech-to-text functionality in Google Docs?
> 
> So you don't have to get a new computer if what you have now can open up Google Docs. [Note: It's under the Tools menu  ]


It's awesome! But only works on the Chrome browser, I believer....right?


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## stoney (May 24, 2015)

Jolie du Pre said:


> As far as the Liliana technique, a number of people share your opinion.


Liliana technique. Is this a code for something? Help?


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## J. Dane Tyler (Jul 8, 2010)

stoney said:


> Liliana technique. Is this a code for something? Help?


Yep, sure is. Here's the cipher:
http://www.hughhowey.com/the-liliana-nirvana-technique/

Hope that helps!


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## elizabethsade (Feb 3, 2015)

stoney said:


> Liliana technique. Is this a code for something? Help?


There's a post on Hugh Howey's blog about the Liliana Nirvana technique, and I'm too lazy to link to it because I'm eating lunch. But basically she released five books at the same time and then another a month later - basically acting like she was a traditionally pubbed author coming to indie publishing with a backlist.


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## C. A. Mitchell (Aug 6, 2015)

Flying fishsticks, this thread is amazing   I am super inspired by all you crazy hard-workers. Realise I need to up my game...

Also, Libbie's book is the BIZ. Seriously, it rocked my pants off (and in the UK that's really saying something).


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

bobbic said:


> Veronica, I have to say that I laugh every time I see your scary stapler. LOL


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## stoney (May 24, 2015)

J. Dane Tyler said:


> Yep, sure is. Here's the cipher:
> http://www.hughhowey.com/the-liliana-nirvana-technique/
> 
> Hope that helps!


It does help, thanks! Now I can decipher it.



elizabethsade said:


> There's a post on Hugh Howey's blog about the Liliana Nirvana technique, and I'm too lazy to link to it because I'm eating lunch. But basically she released five books at the same time and then another a month later - basically acting like she was a traditionally pubbed author coming to indie publishing with a backlist.


OOh, a key to decode and the reader's digest version, double win!  thanks!


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

Great thread - I had no idea my little question would generate so many useful comments!

I have a 'book in a month' planned and started. Thank you Libbie for your book - it has really started me off well....


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## HN Wake (Feb 24, 2015)

And...*drum roll*...I hit a personal best: knocked out 5,000 words today.  And that's zero side arc fat--pure solid protag story-building narrative.  My jazz hands are jazzercizing!!  This thread and Libbie's book were game changers for me.  (I'm not normally a roof shouting type person, she says as she goes back to lurking.)


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## kevin armstrong (May 6, 2015)

Since the arrival of KU2 I have been working on novella length stories. I usually write 2,000 - 3,000 words per day. I try to reach over 1,000 words per hour. I am training myself NOT to go back and edit during the hour. I ignore the red underlining. Editing is done outside of writing hours as is research. I make myself stop once the hour is up as I feel that my batteries need re-charging,

Kevin Armstrong


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## trishajennreads (Sep 23, 2015)

SerenityWoods said:


> No I didn't write like that straight out of the gate. I started writing faster after NaNo in 2010, when I realized that every day when I sat at the computer, I didn't have time to go over and over the previous words I'd written. If I wanted to meet the 50k target for the month, I just had to read the last sentence and then start typing, and that's how I write most days now. If I make a change, like invent a dog for a character or something, I'll just make a note and wait until I've finished and onto the second draft before I change it. Otherwise I'd tweak incessantly and never get anywhere.


Wow... this is the first thread I've read on Kboards and I'm already thrilled to be here. Thank you, Heather, for asking this question and thank you everyone for your answers - they are helpful and inspiring.

And thank you SerenityWoods for the above quote! I often find myself reworking the previous day's work instead of writing new words. I quite like your strategy of reading just the last sentence and going from there. Thanks!

I'd love to become that prolific in my writing. I'm slowly trucking along and trying to finally finish something (my shorter term goal right now is a book...a book a month will need to come some time in the future...).

Many of you lovely folks say you write full time (dream come true!) but for the rest of us... how do you find/make time to write around day jobs? (this question is probably elsewhere on the forum, eh?).


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## trishajennreads (Sep 23, 2015)

Oh goodness.. I replied before I'd read the whole thread! You've already answered my question. Thank you!


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

trishajennreads said:


> Wow... this is the first thread I've read on Kboards and I'm already thrilled to be here. Thank you, Heather, for asking this question and thank you everyone for your answers - they are helpful and inspiring.


Welcome to Kboards!


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## trishajennreads (Sep 23, 2015)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> Welcome to Kboards!


Thank you!! Very glad to be here. Although.... I may need to set strict guidelines for how long I'm allowed to spend here - or writing, editing, dishes, day job won't happen...


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

trishajennreads said:


> Thank you!! Very glad to be here. Although.... I may need to set strict guidelines for how long I'm allowed to spend here - or writing, editing, dishes, day job won't happen...


What are dishes? LOL. Welcome to the group!


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Yay! I'm so happy to see so many people hitting higher productivity goals! That's really cool. Jazz hands all around!



trishajennreads said:


> Many of you lovely folks say you write full time (dream come true!) but for the rest of us... how do you find/make time to write around day jobs? (this question is probably elsewhere on the forum, eh?).


Back before I was writing full-time, I knew I wanted to get to this point, so I made writing daily a necessity. I stopped watching TV (got rid of my TV entirely, in fact) and did very little else with my free time for about two years. It's hard to juggle life with writing, especially when you also have a day job, but virtually nobody who writes full-time now just started working as a writer as soon as they finished school, or whatever. Nearly all of us had to squeeze in writing around our day jobs and other commitments. 

For myself, I needed to make my daily words a requirement. I didn't give myself the option to NOT get my writing done, unless I was sick or something. When I had the choice to go out with friends or write, I picked writing, unless it was a special occasion like a friend's birthday. I knew that if I focused on getting a few more books written, I'd get to my goal of full-time writing all the faster.

Everybody has 24 hours in a day. Consider carefully how you fill those hours, which activities are necessities, and which can be sacrificed for the sake of your goal.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

trishajennreads said:


> Many of you lovely folks say you write full time (dream come true!) but for the rest of us... how do you find/make time to write around day jobs? (this question is probably elsewhere on the forum, eh?).


Some people get up an hour early and write. When I was working full time, though, I always wrote for two hours after getting home from work. I'm not a morning person. 

I also had a job once with an hour lunch break, and I used to write on my lunch break, because I had the time.

It really doesn't matter *when* you do it or for how long, but carve out some time or make a goal, and then make sure to hit it consistently. If you mess up one day, forgive yourself immediately, and then hit the goal the next day and the day after and the day after that.


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## Rick D Hesperus (Sep 15, 2015)

Holy crap. There are some amazing writers here! 
3k words a day That's awesome!


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

trishajennreads said:


> Wow... this is the first thread I've read on Kboards and I'm already thrilled to be here. Thank you, Heather, for asking this question and thank you everyone for your answers - they are helpful and inspiring.
> 
> And thank you SerenityWoods for the above quote! I often find myself reworking the previous day's work instead of writing new words. I quite like your strategy of reading just the last sentence and going from there. Thanks!
> 
> ...


Before I went full time I used to come home from my job at my newspaper at midnight and write until 5 a.m. Then, on my days off (which were Sunday's and Mondays) I wrote eight hours both days. I was working eighty hours a wee between writing and my regular job, but I gritted it out because I was fixated on making this successful. I could've quit my day job six months before I did, but I hung on until I was absolutely sure my sales were going to stick.


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## HN Wake (Feb 24, 2015)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> Before I went full time I used to come home from my job at my newspaper at midnight and write until 5 a.m. Then, on my days off (which were Sunday's and Mondays) I wrote eight hours both days. I was working eighty hours a wee between writing and my regular job, but I gritted it out because I was fixated on making this successful. I could've quit my day job six months before I did, but I hung on until I was absolutely sure my sales were going to stick.


Amanda: this is super inspiring. Thanks for sharing! (Fourth day x 5,000 words a day -- hands still jazzing!)


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

I think you've probably been asked this (somewhere else), but @ book-a-monthers: how much effort goes into pre- and post-production activities? I mean, drafting a 70-90K novel a month is a big enough task into itself, but doing the research, outlining, beats writing, AND revisions, editing and formatting in that same month is just... *sound of head exploding*

So, when you say you write a book a month, does that include all pre- and post-production? Or do you draft a book a month, and next month, while you draft another, you edit this first one on the side (and outline the next one)? ...which technically amounts to same overall effort per month, just on different books. OR do you just draft a book in a month, then do post-production & publishing stuff next month in parallel with pre-production on the next novel? (do I make sense?)


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Veronica Sicoe said:


> I think you've probably been asked this (somewhere else), but @ book-a-monthers: how much effort goes into pre- and post-production activities? I mean, drafting a 70-90K novel a month is a big enough task into itself, but doing the research, outlining, beats writing, AND revisions, editing and formatting in that same month is just... *sound of head exploding*
> 
> So, when you say you write a book a month, does that include all pre- and post-production? Or do you draft a book a month, and next month, while you draft another, you edit this first one on the side (and outline the next one)? ...which technically amounts to same overall effort per month, just on different books. OR do you just draft a book in a month, then do post-production & publishing stuff next month in parallel with pre-production on the next novel? (do I make sense?)


I create my own world. There is very little effort that goes into research for a world I created.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I create my own world. There is very little effort that goes into research for a world I created.


I create my world too, but there's a lot of research behind it, because if there weren't, I'd have to call it science-fantasy, not science-fiction. 

But I get your point.

And editing effort? How does that factor into your insane productivity, Amanda?


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Veronica Sicoe said:


> I create my world too, but there's a lot of research behind it, because if there weren't, I'd have to call it science-fantasy, not science-fiction.
> 
> But I get your point.
> 
> And editing effort? How does that factor into your insane productivity, Amanda?


I have three different editors on retainer. I wish I had them the whole time. I didn't and I cringe at early books.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I have three different editors on retainer. I wish I had them the whole time. I didn't and I cringe at early books.


Sounds like quite a team. A fast and thorough editor is worth gold. When I hear of other writers who have to book editing months in advance, or whose books end up published with obvious grammar errors _after_ having been professionally edited, it makes me cringe.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Well, I've reworked my writing/publishing schedule for the rest of the year, and I have a book a month planned (among other things). Egad. All three have portions written, notes and some sort of plotting already behind them, which will help, I hope, so I'm going to get my butt in chair and type.

And that's really the entire key to this. Get yourself in the chair and start typing. Or write longhand, or use Grandma's typewriter. Even if you're a "slow" typist, you can get a tremendous amount of words done, if you just get to work. Plotting/pantsing, beat sheets/no beat sheets, edit as you go/edit later, that's all just your personal working method. Any way that works for you is fine. Just get the words down.

Kindlemas is coming! I want Kris Kindle to bring me lots and lots of money this year.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

she-la-ti-da said:


> Kindlemas is coming! I want Kris Kindle to bring me lots and lots of money this year.


Kris Kindle... LOL


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

Veronica Sicoe said:


> I think you've probably been asked this (somewhere else), but @ book-a-monthers: how much effort goes into pre- and post-production activities? I mean, drafting a 70-90K novel a month is a big enough task into itself, but doing the research, outlining, beats writing, AND revisions, editing and formatting in that same month is just... *sound of head exploding*
> 
> So, when you say you write a book a month, does that include all pre- and post-production? Or do you draft a book a month, and next month, while you draft another, you edit this first one on the side (and outline the next one)? ...which technically amounts to same overall effort per month, just on different books. OR do you just draft a book in a month, then do post-production & publishing stuff next month in parallel with pre-production on the next novel? (do I make sense?)


Pre-baby I could draft in two weeks and then edit/outline next book in the next two weeks. Now, it's more like four weeks to draft and three weeks to edit/outline. (Actually, I've been dictating, and these stupid dictated books take even longer to edit, because GAH. I'm about done with this dictating thing, to be honest. Might work for Chris Fox, but I'm not getting anything _close _to 5K an hour when all's said and done.)


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

valeriec80 said:


> Pre-baby I could draft in two weeks and then edit/outline next book in the next two weeks. Now, it's more like four weeks to draft and three weeks to edit/outline. (Actually, I've been dictating, and these stupid dictated books take even longer to edit, because GAH. I'm about done with this dictating thing, to be honest. Might work for Chris Fox, but I'm not getting anything _close _to 5K an hour when all's said and done.)


That's awesome production when you've got a baby to care for!


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

ElHawk said:


> That's awesome production when you've got a baby to care for!


I agree! I have a toddler and OMG.


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## DiegoDinardi (Sep 25, 2015)

This is also an issue for me. I've always been a slow writer, but now that I've made the decision to focus on it full-time, reading through this thread was a real eye opener. I'm thinking of writing shorter stories under a different pen name, and I'm gonna stop dwelling on it and start working asap. This has really been enlightening for me.


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## hunterone (Feb 6, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I have three different editors on retainer. I wish I had them the whole time. I didn't and I cringe at early books.


How long does it take them to edit one of your books from the time you hand it to them? mine take 7 days and that's because I can't have them take any longer than that otherwise it just slows things down. Even then there are errors when they give it back.


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## dmburnett (Feb 4, 2011)

Libbie's book is great! I was a total pants until I started following the advice in her book. It really works well for me because my creativity isn't linear. I write whatever part of the story I'm feeling at that moment, the outline keeps me on track. It even helps when it all goes into overdrive a I can't even write it out completely and my WIP is just a stack of notes because I can refer to my pretty outline. It also helps in multi POV stories where I usually follow one character's path and then go back and get the others. As you can tell, I work in a multitude of different ways and I can use the sort of outlining she teachers to keep it all straight. I'm up to a first draft in about a month that it somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000 words depending on which of the above techniques I used. This is the fastest I've ever wrote and the storied seem tighter. I'm anxious to see how they sell next year (building up a series cache).


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

hunterone said:


> How long does it take them to edit one of your books from the time you hand it to them? mine take 7 days and that's because I can't have them take any longer than that otherwise it just slows things down. Even then there are errors when they give it back.


It depends what that particular editor is doing. My main one takes three weeks.


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## David Alastair Hayden (Mar 19, 2011)

Great thread. I'm trying to transition toward being a book a month writer. For me that means a steady production of clean words. I need the tortoise approach. I've done the hare method many times. I can throw down some words like no one's business but the clean up and revision of those words then takes forever.


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2015)

I can't see this ever being possible for me   I wish! I can WRITE a book in a month, but then there's so many rounds of rewriting, revisions, and edits after that before it's done, that even if I was "on top of it" every day, I think the best I could hope for was a completed book every 3 months. Maybe if I had more time, I could have time set aside every day for writing AND everything else to get it done in a month? Like write a book one month while editing the book I wrote the month before? That seems a ways off before I'll get to that point. In the meantime, I'm just gonna admire the rest from afar


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## C. A. Mitchell (Aug 6, 2015)

TheForeverGirlSeries said:


> I can't see this ever being possible for me  I wish! I can WRITE a book in a month, but then there's so many rounds of rewriting, revisions, and edits after that before it's done, that even if I was "on top of it" every day, I think the best I could hope for was a completed book every 3 months. Maybe if I had more time, I could have time set aside every day for writing AND everything else to get it done in a month? Like write a book one month while editing the book I wrote the month before? That seems a ways off before I'll get to that point. In the meantime, I'm just gonna admire the rest from afar


Snap! I also need time away from books, which pretty much scuppers my hopes of getting one out a month.

I'll join you in the admiring gaze


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

TheForeverGirlSeries said:


> I can't see this ever being possible for me  I wish! I can WRITE a book in a month, but then there's so many rounds of rewriting, revisions, and edits after that before it's done, that even if I was "on top of it" every day, I think the best I could hope for was a completed book every 3 months. Maybe if I had more time, I could have time set aside every day for writing AND everything else to get it done in a month? Like write a book one month while editing the book I wrote the month before? That seems a ways off before I'll get to that point. In the meantime, I'm just gonna admire the rest from afar


Have you tried outlining before you write? That usually reduces the need to do a lot of rewrites and heavy edits.


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2015)

TheForeverGirlSeries said:


> I can't see this ever being possible for me  I wish! I can WRITE a book in a month, but then there's so many rounds of rewriting, revisions, and edits after that before it's done, that even if I was "on top of it" every day, I think the best I could hope for was a completed book every 3 months. Maybe if I had more time, I could have time set aside every day for writing AND everything else to get it done in a month? Like write a book one month while editing the book I wrote the month before? That seems a ways off before I'll get to that point. In the meantime, I'm just gonna admire the rest from afar


My "book a month" goal for 2016, after I release my six novellas in December 2015, is not really a book a month. For example, the book I write in January will not be released in January. It will be edited in February and then released in March. The book I write in February will be edited in March and then released in April. And so on . . . It all comes out as a "book a month," but the process of writing, editing and publishing the books takes more than a month.


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2015)

ElHawk said:


> Have you tried outlining before you write? That usually reduces the need to do a lot of rewrites and heavy edits.


I do outline, and it's true, it's ALMOST ruled out rewrites entirely. Before I outlined, a book took me THREE YEARS*** Yes, years. Now it's 6-12 months.  I have my super-magical method that I love, to... but a book a month. It's just not going to happen. I'm a REALLY picky editor and will spend 2-3 hours just editing ONE chapter per pass. I end up burnt out from that and unable to look at it again until the next day. For that reason, it often takes me longer than a month just to do the final edits. This is all line-by-line stuff. Of course, I ALSO use hired editors, but there are some things only an author can do to their own standards--we're our own worst critics!


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2015)

Jolie du Pre said:


> My "book a month" goal for 2016, after I release my six novellas in December 2015, is not really a book a month. For example, the book I write in January will not be released in January. It will be edited in February and then released in March. The book I write in February will be edited in March and then released in April. And so on . . . It all comes out as a "book a month," but the process of writing, editing and publishing the books takes more than a month.


If you read my comment, I can understand that is how it would work. I just don't have time to write, revise, AND edit every day, which is still what would need to be done. I write for a month, then revise for a month (with no time to write because revisions take up all that time), then edit for a month, etc. I tend to be overly intense about it. I know that's most of my problem


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2015)

TheForeverGirlSeries said:


> If you read my comment, I can understand that is how it would work. I just don't have time to write, revise, AND edit every day, which is still what would need to be done. I write for a month, then revise for a month (with no time to write because revisions take up all that time), then edit for a month, etc. I tend to be overly intense about it. I know that's most of my problem


It's only a "problem" if you think it's a problem.  This is not a competition. Everyone has their own way of doing this and just because some people write a book a month (or more) doesn't mean others have to. Furthermore, you're a successful author. There are plenty of successful authors who don't publish a book a month.


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2015)

Jolie du Pre said:


> It's only a "problem" if you think it's a problem.  This is not a competition. Everyone has their own way of doing this and just because some people write a book a month (or more) doesn't mean others have to. Furthermore, you're a successful author. There are plenty of successful authors who don't publish a book a month.


Thanks for the encouraging words <3 I just feel like if I did this, I could quit my third shift job. And if I quit my third shift job, I'd have time to do this. But I don't want to quit before the income changes. So I guess I have to ease toward it. Though, I don't think I'll ever hit a book a month--I still think it's awesome some do.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Not usually, but I always manage it for Nanowrimo, I'm already putting help in place with the kids etc so I can power through it in November


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## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

Wow.

Just have to say up front that I definitely don't write a book a month! But I love reading threads like this for inspiration. They always make me up my game.

I also don't outline, or read too many plotting books, but after hearing Libby's book mentioned SO many times, I had to give it a go. I'm only half way through, but I've already had several aha moments, the biggest one of which is not having some sort of outline is what leads me to get either stuck, or have to re-write the first half of the book three times before I can figure out the ending. Nearly always it's because I don't know the characters flaw, or it doesn't relate to my plot well enough. 

So hopefully this will help me write more productively, and one day I might just make a book a month. Thanks Libby, and thanks everyone else who has so generously shared their experiences on this thread.


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## lostagain (Feb 17, 2014)

Jolie du Pre said:


> It's only a "problem" if you think it's a problem.  This is not a competition. Everyone has their own way of doing this and just because some people write a book a month (or more) doesn't mean others have to. Furthermore, you're a successful author. There are plenty of successful authors who don't publish a book a month.


This.


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## lostagain (Feb 17, 2014)

I've used Libbie's method for two serial parts now. It's a great way to be both a plotter and a pantser. The biggest thing for me was identifying more than just the MC's arc.  Thinking about how the ally and protagonist are going to affect the story helps me do a rough plot. (I mean like 10 bullet point lines for my 18K serial installment) I get to pants each scene because there's flexibility in how I get from point A to point B. I'm sure I'll always write more words than I end up with, but I find I waste less time walking around the house muttering as I figure out what happens next.


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## Bree Roberts (Dec 1, 2012)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> I procrastinate, I lose confidence, I get distracted by life.


I think you're my secret twin.

I also have kids, and for the first time they are both in school all day, 5 days a week, and I was so looking forward to having this time to write prolifically. Only, that hasn't happened yet.

I have this book I finished back in December and I'm still editing it. I walked away from it for several months and did nothing while I awaited contest results. The book can't be all bad - it was a finalist in all the contests I entered it into except one, but it never won any of them. Always 2nd or 3rd place. So I don't think it's total crap (although the section I'm trying to edit right now must have suffered from the middle sags because I think it sucks pretty bad in this one chapter, lol). I can't seem to make myself edit it. Oh, look - there's a toilet that needs cleaning! Oh, look - the kids' rooms are a disaster. Again.

Anyway. I just wanted to say thank you to all the advice-givers here. I bought Libby's book, I just haven't read it yet (pantser here) because my WIP is already written. Going to read her book before I start the next one, though. Outlining can't possibly be as painful as editing something that had none.

Also, I think being my own boss and self-pubbing instead of trad means I have no set deadline, and that's killing me. If you can set yourself a deadline and make it relevant enough to stick to it, that could make all the difference. One way to do that is to use Amazon's pre-release. I'm the kind to always have my cover ready to go before I write the book, so that could work for me, if I ever get past this current book.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Rinelle Grey said:


> but I've already had several aha moments, the biggest one of which is not having some sort of outline is what leads me to get either stuck, or have to re-write the first half of the book three times before I can figure out the ending. Nearly always it's because I don't know the characters flaw, or it doesn't relate to my plot well enough.


Yep! That was the problem I ran into with my first few books, too. I kept having to rewrite the beginning (sometimes two or three times!) once I figured out the flaw and the ending. Arrgh, so frustrating.

I'm glad my book has helped you some!


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## Chinese Writer (Mar 25, 2014)

ElHawk said:


> I kept having to rewrite the beginning (sometimes two or three times!) once I figured out the flaw and the ending. Arrgh, so frustrating.


I'm here right now. The open chapters are so important, so I keep fiddling with them, trying to get them right. For my last book I re-wrote the opening four chapters 3 times, each time would have a ripple effect on the rest of the plot. I'm running into the same problem right now because I keep thinking the opening is too slow. My dead body is not showing up until chapter 3, which isn't a problem for cozy mysteries, but it's a problem for me. I like fast reads, so this is not sitting right for me. Arghh, totally frustrated.


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## Penelope Redmont (Sep 10, 2015)

artan said:


> I'm here right now. The open chapters are so important, so I keep fiddling with them, trying to get them right. For my last book I re-wrote the opening four chapters 3 times, each time would have a ripple effect on the rest of the plot. I'm running into the same problem right now because I keep thinking the opening is too slow. My dead body is not showing up until chapter 3, which isn't a problem for cozy mysteries, but it's a problem for me. I like fast reads, so this is not sitting right for me. Arghh, totally frustrated.


I know many authors hate prologues, but they can be fun. You could create a prologue for your corpse. Or have your corpse in your very first scene.

Your first few chapters are setup anyway, so the dead body in chapter three isn't a problem, as long as you have interesting material in your first couple of chapters.

Alternatively, eliminate Chapters 1 and 2, if they're just backstory, and start with the corpse. Try it... It might work.


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## Chinese Writer (Mar 25, 2014)

Penelope Redmont said:


> I know many authors hate prologues, but they can be fun. You could create a prologue for your corpse. Or have your corpse in your very first scene.
> 
> Your first few chapters are setup anyway, so the dead body in chapter three isn't a problem, as long as you have interesting material in your first couple of chapters.
> 
> Alternatively, eliminate Chapters 1 and 2, if they're just backstory, and start with the corpse. Try it... It might work.


These are good ideas. I'm just going to power through and come back to the opening later. thanks.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Bree Roberts said:


> Outlining can't possibly be as painful as editing something that had none.


Nothing sucks as badly as having to revise/edit a novel that had no coherent outline. Might as well scratch it off, and write it again.


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## Cheryl Douglas (Dec 7, 2011)

Bree Roberts said:


> Also, I think being my own boss and self-pubbing instead of trad means I have no set deadline, and that's killing me. If you can set yourself a deadline and make it relevant enough to stick to it, that could make all the difference. One way to do that is to use Amazon's pre-release. I'm the kind to always have my cover ready to go before I write the book, so that could work for me, if I ever get past this current book.


Booking your editors in advance also gives you a deadline you feel compelled to meet. I book my editor a year in advance, the fifteenth of every month, and I have the proofreader booked for the 30th of ever month. I have yet to miss a deadline because I know they have a business to run and can't wait for my manuscript. I found having this pre-determined date really helped my productivity. It forces me to write even when I don't feel like it because I know I need to write 3k words a day to meet that deadline.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

You guys are so inspiring! *beaming* I love seeing how super productive, super professional writers handle their "business," especially on the part that we have actual, genuine control over: PRODUCTION. Thank you su much for sharing!


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## Sarah M (Apr 6, 2013)

What do you do if ideas come slowly to you and take a while to develop? I can outline all I want but I get stuck very easily on what happens next.


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## 77071 (May 15, 2014)

I just read this book, by an author I like, with some pretty good thoughts on writing faster: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011NLV1MA


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## Chinese Writer (Mar 25, 2014)

Cheryl Douglas said:


> Booking your editors in advance also gives you a deadline you feel compelled to meet.


Interestingly enough, I get this when I have a cover ready to go. Once I invested the money on a cover, then I feel like I have to finish.


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## doolittle03 (Feb 13, 2015)

I'm just popping in to say I bought Take Your Pants Off on impulse last week. I usually write a first draft and find things out as I go along and then somehow cobble together an sort of outline, which takes a long time. I didn't necessarily want to write faster or _more_, but I wanted to write _smarter_. I wanted to waste less overall--even if I hit the same word count every day, I wanted less anxiety about what I was producing, and more free time to read or take a walk! Well, I'm thrilled with this guide. It fits my work style perfectly. I'm working away on a proper outline and I have a grip on my material already. I tend to gush when I really, really like something so I'll stop here. 
(Very happy. The outlining method has taken a giant weight off my shoulders.)


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## Penelope Redmont (Sep 10, 2015)

HSh said:


> I just read this book, by an author I like, with some pretty good thoughts on writing faster: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011NLV1MA


Thanks for this link -- purchased the ebook. It seems as if it might help. I tend to do very well on some days, with a great word count, then the next day or two, I barely manage a few hundred words. I think it's psychological -- I seem to have an internal argument with myself about whether words written quickly are "good".


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## EllaApollodorus (Sep 29, 2015)

ElHawk said:


> *Nicknacks* - no, I didn't start out this efficient. It took about a year to figure out how, when, and where I work best (and Rachel Aaron's book _2K to 10K_ is full of good advice...
> 
> ...I will say this, though: I still don't miss TV. Now I actually have the leisure time to watch TV if I want to, but I find there's just not much to interest me. Once you break a habit like sitting in front of a glowing box for a couple of hours a day, you find out pretty quickly that you don't miss it.


2k to 10k completely changed my writing! I made the mistake of trying to pants NaNo last year - bad idea. I should have outlined. In March, I took time off and went to the middle of nowhere (where I intend to build a cabin and eventually live and write full time) and wrote for a week. I wrote a 20k novella and added 20k to a novel that week. I don't know that I could ever write a novel a month - I do have three written, but two are 50k novels - my brain seems to like novellas better. But I can definitely see myself finishing a couple of novellas each month.

I gave up tv years ago, too. I do try to keep up with The Blacklist and Dr. Who, but I have missed Dr. Who so far this season. At least we have the Internet...


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

SBright said:


> What do you do if ideas come slowly to you and take a while to develop? I can outline all I want but I get stuck very easily on what happens next.


Like anything, if you want to get faster at something, studying it and practicing are sure ways to gain mastery.

I remember that outlining used to be hellish for me. I'd end up with like 40 scenes when I needed 80. I'd spend ages of time searching for things like "how to write subplots" on google. Eventually, I soaked up a good bit of knowledge and I got a feel for it. It's much easier nowadays.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

HSh said:


> I just read this book, by an author I like, with some pretty good thoughts on writing faster: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011NLV1MA


Hey, I know her! I've been BFFs with Lori since we were kids. It's not fair that she's been living overseas for a billion years, so we don't get to hang out anymore. 

But yes, her books are great! Lori writes excellent books with very logical, cohesive plots, and she writes them FAST. And they are off the charts in page-turn-ability (i.e. her pacing is amazing.) I haven't read her book on writing yet, but I'm going to. One of these days.



doolittle03 said:


> I'm just popping in to say I bought Take Your Pants Off on impulse last week. *snip* I wanted to write _smarter_. *snip* Well, I'm thrilled with this guide. It fits my work style perfectly. I'm working away on a proper outline and I have a grip on my material already. I tend to gush when I really, really like something so I'll stop here.
> (Very happy. The outlining method has taken a giant weight off my shoulders.)


Yay!!! That's so great to hear. Thank you! I"m getting the revised and print editions out in October, so huzzah.


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## hunterone (Feb 6, 2013)

I've done it twice now. And hopefully 2016 will be a year where I will be doing it twice a month.

First time i did it was January 2014, and this past month where I banged out one in 12 days.

There is NO magic. It's PURE grunt work and consistency. Also having a strong reason ( like FEAR) will get your ass in that chair and keep it there. SPRINTS are the key if you want a secret. Lots of sprints.


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## hunterone (Feb 6, 2013)

SBright said:


> What do you do if ideas come slowly to you and take a while to develop? I can outline all I want but I get stuck very easily on what happens next.


That used to be my problem and I would outline forever.

Now I just read a few books that are selling that are total (poo ) and realize, well if they can sell (poo) so can i lol

That took off the pressure. Part of it is trusting your gut. Listening to the characters and following them.


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## TCStarre (Sep 3, 2015)

hunterone said:


> That used to be my problem and I would outline forever.
> 
> Now I just read a few books that are selling that are total (poo ) and realize, well if they can sell (poo) so can i lol
> 
> That took off the pressure. Part of it is trusting your gut. Listening to the characters and following them.


Love this! It's so true. Perfection is the death of production.


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## Rue Hirsch (May 4, 2014)

This thread is very inspiring! The only way I've been able to write a book in a month is by outlining. 

PS: Libbie, I also have been reading your "Pants" book. It's been super useful and by the way, you had at me at "Truby".


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## TLC1234 (Jun 20, 2015)

Post deleted.


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## Kessie Carroll (Jan 15, 2014)

I'm on about day 20 of writing to the Take Off Your Pants outline. I'm down to the climax, and I keep thinking, "This is a real book. This is my first real book!" Something about the hero's journey makes the whole thing so satisfying. I'm hoping to churn out another book once I finish this one, or at least a draft. Racing my Nov 26 due date, trying to have three stories in the hopper so editors/betas can shred them while I'm recovering.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Timothy L. Cerepaka said:


> I like that. "Perfection is the death of production" indeed.


Couldn't agree more!

I've been battling with perfectionism (in all areas of my life) since forever, so I can't stress this enough: perfectionism is the death of creativity & happiness. Perfectionist (read: skewed & unrealistic) thinking is particularly dangerous for writers, whose artistic output lends itself to endless tinkering. (I even wrote a blog post on how damaging it is).

I think as long as we aim for a realistic level of satisfaction --both ours as writers, as well as the readers'-- we can be fairly certain that our stories served their purpose. And then we move on!


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Dean Wesley Smith says "The only purpose of critical voice in writing is to stop you.". It's hard to let go of the thoughts in your head that say you aren't good enough, you wrote this without an outline, or whatever they are.

But, to get the production rate up you have to stop listening. Once you've mastered the basics of storytelling, with a solid understanding of grammar, spelling and punctuation, you can let yourself go and trust your gut. Sit in front of the keyboard and let the words come.

It takes a lot of work, and not everyone can completely succeed at it, but most writers can get to some level of quick production. Maybe not a book a month (and do we really need to do this?) but maybe one every other month, or one a quarter.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

she-la-ti-da said:


> It takes a lot of work, and not everyone can completely succeed at it, but most writers can get to some level of quick production. Maybe not a book a month (and do we really need to do this?) but maybe one every other month, or one a quarter.


Need to? Nah, of course not. But if you're at a certain point in your craft and writing speed, you don't necessarily need to throttle yourself back if you can produce a work a month. Make hay while the sun shines, right?


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## FlowerShift (May 25, 2015)

This thread is awesome! Based on all the great recommendations, I've just purchased Libby's and Chris' books. Can't wait to dig in and up my productivity!


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## TRB (Mar 7, 2013)

I've been writing for twenty years (under different names), and I can only put out up to four full-length books a year on a very good year because my books are usually 90,00+ words. (I also have seven children, so that kind of slows things down!) But I wrote a couple of 70,000-word books, and it's amazing at how much less time they take to edit and produce. I finally decided to do a few novellas just to see if I could 25,000-35,000 words. It was fun releasing more books, and if all my books were that length, I might be able to do almost a book a month. But I prefer longer ones for character development, so I'll guess I'll have to leave the book a month to other authors. As an avide reader, I'd really prefer to see better books than have them be out quickly, but I have found that non-author readers often aren't as judgmental as I am on books. Whatever you decide to do—goodluck!


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

FlowerShift said:


> This thread is awesome! Based on all the great recommendations, I've just purchased Libby's and Chris' books. Can't wait to dig in and up my productivity!


Get Rachel's too.

They should be know hereafter as the "holy trinity of writing books"

For my last two books I started a new habit - I do a quick skim through of all three books before anything else, then I sit down motivated and organised to begin


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## G. G. Rebimik (Sep 4, 2015)

I really, really wish I could....but it takes me a long time.  I guess it will only come out as it comes out, and it's fast with some, slow with others.


G.G.


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## James Farner (Aug 14, 2015)

I just do it. I find being in the right place is important. Istanbul for me has been an incredibly productive place for me.


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## FlowerShift (May 25, 2015)

Evenstar said:


> Get Rachel's too.
> 
> They should be know hereafter as the "holy trinity of writing books"
> 
> For my last two books I started a new habit - I do a quick skim through of all three books before anything else, then I sit down motivated and organised to begin


Just bought it. Thanks for the recommendation, Evenstar!


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## missnibbles (Aug 13, 2015)

I have every plan to write a book a month.  I think I just need a little more experience before I can quite do this, right now editing is chomping up my time.  And kids.


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## Doglover (Sep 19, 2013)

I usually manage one a month. I could probably do more if I had the energy I had thirty years ago, but nowadays I get tired easily. I think the how is what else I have to do and that is very little. After walking the dog, I don't have much else to do.


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2015)

I am super late to this conversation, but I've been on a book-a-month schedule since my first publication in June. But the book I'm working on NOW won't release until December to allow for editing, etc. Covers are already done.

Each book of my trilogy is longer than my current series, because I had more time to work on them. Each book in _The Immortals_ series is around 50-51K words.

My next series will most likely be longer novels again. I doubt I will be going back to work next semester. My health just can't take this anymore, so I should have more time to devote to writing 80-100K word novels again. I don't know yet if I'll have a title ready for release in January though.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week. I already sent it off to my editor. I'm starting another one Monday (after a three-day weekend) and am trying to see if I can write five books in five weeks (all between 50,000 and 60,000 words and already outlined). We shall see.


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## Penelope Redmont (Sep 10, 2015)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week. I already sent it off to my editor. I'm starting another one Monday (after a three-day weekend) and am trying to see if I can write five books in five weeks (all between 50,000 and 60,000 words and already outlined). We shall see.


Wow, Amanda -- you make me feel like such a slacker. 

Kudos to you for your amazing productivity. Five books in five weeks... Amazing.


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week. I already sent it off to my editor. I'm starting another one Monday (after a three-day weekend) and am trying to see if I can write five books in five weeks (all between 50,000 and 60,000 words and already outlined). We shall see.


That's it, you win. I can't even imagine. I struggle to get a novella out, in a week. I can't imagine an entire novel!


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## Jake Decker (Jul 27, 2012)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week. I already sent it off to my editor. I'm starting another one Monday (after a three-day weekend) and am trying to see if I can write five books in five weeks (all between 50,000 and 60,000 words and already outlined). We shall see.


That is amazing productivity. Is there a certain outline method or other process that was a turning point for you? I work in IT and my brain likes process and structure when I need to get organized. Or would you attribute much of it to the Force?


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## Kessie Carroll (Jan 15, 2014)

Brian Bergquist said:


> That is amazing productivity. Is there a certain outline method or other process that was a turning point for you? I work in IT and my brain likes process and structure when I need to get organized. Or would you attribute much of it to the Force?


Take Off Your Pants by Libbie Hawker has been discussed at length here. I can attest to its effectiveness--I've been running my own private Nanowrimo, and my productivity has been through the roof. If your brain likes writing with solid structure and outlines, then I can't praise it enough.


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## Deke (May 18, 2013)

"I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week." 

I don't believe this is physically possible. Please use a live-cam next time you do this so we can all check in on your progress. Then we will alert Ripley.


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2015)

Deke said:


> I don't believe this is physically possible. Please use a live-cam next time you do this so we can all check in on your progress. Then we will alert Ripley.


You can do it if you break up the word count per day, but trying to get an editor to keep up with the schedule could be difficult unless you work with more than one editor. I'm writing 25,000-word novellas per week for my December launch. Thankfully, I have two editors who work fast. Once I get rid of article writing, I'll be able to focus solely on fiction and write even more.


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## Kenzi (Jul 28, 2014)

Deke said:


> "I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week."
> 
> I don't believe this is physically possible. Please use a live-cam next time you do this so we can all check in on your progress. Then we will alert Ripley.


Someone here at Kboards (forgive me for not remembering who it is) wrote a 50k book in one day for NaNoWriMo...two years in a row. And I believe he DID film it last year.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week. I already sent it off to my editor. I'm starting another one Monday (after a three-day weekend) and am trying to see if I can write five books in five weeks (all between 50,000 and 60,000 words and already outlined). We shall see.


That makes my wrists hurt just thinking about it!!


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Brian Bergquist said:


> That is amazing productivity. Is there a certain outline method or other process that was a turning point for you? I work in IT and my brain likes process and structure when I need to get organized. Or would you attribute much of it to the Force?


I hand write all my outlines. Each chapter gets one or two sentences. I write the beats that have to be hit and then let the chapter get there however it wants.


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## EllaApollodorus (Sep 29, 2015)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week. I already sent it off to my editor.





Jolie du Pre said:


> You can do it if you break up the word count per day, but trying to get an editor to keep up with the schedule could be difficult unless you work with more than one editor. I'm writing 25,000-word novellas per week for my December launch.


I have a new goal - 60k in a day. 

15k a day for four days... I guess I did write 12k in one day during NaNo last year. I only had about three days to write each week because of my schedule, and I knew I had to be done by the Sunday before Thanksgiving, so I packed a lot of words into the first and third weekends. That's the most I've written in one day, though. Another new goal - get to 15k in one day. 

I know I can write a 20 to 25k novella in three days - did it twice in March when I took some time off, so I hope two a month isn't a problem for me from now on. The issue is probably the same with a lot of people - time, focus, mood - my job tends to suck the life out of me - etc. Reading the boards here has given me so many new goals! The output levels so many of you have, and the "production schedules" - I've spent months waffling when I could have been building a reader base and getting closer to my goal of being self-employed. I now have a production schedule for my series and ideas for another series, plus an idea for a series with a different pen name so all my eggs aren't in one basket. I want to get all of my outlines done ahead of time so I can zip through the novellas, and I also want to get ahead by a year so I'm not stressed by it. I already have six finished, so I'm working on it. In fact, after reading the rest of this thread, and thinking of the 12k I did last November in one day, I should be able to do a novella a week if I am ever able to stop working and just write. Right now, though, one every two weeks is probably good.

I am so very, very grateful to everyone who posts here. I know it's a cliche, but I feel like a whole new world has opened up for me. I knew I could always self-publish, but I never would have thought of some of the ideas I've found in here.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Deke said:


> "I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week."
> 
> I don't believe this is physically possible. Please use a live-cam next time you do this so we can all check in on your progress. Then we will alert Ripley.


I did it working about 10 hours a day. I had a few audio things to wedge in there, too. I generally write a chapter in about an hour (my chapters are about 2,000-2,500 words). After writing a chapter I spend twenty minutes or so doing a household task like dishes, laundry, a packing task, etc. then I start the next chapter and so on. I did seven chapters Monday and six chapters each day for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2015)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week. I already sent it off to my editor. I'm starting another one Monday (after a three-day weekend) and am trying to see if I can write five books in five weeks (all between 50,000 and 60,000 words and already outlined). We shall see.


You blow my mind. And not only do you get the words out, but they're damn good words. (I've been reading your stuff on KU) It makes it so easy to root for you. That's awesome. (And here I am puffing my chest out over my 6k a day. Pssssh.)


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2015)

Boyd said:


> It actually isn't that hard. In our sprinting group off kboards, there's 3 of us who start at 7am and end our writing days between 1-2pm and we all have a 10k minimum goal. My hands can go that fast, but after 10k, my mind needs a lot more of a break. 15k a day doesn't need to be all that horrible in a 10 hour day can it? That's averaging 1500 words an hour.


Nice! I can attest to the sprinting. I sprint in 25 minute increments with 3-5 minute breaks in between and then 20 minute breaks every hour. It really makes it not seem like so much. I average about 500-700 a sprint and it adds up! (I've never gotten to 10k in a day. 6k is my threshold for now but I would love to get to 10k one day)


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2015)

Boyd said:


> If you ever want to sprint with us, drop me a line or look me up on facebook. I'll share the sprinting chat link.


Yes! I would love that!


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Boyd said:


> It actually isn't that hard. In our sprinting group off kboards, there's 3 of us who start at 7am and end our writing days between 1-2pm and we all have a 10k minimum goal. My hands can go that fast, but after 10k, my mind needs a lot more of a break. 15k a day doesn't need to be all that horrible in a 10 hour day can it? That's averaging 1500 words an hour.


For my pen name stuff, I basically write one chapter from start to finish, edit it and then move it into a master file. Then I get up and do a task. It generally takes about twenty minutes, and then I sit down and do another chapter. Most of my pen name books are 25 chapters. So, on a general Monday through Friday I write five chapters a day -- an entire book -- and then take weekends off. Those are generally eight-hour days and I do a few other tasks, too.
For my main name the books are longer. I still do five chapters a day and then ship the individual chapters to my development editor. By the time I finish the book it's usually about Wednesday on the second week. I then start going through the chapters she is sending back and have a master file compiled on Friday to send my big editor. At most I work 50 hours a week because I usually do the final read through on a book during an afternoon on the weekends when I have one that needs attention.


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

I definitely know of people as prolific as Amanda. And the old pulp writers used to pump out a book or set of short stories every week. So it's possible. My daily limit seems to be hard set at round 5k. After that my brain turns to mush.



Amanda M. Lee said:


> I did it working about 10 hours a day. I had a few audio things to wedge in there, too. I generally write a chapter in about an hour (my chapters are about 2,000-2,500 words). After writing a chapter I spend twenty minutes or so doing a household task like dishes, laundry, a packing task, etc. then I start the next chapter and so on. I did seven chapters Monday and six chapters each day for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.


Hmm that's actually useful. I tend to write short 2,000 word chapters. Also my outlining technique is similar. What I don't do is take adequate breaks like you do. I need to work that in. Maybe that will help the burn out feeling. I have a 25k Novella I really want done this weekend.


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## sela (Nov 2, 2014)

HOLY COW... I just spent all morning figuring out my production schedule for next year. My goal was to produce the most books possible while still taking every Saturday and Sunday off with a week off between writing books. I figured if I wrote 2,500 words a day, I could get six 90K books written in a year. I thought that was a goodly amount.  That's two three-book series. The most I have ever written in a day was about 8,000 words and that was crunch time when I was down to the wire to meet my deadline for my editor. I can't imagine doing that every day. I would like to challenge myself to write more but I'm one of those people who doesn't like to set a goal and not meet it. I'd rather set the goal a bit lower and meet it than set it too high and then feel bad when I don't meet it. 

I guess I am a lazy a$$.  

I also worked at a day job for 15 years, the last five years of which I really didn't enjoy anymore. I love being able to take the time to just enjoy life. 

*is getting old*


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## FlowerShift (May 25, 2015)

Thank you everyone for being so open with how you do things. The ceiling of what I thought possible just shattered. This a book a month thing sounds very doable


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## Doglover (Sep 19, 2013)

Deke said:


> "I wrote (and edited) a 59,061-word pen name book in four days this week."
> 
> I don't believe this is physically possible. Please use a live-cam next time you do this so we can all check in on your progress. Then we will alert Ripley.


I trust you are being facetious. When I was half the age I am now, if I had only had a word processor (not invented then) I would have been able to do the same. It is not impossible with the right equipment and the right mindset.

Well done, Amanda! Don't wear yourself out though.


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## Jarmitagetheauthor (Sep 30, 2015)

I tend to write a book in a month and then procrastinate for three or four months. I know I can write 12k words in a day if I really want to but finding whole days to myself with kids, working full time, renovating a house and planning a wedding is not realistic. I like to take the kids to a soft play centre and take my laptop with me. I drink endless cups of coffee and ignore the hundreds of screaming kids around me. I just zone out and write. I'm currently writing a prequel to my series which I'm finding quite difficult. The characters are like old friends to me and the prequel is set when they are much younger. I'm actually writing another book, completely different, at the same time. I'm finding it easier to give my mind a break to go between the two books. I took a complete break last week and wrote a 10k word short story. This was totally different again.


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2015)

If you wanted to write a 50K book in a week (for example) the process is not that mysterious. So let's keep it real.

You could:

1. Outline via Libbie's technique: http://www.amazon.com/Take-Off-Your-Pants-Outline-ebook/dp/B00UKC0GHA/

2. Write 1,000 words per half hour (or more) with the help of a couple of tools, such as:

Neil's Toolbox: http://www.neilstoolbox.com/speed-writing/index.htm

Chris Fox's 5,000 WPH app (To use after you read his excellent book) - http://www.amazon.com/000-Words-Per-Hour-Smarter/dp/1512047376

If you write 2,000 words per hour, you can write 10,000 words in five hours. Do that for five days, and you have a 50,000-word novel.

But that's not the issue *for some of us*. If it were just a matter of getting the words out, more people would be doing it.

So what is the real issue for some of us?

EDITING - Paying for editing and finding editors who can keep up with a fast schedule is an issue for many people.

I have six 25,000 to 30,000-word novellas that I'm publishing on the same day in December. Kudos to people who feel confident enough to edit their work without help, but I'm not one of those people. Therefore, after I do an edit, I hire someone to do another edit. Are editors perfect? No. But they can catch a hell of a lot more errors than I can do on my own.

So that's six edits I'm paying for. That's not cheap.

Plus, just because I want all my books published on the same day in December doesn't mean an editor can keep up with the schedule I desire. Fortunately, I work with editors who work fast, but that's not always a guarantee

COVERS - Paying for a large number of covers at one time is an issue for many people

I made my covers for the erotica I used to write under a secret pen name. Were they good covers? Probably not. Therefore, there's no way in hell I'm making my covers for the stuff I publish under Jolie du Pre. Kudos to people who make their own covers, but I'm not joining you.

Therefore, I have six covers for the books I'm publishing in December that I'm paying for. That's not cheap, either.

For some of us, it cost money to self-publish the way we desire. Getting the words out, for some of us, is the least of it.


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## Doglover (Sep 19, 2013)

Jolie, you forgot 'fall asleep after 2000 words'   I remember the days when I would take the kids to school then write, totally absorbed all day and even had to set the alarm so I didn't forget to pick the kids up again. Then I'd get them home, feed and water them, and do some more. Unfortunately I did overdo it and became ill, but in those days, the brain was buzzing and wouldn't stop. What a shame I didn't have the equipment I do now. I wrote by hand, I typed it up and if I wanted to take out a few lines or add a few, the whole lot had to be typed again. 

If you have the equipment and the time, not to mention the grey cells, you can certainly do it. To say it is not physically possible is rather well, I won't say it.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

I have three editors. Two of them only work for me. I work ahead to the point where everything I write from here on out in 2015 doesn't come out until 2016. I do my own covers. I take about six weeks off a year (which is two more than my day job) and I take extended weekends whenever I feel like it (as long as I finish the work first).


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## Skyla (Sep 30, 2015)

While I can write a book in a month, it’s not a very common phenomenon, and only happens when I am extremely inspired.  I had a series I was working on last summer, and managed to write 2 books in two months (of course this is story only, editing and tweaking not included).  Then, my college term began and I told myself that I was not going to write so that I could devote my attention to my homework.  Day one of term, I was huddled in the garage at 6am writing because my brain hadn’t let me sleep the night before with the final book in the series going through my head.  That one, too, I finished in a month.  Those are my only experiences with the book-a-month inspiration/drive.  Normally, it’s a much slower process.  Most importantly, I could never make myself write one in that time frame.  I can’t write when I’m not inspired, or, at least, nothing that anyone would want to read.


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## Doglover (Sep 19, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I have three editors. Two of them only work for me. I work ahead to the point where everything I write from here on out in 2015 doesn't come out until 2016. I do my own covers. I take about six weeks off a year (which is two more than my day job) and I take extended weekends whenever I feel like it (as long as I finish the work first).


And lovely covers they are, too


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## Deke (May 18, 2013)

I have finally finished my own plotting guide. Some of you may have read a first pass at this that I posted months ago. Here is is all revised with that new e-book smell.

http://www.amazon.com/Plot-Machine-Better-Stories-Faster-ebook/dp/B0163M998C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443898938&sr=8-1&keywords=plot+machine


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## ChrisWard (Mar 10, 2012)

I can write a book in a month but I then like to sit on it for at least six weeks a la Steven King, then I take a month or so to edit it twice, then it goes to an editor. Because of all this lag time it's usually at least six months after I finish the initial draft before the thing gets published. At the moment I'm actually finishing the next book's draft before I go back to edit the previous one. It's so long that often I've forgotten whole sections of the plot and it makes it easy to see what works and what doesn't.


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## David Alastair Hayden (Mar 19, 2011)

ChrisWard said:


> I can write a book in a month but I then like to sit on it for at least six weeks a la Steven King, then I take a month or so to edit it twice, then it goes to an editor. Because of all this lag time it's usually at least six months after I finish the initial draft before the thing gets published. At the moment I'm actually finishing the next book's draft before I go back to edit the previous one. It's so long that often I've forgotten whole sections of the plot and it makes it easy to see what works and what doesn't.


I've done that twice because other writers recommended that approach. For me, it ended in disaster. The edits took forever because I was no logger in the flow of the book and it felt like drudgery. Different strokes. I should've gone with my gut feelings but I ended up listening to the sort of pros who state what works for them as an authoritative rule. Learned my lesson there. Taking time off before any revisions or not doing them as I go, for me, ruins my momentum and makes everything take longer.


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## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

Kenzi said:


> Someone here at Kboards (forgive me for not remembering who it is) wrote a 50k book in one day for NaNoWriMo...two years in a row. And I believe he DID film it last year.


It was Mat Morris, Author Strong guy.


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## North Star Plotting (Jul 11, 2015)

This thread is a goldmine. Thanks, everyone, for the thoughtful shares!


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

David Alastair Hayden said:


> I've done that twice because other writers recommended that approach. For me, it ended in disaster. The edits took forever because I was no logger in the flow of the book and it felt like drudgery. Different strokes. I should've gone with my gut feelings but I ended up listening to the sort of pros who state what works for them as an authoritative rule. Learned my lesson there. Taking time off before any revisions or not doing them as I go, for me, ruins my momentum and makes everything take longer.


Everyone is different. I need to go back a chapter or two and edit to the point I left off at to get back in the flow of the story. But creating a book a month, or two, or three is still very do-able even with self-editing or letting it sit for a bit. All the advice here works to help you work faster and smarter - whatever your definition of faster is.

Still, for those of us who write in genres where very speedy releases really do help maintain momentum - and who want to take this kind of timeline as a challenge (no one is forcing anyone to do this) - this thread has been fantastic. I was on track to doing a pen name book in a month until some difficult life stuff happened. It knocked me off my schedule, but even so, it will still likely be a book in two months, maybe a tiny bit more. And that's OK. That makes me happy. I'll make another goal of a book a month and hope to keep to it, but I won't freak out if life intervenes and pushes the deadline out a few weeks.


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## David Alastair Hayden (Mar 19, 2011)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> Everyone is different. I need to go back a chapter or two and edit to the point I left off at to get back in the flow of the story. But creating a book a month, or two, or three is still very do-able even with self-editing or letting it sit for a bit. All the advice here works to help you work faster and smarter - whatever your definition of faster is.
> 
> Still, for those of us who write in genres where very speedy releases really do help maintain momentum - and who want to take this kind of timeline as a challenge (no one is forcing anyone to do this) - this thread has been fantastic. I was on track to doing a pen name book in a month until some difficult life stuff happened. It knocked me off my schedule, but even so, it will still likely be a book in two months, maybe a tiny bit more. And that's OK. That makes me happy. I'll make another goal of a book a month and hope to keep to it, but I won't freak out if life intervenes and pushes the deadline out a few weeks.


One of the reasons I want to reach the book in a month stage is so that when life intervenes I'll have a more extensive catalogue available and so that I can get things going again afterward. Because when you reach the point where you have aging parents with health problems, something big is going to come up. Hospitals and the like will take up time and energy.


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## johannesrexx (Mar 30, 2015)

Veronica Sicoe said:


>


According to my scanner, that is Sigourney Weaver and the stapler is a stand-in for the Alien.

Priceless.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

I will try to write 90K+ novels in 2 months time in 2016. That will hopefully result in at least 4 complete novels, given that there will be "time off" between them when I'll make edits, outlines, and learn to make my own covers.


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## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

I picked up Chris' book after reading this thread. I already started tracking in five minutes spurts. I clocked my highest at 281 words. Now to work on sustaining that pace at 10 minutes.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

I write the equivalent of a book a month, I suppose, but i write long books. I write a 100K book in 6 weeks and edit it in 2 max. However, I need a couple weeks in between books.

I did write a 50K book once. It took me a month to write and edit, and was really easy. Much simpler book. I also wrote a 36K novella. That one took maybe 3 weeks max. Probably less.

Normally, my books are stand-alones, so I have new characters and new backstories and storyline for every book. The longer length also means more subplots. For the book I just finished, for example, I have a secondary romance, another relationship with an older person, and a suspense plot. That was 135K and will be 9 weeks total to write and edit. That's really too fast a pace for me. People are different.

I've done fine sales-wise, though not the Big Guns, at this pace. But if you really want to write a book a month and you're like me in terms of more complex books taking longer--try shorter books with a simpler plotline, or a "true series" where you have the same characters, maybe.

I write more slowly at the beginning of a book (about 2,000 words per day), faster at the end of a book (up to 7,000 words per day; usually about 4-5K). 

I don't outline, but I do have the story very much in my head, including pivotal scenes, by the time I start writing. I write at a very steady pace.

I don't know how to give anybody advice, because I started out writing at close to the same pace i have now. That's just how long it takes me to tell the story. 

I do need a couple weeks at the beginning to let the old book exit and the new one arrive. But again, if the book were simpler or if I were using the same characters? Much easier. I'd probably only need 7-10 days. 

However, I doubt I'd sell as well doing the above, and plus it's not what I want to do, so I stick to my own thing, which has the advantage that I know it works pretty well, sales-wise.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Just like Rosalind I also write really slowly at the beggingin and much faster at the end. I wonder if that's normal? I hate starting a new book, where I'm not yet comfortable with the characters and there are loose ends, but at the end it flows so much more naturally and everything comes together, so it is definitely easier.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Evenstar said:


> Just like Rosalind I also write really slowly at the beggingin and much faster at the end. I wonder if that's normal? I hate starting a new book, where I'm not yet comfortable with the characters and there are loose ends, but at the end it flows so much more naturally and everything comes together, so it is definitely easier.


For me, the beginning is always exciting. I can't wait to get everything going. The writing slows a bit in the middle, but then as the buildup for the end nears, things naturally pick up and I write a lot faster.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

> Because when you reach the point where you have aging parents with health problems, something big is going to come up. Hospitals and the like will take up time and energy.


I can attest to this. The majority of time between 2012 and into 2015, I was spending anywhere from three to five days running one or both of my parents to doctor's appointments, treatments (radiation and chemo for my mom) or to the emergency room. It was exhausting and so stressful that I basically didn't write much those three years.

Then, in early 2015 I had a bout of writer's block that shut down everything again. I'm not one of those people who can write during horrid times. I wish I could, but I can't. My brain shuts down and focuses on keeping my life together as best as I can. So, one reason I'm working on increasing output is to build a big catalog and to have some works in the pipeline that I can work on getting out if something dire happens again -- and it will, because that is life. And then we are facing the end of my father's life in a year or two, due to his illness.

So, as Jim Johnson said in reply to my earlier post, make hay while the sun shines. Whether that's a novel a month, every couple of months, or whatever. Figure out a schedule that works for you, that doesn't burn you out or make you miss the good things in life, and then keep on it.


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## Scott Daniel (Feb 1, 2011)

Please forgive me if this has already been asked in this thread (I read several pages of it but it is a long thread) ... For those of you that write and release books on a monthly basis or close to it, what has it done for your income? I know mileage varies for every author and genre, but I'm curious if many of you are making a livable income from it? Thanks!


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## blubarry (Feb 27, 2015)

Scott Daniel said:


> Please forgive me if this has already been asked in this thread (I read several pages of it but it is a long thread) ... For those of you that write and release books on a monthly basis or close to it, what has it done for your income? I know mileage varies for every author and genre, but I'm curious if many of you are making a livable income from it? Thanks!


As you said, genre matters. Last year I published 8 novels, but wrote enough that I can release 1-2/month this year. I hit 300k+ last year, and have already surpassed 100k for this year. Frequent releases, and books people enjoy reading, can drive your income up. Others will do much better than that, especially in some of the more popular genres.

I think of it this way - if I write 3k words each day, that's 1.5 hours a day of work for me. This is a 90k novel each month. The hardest part is getting yourself motivated to do the work and establish a routine.

So livable income self-publishing? Absolutely, and better than I would be doing if I trade pubbed.


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## mach 5 (Dec 5, 2015)

Scott Daniel said:


> Please forgive me if this has already been asked in this thread (I read several pages of it but it is a long thread) ... For those of you that write and release books on a monthly basis or close to it, what has it done for your income? I know mileage varies for every author and genre, but I'm curious if many of you are making a livable income from it? Thanks!


Most of the people who write a release a month (could be novel, could be novella length) or more than a release a month are in genres with voracious readers and are writing that much because they make money doing it.

Then other people have hypergraphia (which I would love to have, actually, LOL).


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## Scott Daniel (Feb 1, 2011)

blubarry said:


> As you said, genre matters. Last year I published 8 novels, but wrote enough that I can release 1-2/month this year. I hit 300k+ last year, and have already surpassed 100k for this year. Frequent releases, and books people enjoy reading, can drive your income up. Others will do much better than that, especially in some of the more popular genres.
> 
> I think of it this way - if I write 3k words each day, that's 1.5 hours a day of work for me. This is a 90k novel each month. The hardest part is getting yourself motivated to do the work and establish a routine.
> 
> So livable income self-publishing? Absolutely, and better than I would be doing if I trade pubbed.


That's amazing. Wow.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Scott Daniel said:


> Please forgive me if this has already been asked in this thread (I read several pages of it but it is a long thread) ... For those of you that write and release books on a monthly basis or close to it, what has it done for your income? I know mileage varies for every author and genre, but I'm curious if many of you are making a livable income from it? Thanks!


I make a very livable income writing a very long romance book every two and a half to three months. It's all YMMV.


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## N. D. Iverson (Feb 1, 2016)

Do most of you who write a book a month, write full time? Or do you do this while working either another full-time or part-time job?


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## Marseille France or Bust (Sep 25, 2012)

I would love to know how authors who have 1-2 full-time jobs hit the one-novel a month goal; especially if they are single without the support of a mate or family members to pay the bills.

When I'm writing, I force myself to write 3k a day. That's the max my brain can handle, as I write historical novels with a lot of research required. Sometimes the 3k takes me 3 hours; other times, 7 hours. I then require at least a month to edit the book (not even counting promoting) before I can start the next one.

And of course, I have to work 8+ hours a day working.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

N. D. Iverson said:


> Do most of you who write a book a month, write full time? Or do you do this while working either another full-time or part-time job?


I write full time now and do about 2.5 novels a month. When I was a reporter I worked 80 hours a week.


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## Scott Daniel (Feb 1, 2011)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I write full time now and do about 2.5 novels a month. When I was a reporter I worked 80 hours a week.


When you say you worked 80 hours, was that 40 as a reporter and 40 as a writer? Also curious about what paper you wrote for? I'm just rejoining the newspaper business (I know, call me crazy) and will be working as a reporter in metro Detroit. I would imagine there's a lot of former and current journalists in the Writer's Cafe...


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

Having a job isn't a detriment. Sometimes being full time and having all the free time is the detriment.


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## Shalini Boland (Nov 29, 2010)

ElHawk said:


> Yep! That was the problem I ran into with my first few books, too. I kept having to rewrite the beginning (sometimes two or three times!) once I figured out the flaw and the ending. Arrgh, so frustrating.
> 
> I'm glad my book has helped you some!


My 3rd and final book in a series was dragging on for over 2 years, and I was still only a quarter of the way through. I'd sketched out the plot points so I knew the rough story, but couldn't seem to knuckle down and finish it. Then... I Took Off My Pants. Thanks to Libbie Hawker's incredible book I got the rest of that sucker written in 3 weeks! That's over 65k words in less than a month. Plus, I absolutely loved doing it. I now have my next book plotted out, and plan to finish it by the middle of March.

Thank you, Libbie!

ETA - I also have my own business and 2 kids, so writing isn't the only thing I do.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Scott Daniel said:


> When you say you worked 80 hours, was that 40 as a reporter and 40 as a writer? Also curious about what paper you wrote for? I'm just rejoining the newspaper business (I know, call me crazy) and will be working as a reporter in metro Detroit. I would imagine there's a lot of former and current journalists in the Writer's Cafe...


I was a reporter for The Macomb Daily, and yes, I worked forty hours as a reporter and forty writing. Are you taking one of the new positions created by the Free Press when they did their buyouts?


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## Scott Daniel (Feb 1, 2011)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I was a reporter for The Macomb Daily, and yes, I worked forty hours as a reporter and forty writing. Are you taking one of the new positions created by the Free Press when they did their buyouts?


I wish. No, I'm going to be reporting for the Observer & Eccentric covering Redford. Like the Freep, O & E is owned by Gannett. I've been away from reporting for almost 10 years - tried PR and a few other things. I've never really found anything professionally that satisfies me like reporting. Glad you've had some success in fiction!


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

I wrote my first book in 6 weeks while working 30-40 hours a week. But I finished the book and quit the job. Interestingly, it still takes me 6 weeks to write a 100k book--but they take much less editing now. 

My health doesn't permit me to do that kind of thing on an ongoing basis, though. And I never wrote any fiction or thought of doing so until my kids were grown and gone, since I often functioned as a single parent. Kudos to the parents who can fit in parenting, working a day job, and writing. I found my professional job-plus-kids pretty all-consuming. I only got the urge to write when I went from 60+ hours a week down to 20-40.


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## Evan of the R. (Oct 15, 2013)

Scott Daniel said:


> I would imagine there's a lot of former and current journalists in the Writer's Cafe...


Former staff writer here, freelance for the past 10+ years. There are a few of us around.

/threadjack


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## Maggie Brooke (Jan 30, 2016)

This is an inspiring thread, thanks. I'm still at the very beginning of my first novel, but I've managed to write almost 20,000 words in my first two weeks of writing! I've been so surprised by this, since it has taken me over five years to get up the courage to write fiction at all. I am a mostly stay at home parent who freelance edits on the side. In addition to dialing back my editing slightly, I've just set mini-goals throughout the day. Some days I only managed 1,000 or so words; other days the words just flew onto the page in rapid succession.

At least for me, the key seems to be writing every day no matter what. Yesterday, I was unmotivated and at the start of a new chapter. The blank page was terrifying, especially because I don't outline. But after 30 minutes, the chapter took shape and now I have the entire thing in my head just waiting to make it on the page.

I had tried to write fiction in the past and failed miserably. It seemed like a chore. But this time I around, I look forward to the time in the day when my kids are either in bed or napping or away at school when I can _finally_ sit down with the computer. It's such a relief, which shows me that I'm at the point where this can really happen.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Scott Daniel said:


> I wish. No, I'm going to be reporting for the Observer & Eccentric covering Redford. Like the Freep, O & E is owned by Gannett. I've been away from reporting for almost 10 years - tried PR and a few other things. I've never really found anything professionally that satisfies me like reporting. Glad you've had some success in fiction!


Yeah, I don't miss being a reporter at all. It's not what it used to be and I was thankful to get away after all the cuts. Not worrying about constant layoffs is nice. It's also nice to make more in a month than I used to in a year.


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## pdworkman (Jan 17, 2015)

I haven't read all of the comments on this thread, just the first and last page.

I don't write a book a month. But I do write 4-6 books 100,000 words in a year and publish six. So it equates to 12x50,000 words as far as word count goes, but not the same for marketing & promo.

I work a full-time job as a legal assistant, sole wage earner in my family, and I also homeschool, do all of the cooking from scratch due to our dietary limitations, and have been in charge of either the women's or the children's ministry at my church (though now, happily, just working in the nursery.) I write six days a week, and when I am writing a first draft, my word quota is generally 5,000 words per day. I do my own formatting and have also done some micropublishing of other works the last few months.

I write every moment I can, except for Sundays. I have written yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals as well as various calendars and task lists. I follow a production schedule so that I know what stage or promotion each book is in at any given time. I don't just take one book through first draft to publication at a time, but have books in all different stages at any one time. I have a large backlist of unpublished material, but some of it needs a lot of work (more than a current first draft) in order to be published.

Yes, I do sleep, but not as much as the rest of my family!

I did a blog some time back about snatching time to write: http://pdworkman.com/when-do-you-find-time-to-write/


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## Scott Daniel (Feb 1, 2011)

Boyd said:


> There's a ton of Michiganders here... perhaps it's all a conspiracy...


Has there ever been a Michigan meet up?


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

From the original post I know I don't qualify. But in 2016 I will be writing a novella a month until June, and then I plan to step it up to a novel a month for my new pen name. I have plans.. but you know what they say... So I'll let you know in a year from now if it worked


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## MelodieRochelle (Jan 4, 2016)

Seneca77 said:


> I'd be happy with a book a year.


 This. LOL


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

RobCornell said:


> At the risk of this already having been asked, when do you fit in your outlining? It sounds like you have several outlines done ahead of time. Do you set aside time each day outside of the writing for plotting/planning?


I don't take more than an hour to do an outline. Some I do right after finishing the previous book. Sometimes I sit down and do five in a night while watching television.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

RobCornell said:


> Wow. So do you have the plots all worked out in your head first, then scribble down the outline when you have the chance? Or is the outlining process when you actually figure out the whole plot. If it's the latter, than I'm in awe. I can take anywhere from 3 days to a week to plot a book.


It's kind of a mixture. I don't plot out everything. I plot out beats and then let the chapter get where it wants on its own. The chapter I just wrote had "uncomfortable dinner" as the only beat written down.


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## Bbates024 (Nov 3, 2014)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> It's kind of a mixture. I don't plot out everything. I plot out beats and then let the chapter get where it wants on its own. The chapter I just wrote had "uncomfortable dinner" as the only beat written down.


I love that. I find I do the same thing, I have four line at the max for each chapter, and well sometimes they change while I'm writing but I like to let the story flow.


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## mach 5 (Dec 5, 2015)

I think anyone wanting to understand Amanda's process should also read some of her books. Take for example "uncomfortable dinner" - that could easily be in the first of her wicked witches of the midwest series - it could also be in later installments of the book because she's set up a character-rich world of three cousins, their mothers and the aunt to their mothers. The mothers run an inn, two of the cousins run an occult shop. the grand aunt pretends (one hopes) to be batty and reigns over the family and the POV cousin is a former big city reporter now writing for the local weekly. One of the big selling points is not the mystery element of a story but the relationship within the family and how they also interact with the mundane townsfolk.

There are a lot of "uncomfortable" dinners at the inn. It's a cue (IMO opinion, spitballing here) in the outline for the grand aunt's hijinks, the mothers faint cluelessness, the cousins 'every witch for herself' survival creed when it comes to avoiding the grand aunt's loony ire, and so forth.

That is one way to get as many books out as Amanda does - set up your world very carefully and make it last for several books. 

I think anyone wanting to write faster should read several installments of the wicked witches of the midwest series to see how that works. Lucky you - they're in KU, too (which I, sadly, do not subscribe to).


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## spellscribe (Nov 5, 2015)

mach 5 said:


> I think anyone wanting to understand Amanda's process should also read some of her books. Take for example "uncomfortable dinner" - that could easily be in the first of her wicked witches of the midwest series - it could also be in later installments of the book because she's set up a character-rich world of three cousins, their mothers and the aunt to their mothers. The mothers run an inn, two of the cousins run an occult shop. the grand aunt pretends (one hopes) to be batty and reigns over the family and the POV cousin is a former big city reporter now writing for the local weekly. One of the big selling points is not the mystery element of a story but the relationship within the family and how they also interact with the mundane townsfolk.
> 
> There are a lot of "uncomfortable" dinners at the inn. It's a cue (IMO opinion, spitballing here) in the outline for the grand aunt's hijinks, the mothers faint cluelessness, the cousins 'every witch for herself' survival creed when it comes to avoiding the grand aunt's loony ire, and so forth.
> 
> ...


I need this series in my life

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

I tend to be a panster but lately have come round to the idea of outlining. On Saturday I put a sentence or two next to Inciting Event, Plot Point 1, First Pinch Point, etc. Then I wrote a sentence for each scene in these sections (adding what the goal, conflict, etc, would be).

Now, I have a full outline and will hopefully get the first draft done this coming weekend, barring any major incidents. It would be earlier, but I have a 9-5 job with a three-hour commute - unfortunately if I try to write or even read on the bus, I feel sick).

For me, being methodical in my outlining is helping me write more efficiently and quicker. I still have a series or two from a couple of years back that I've not yet finished. I think this method will help me get those completed. YMMV.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

Following. Why isn't there a follow button like on Facebook?


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## lilywhite (Sep 25, 2010)

Antara Mann said:


> Following. Why isn't there a follow button like on Facebook?


There is; it's called Notify.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> It's kind of a mixture. I don't plot out everything. I plot out beats and then let the chapter get where it wants on its own. The chapter I just wrote had "uncomfortable dinner" as the only beat written down.


I do something like this as I'm working on the chapter. I use Scrivener, and in the Document Notes section I'll write down a word or short phrase. It's a point that needs to be made, or a bit of info to be included before the chapter is done. It helps keep me from getting off-track. Sometimes it doesn't fit as the chapter goes along -- like if the story gets more detailed than I'd thought as I'm writing. I just cut and paste it into the next chapter's spot.

I don't consider this outlining, as I'm doing it in the moment or just before I start writing on occasion. The more I do the writing into the dark, the more I'm trusting myself to not forget something and just let the story flow without worrying about noting things.

On another topic brought up, I was a reporter for a family-owned and operated weekly newspaper (not my family) for about two years. We were expected to be able to write any kind of story and to edit ourselves. Great learning experience.

I later founded and was the first editor for a company newsletter, in addition to my official job. I wrote many of the articles and did the layout for publication (something I'd done also at the newspaper). Lots of work, but fun and more learning and experience with editing.


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## Scott Daniel (Feb 1, 2011)

I've been away from fiction writing for a little while. Can someone refresh me as to what is meant by a "beat?" Is this a portion of a scene ... a plot point?


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## mach 5 (Dec 5, 2015)

Scott Daniel said:


> I've been away from fiction writing for a little while. Can someone refresh me as to what is meant by a "beat?" Is this a portion of a scene ... a plot point?


Sort of a primer here: http://www.katherinecowley.com/blog/10-keys-to-writing-story-beats-in-novels-with-exercises/

I think the term means different things to different people. You'll see she has a link to Save the Cat - that is by a screenwriter for screenwriters and "beats" originated in screenwriting, I believe, and Save the Cat made the concept popular among fiction writers.

*ETA Beat sheets of movies on stc website: http://www.savethecat.com/beat-sheets-alpha*


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## W.W. (Jun 27, 2011)

mach 5 said:


> Sort of a primer here: http://www.katherinecowley.com/blog/10-keys-to-writing-story-beats-in-novels-with-exercises/
> 
> I think the term means different things to different people. You'll see she has a link to Save the Cat - that is by a screenwriter for screenwriters and "beats" originated in screenwriting, I believe, and Save the Cat made the concept popular among fiction writers.
> 
> *ETA Beat sheets of movies on stc website: http://www.savethecat.com/beat-sheets-alpha*


I always thought beats referred to a short bit of description or action interspersed with dialogue, often instead of dialogue tags:

"I don't know." Jake ran his fingers through his hair.

I guess I'm getting old and the writing lingo is evolving.


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## ChrisWard (Mar 10, 2012)

I work full and part time and finished my most recent completed novel (73,000 words) in 47 days. For the most part I winged it, generally only having a rough idea what would happen in the next couple of chapters and the general overall direction I wanted to go in. I was well impressed with myself haha.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

lilywhite said:


> There is; it's called Notify.


Wow! Each day learning new things! I still wonder how some Kboards can quote a lot comments in the same reply.

TOYP has helped me a lot! Thaks to Libbie I wrote a 40 k book in approximately 20 days give or take a few. I also read rachel's "from 2k to 10 k " Now, I'm reading Chirs' 5 k words per day.
My aim is to wrote 60-70 k words for 3 weeks. Of course, I'm hindered that English isn't my native language and I still don't feel confident enough to write in English right off the bat. But with fiction is so much more difficult.


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## JLCarver (Sep 13, 2015)

Deleted. My words are not yours.


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2016)

Antara Mann said:


> Wow! Each day learning new things! I still wonder how some Kboards can quote a lot comments in the same reply.


Hit Quote on the first one you want to do. Do the reply (or just go down a new line). Plop your cursor for where you want the next quote, then scroll down below the reply box where a good chunk of the thread's responses will be. Hit "Insert Quote" for the next one you want and it will pop it in


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Anma Natsu said:


> Hit Quote on the first one you want to do. Do the reply (or just go down a new line). Plop your cursor for where you want the next quote, then scroll down below the reply box where a good chunk of the thread's responses will be. Hit "Insert Quote" for the next one you want and it will pop it in












Brilliant, thanks for the tip! Just made my kboarding life even more entertaining. I was wishing for a multiquote option.


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## mach 5 (Dec 5, 2015)

Funny - multiple quotes was asked on another thread this week (maybe the other book a month thread or the sherrilyn kenyon / cassandra clare).


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## DmGuay (Aug 17, 2016)

I have read and re-read this thread. This is post is how I found KBoards. 

I found it by searching google for ideas to write novels faster. I took forever writing my first novel-- six years (albeit in spurts, with 7 revisions thrown in). I cant afford for numbers 2, 3, an 4 to take as long. 

Writing a novel in a month, or less, or even two months seemed so impossible to me. But once y'all broke it down into your daily word counts, it seemed more approachable. 

Last night, I set my word count goal at 2,000 words per day. Today, my first day, I wrote 2,517. So thank you, for helping me turn an abstract goal into a daily word count goal. I can't promise I'll make my goal every day, but it helps to have something to push for!
B


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## John Hartness (Aug 3, 2009)

I got a good tip on the Fantasy & Sci-Fi Marketing podcast (or whatever it's called, the words may be out of order). One of their guests mentioned that she got her word count done before anything else in the day. I've shifted to focusing on my word count before Facebook or anything else in the day, and that has helped me move from 2,000 words per day to 5,000. 

And of course this week is Dragon Con prep, so nothing gets written.


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## Jane Valencia (Aug 31, 2016)

I'm enjoying this thread, and would love to write a book a month ...

My problem: tendonitis. Do any of you have this issue? If so, do you use speech-to-text? I haven't really tried that, but it seems that if I'm serious about writing a book a month, it might be good to experiment. In addition to writing I'm a storyteller, so maybe this is an option.

In any case: that's perhaps my biggest block to writing a novel a month. I hope it's not detracting to the thread to ask if any of you have dealt with tendonitis/carpel tunnel and have solutions or suggestions.

Thanks!


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## mmflores (Jan 3, 2016)

ElHawk said:


> Hi, Heather. I stupidly didn't hit "quote" before I started writing, and I'm on my tablet which makes copying and pasting difficult when I'm sitting here with muffin crumbs on my hands and a cup of coffee beside me. So bear with this wall-o-text reply.
> 
> *What I do:*
> 
> ...


If there were a writing Olympics, you'd be in them. Bravo!


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## wearywanderer64 (Jan 27, 2013)

I can't go past a page without editing it repeatedly. Do you book-a-monthers do that or do you just write what's in your head and deal with the hard stuff later?


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## BookishDreams (Apr 12, 2016)

I'm definitely not anywhere near most of you guys with my daily word count, but decided to share my experience for those who might be struggling a bit.

I'm currently working on two projects at a time. The first one has only the general outline (main storyline, subplots) sketched out, and I let my own writing take me from chapter to chapter... It's good because the process never bores me, however, it does take loooong to write. I can do max 2k a day on that novel, otherwise I'm completely worn out.

The other project, however, has a detailed chapter outline. So when I sit down in front of my computer, I already know exactly where the story will take me, what I have to cover etc. I have the chapters outlined in three parts (beginning, middle, end), so there is still some wiggle space in-between. BUT! That outlining alone has taken me to writing 4-5k a day without feeling particularly burned out afterwards 

Of course, since I work at home, my dogs do like to take my focus away from my work from time to time (neighbours can be a pain sometimes since they find provoking the two pups funny...), so that's another “slow” factor in my case. It always takes me a while to get back into the writing after a disturbance.

That being said, I've only been writing full-time for a year, so I hope my word count will continue to grow (I still remember those first months when I though 1k per day was a lot, hah!)


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

wearywanderer64 said:


> I can't go past a page without editing it repeatedly. Do you book-a-monthers do that or do you just write what's in your head and deal with the hard stuff later?


Some people enjoy editing, I hate it. I usually read through what I wrote the day before then carry on. Send it to an editor, make the suggested changes, do a final read through and then publish. So my first draft is pretty close to my final draft, no extraneous editing


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## pdworkman (Jan 17, 2015)

Jane Valencia said:


> I'm enjoying this thread, and would love to write a book a month ...
> 
> My problem: tendonitis. Do any of you have this issue? If so, do you use speech-to-text? I haven't really tried that, but it seems that if I'm serious about writing a book a month, it might be good to experiment. In addition to writing I'm a storyteller, so maybe this is an option.
> 
> ...


In July, when my daily minimum was 6,000 words, I was experiencing a lot of pain by the end of the month. I am fairly comfortable at 5,000 per day, so I am either going to have to keep my minimum to 5,000 words, do lots of yoga and stretching, or train myself to do speech to text.


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## pdworkman (Jan 17, 2015)

wearywanderer64 said:


> I can't go past a page without editing it repeatedly. Do you book-a-monthers do that or do you just write what's in your head and deal with the hard stuff later?


I generally just write. Now, that doesn't mean I don't correct typos along the way, or revise sentences as I need to. What I end up with as a first draft has been planned out and is pretty clean. No major changes. I still need to do a read-through to catch any flow/plot hole issues, do a detailed edit, a grammar review, and a text-to-speech review, but at that point we are just talking half a dozen changes per edit. Nitty gritty stuff.


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## Aaronhodges (Dec 19, 2015)

I generally sit down with a general plot in my head and write an outline first. Then I break that outline into chapters and try to flesh it out with bullet points a bit.

Then I sit down and write the first draft. At the moment I'm targeting 5k words per day, and I've been managing to stick to that (today... well we'll see, haven't started writing and its 2pm!). But my first draft is really me writing in what i would describe as a head over heels manner - just racing through everything without taking a breath to worry about character development or descriptions overly much. I get the flesh of the plot down  (along with a tonne of typos and repitition) in the first draft. 

Basically, on the first draft I'm writing in the 'zone', in the grip of the plot, and I don't want to be interupted by any of the extra stuff! I'll even put a quick note if i've forgotten part of a characters description to look it up later.

Once I've finished the first draft (which will often alter the outline a little) I know what the whole story is, any surprise twists that popped up out of nowhere, etc. Also helps me think more deeply about certain events are going to be worked into my magical rules (I like to always have an explanation for myself, even if its not stated explicitly in the text. Keeps me honest). 

So when I start on the second draft, I'm mostly going through and rewriting everything to build up my characters more, adding in descriptions, adding more detail about the world/magic - putting flesh on the bones in other words. I'll also take out repeating sentences and phrases where I find them, and rewrite all my sentences to flow better.

I try to average about two chapters a day on the second draft, which could be anything between 5k - 8k words.

Once that's done, I hand it over to the editor to do what they do, then the proofreader


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

I write a fully edited 50K/month at this point, on average. The past year, I've written 600K publishable words.

However, I only publish a book every 2-5 months (partly due to tradpub schedules, partly due to length of books). I've been writing for 4-1/2 years. My writing speed has stayed about the same in that time, though my editing speed is quite a bit less. 

How I do it:

1) I edit extremely heavily as I go--both in terms of working hard to get everything right at sentence level, and going back at the end of the day, the next day, and in the future to re-edit. 

2) Using this method, I write 2-8K edited words/day while I'm working on a book.

3) A 100K book takes me about 5-7 weeks to write and a week or less to edit--my editing process is very quick. My longest book was 145K, and it was a full-fledged mystery as well as a romance. Took about 9 weeks to write and maybe 8 days in total for 3 rounds of developmental edits plus copyedit & proofreading. (I mean, response to all those.) I don't rewrite much at all, except in the case of 2 books out of 20. It's mostly tweaking.

4) I need a week or so after the book is edited to let it leave my head. Then I need another week or two for the new book to arrive. 

5) I've just written my first trilogy (same characters). I found that went quite a bit faster than my usual books, as the usual books are standalones within series--a new couple, new backstories, new plot, etc. in each book. That takes longer to think up and get right. I also find that real-deal romantic suspense with a mystery plot takes longer, as you have to really think out the mystery plot and get the writing right. 

6) How I do the writing itself:
- Start the day with heavy editing on the previous day's work
- If I'm scared to start (common), I use a timer and do 30-minute intervals. Not "sprints," as I write carefully with a lot of revising. 
- I burn a scented candle to help my brain along into "writing mode." Candle scent = writing time. 
- I move around. I've written books in restaurants, the magnificent reading room of the State Library of New South Wales (that was a GREAT spot), my patio, my dining room, the couch in my office. Where I write the least: at a desk! 
- If I'm stuck, I go for a walk, a run, or a bike ride.
- I don't keep formal track, but I check every day how many words I've written.
- I do not outline, but I have a pretty good idea in my head. I read Libbie Hawker's excellent "Take Off Your Pants," which has the distinction of being the only writing book I've ever read, and I actually do all the things--except I don't write them down in an outline. I do calendar the book and either write or keep in my head extensive character notes. I have a really good memory, so it's not hard for me to keep stuff in my head. I write using a single Word doc. I'll either have a second Word doc with research/backstory, if it's extensive (like for a suspense novel), or just a page at the front of the book doc. with any notes.
- I work on only one book at a time, unless I have to do a tradpub edit in the middle. If I do, it'll take me a couple days to get back into my book. I don't "switch off" well. 
- I write every day, 7 days a week. In fact, I work virtually every day of the year. Maybe a few days off. I'm starting to change that, though, 4 years in. 
- Some books I write in order; on others, I jump around. No difference in the finished product. 
- I always feel like I'm going too slowly, except on those 7-8K days, when I just feel exhausted!
- I tend to write fewer words at the beginning of the book, and more words at the end.
- Fastest are action scenes, sex scenes, and very emotional scenes. High-octane scenes. 

I'm happy with my speed as the 5-9 weeks allows me enough time to have my characters develop at a deeper level, which is what sells books for me. I'm not saying that somebody else can't have deep character development in a book they write in half the time. I'm saying that I can't. Everybody's different, writing different books in different genres. There's no process or speed that's "best" IMHO. The right process is the one that works for you, and the one that helps you sell books.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

RobCornell said:


> Rosalind, how many hours a day do you typically work? In other words, how long does it normally take you to get those 2-8k?


Between writing and editing, usually somewhere around 6-10 hours sitting there working. More hours wandering around or riding my bike thinking stuff up. I'll write fewer hours in the early weeks. By the last couple weeks, it can be 12 hours a day easily. I get pretty consumed.


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## Jane Valencia (Aug 31, 2016)

Thank you for sharing this. I think that's what I need to do: figure out my writing threshold (pay attention to my hands!), while also doing what I can to warm-up/tend to my hands, and maybe experiment with speech to text. Good sense stuff!



pdworkman said:


> In July, when my daily minimum was 6,000 words, I was experiencing a lot of pain by the end of the month. I am fairly comfortable at 5,000 per day, so I am either going to have to keep my minimum to 5,000 words, do lots of yoga and stretching, or train myself to do speech to text.


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## writerc (Apr 15, 2016)

Seriously blown away by all the inspiration and information in this thread!  Thanks everyone!


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## DmGuay (Aug 17, 2016)

Gee. I'm amped that I've gotten to 2,500 words the past few days. I suppose being able to do 6k to 10k is partly skill and part real-life obligations. I have two little kids and this is the first time they're both in school all day. I have about 6.5 hours a day to do everything I need to do, like writing, groceries, errands, and exercise. Maybe I should be happy I get to 2500 at all!


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

DmGuay said:


> Gee. I'm amped that I've gotten to 2,500 words the past few days. I suppose being able to do 6k to 10k is partly skill and part real-life obligations. I have two little kids and this is the first time they're both in school all day. I have about 6.5 hours a day to do everything I need to do, like writing, groceries, errands, and exercise. Maybe I should be happy I get to 2500 at all!


You definitely should. I didn't start writing fiction at all until my youngest child had graduated from college. I'm in awe of people who do it with young kids.


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

Rosalind J said:


> You definitely should. I didn't start writing fiction at all until my youngest child had graduated from college. I'm in awe of people who do it with young kids.


I've seen interviews with those folks.. they basically don't sleep


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Gentleman Zombie said:


> I've seen interviews with those folks.. they basically don't sleep


Yup, I had four hours sleep last night, five hours the night before. I've watched exactly 2.5 hours of television (Victoria) in the past two weeks, and can't even remember the last time I saw a friend if it wasn't combined with a play-date.

I'm literally counting the seconds until my oldest (age 4) finally starts school (on Monday, yay!)


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## Rica G (Jul 16, 2016)

I just want to say thank you for this thread. It's been really inspiring. I don't know if I can manage a book a month, but I'm in awe of the dedication and discipline you guys have. *bows*


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## LucasCWheeler (Feb 19, 2015)

Rosalind J said:


> - I do not outline, but I have a pretty good idea in my head. I read Libbie Hawker's excellent "Take Off Your Pants," which has the distinction of being the only writing book I've ever read, and I actually do all the things--except I don't write them down in an outline.


Anyone can weigh in here, but I thought this might be the best place to ask. I recently bought and read "Take Off Your Pants" and I'm filling in some outlines to practice. The thing is, I got stuck and I'm not sure how the outlining method in the book adapts to a Romance genre novel. I might be missing something, but I can't figure out who the antagonist is in regards to Romance. Are the lovers antagonists, or are they both protagonists and romances have dual main characters?

Thanks in advance!


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## Kate. (Oct 7, 2014)

LucasCWheeler said:


> Anyone can weigh in here, but I thought this might be the best place to ask. I recently bought and read "Take Off Your Pants" and I'm filling in some outlines to practice. The thing is, I got stuck and I'm not sure how the outlining method in the book adapts to a Romance genre novel. I might be missing something, but I can't figure out who the antagonist is in regards to Romance. Are the lovers antagonists, or are they both protagonists and romances have dual main characters?
> 
> Thanks in advance!


It's been a while since I read the book, but from memory the antagonist doesn't have to be a person. It can be whatever is trying to keep the couple apart: self-doubt, social divides, someone's past resurfacing, the dreaded Big Misunderstanding, etc. Though it will often take the shape of a person, too: an ex, a concerned family member, a jealous friend. Whatever your conflict is - whatever is separating the couple - that's your antagonist.


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## LucasCWheeler (Feb 19, 2015)

Thank you very much.  That makes sense.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Rosalind J said:


> - I burn a scented candle to help my brain along into "writing mode." Candle scent = writing time.


I really like your process, Rosalind, but what really stuck out to me was this awesome little brain hack to get yourself going. Smells are the most potent behavioral triggers, as they speak directly to our lizard brain.

Now that I think about it, for me it's the smell of coffee, combined with putting on my headphones to shut the world out. Whatever else is going on, that's when I know it's time to write.


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## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

LucasCWheeler said:


> Anyone can weigh in here, but I thought this might be the best place to ask. I recently bought and read "Take Off Your Pants" and I'm filling in some outlines to practice. The thing is, I got stuck and *I'm not sure how the outlining method in the book adapts to a Romance genre novel.* I might be missing something, but I can't figure out who the antagonist is in regards to Romance. Are the lovers antagonists, or are they both protagonists and romances have dual main characters?
> 
> Thanks in advance!


Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels by Gwen Hayes was super helpful to me. Amazon has it. 

FYI: I have no connection to the author, at all.


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## TaraCrescent (Mar 21, 2015)

LucasCWheeler said:


> Anyone can weigh in here, but I thought this might be the best place to ask. I recently bought and read "Take Off Your Pants" and I'm filling in some outlines to practice. The thing is, I got stuck and I'm not sure how the outlining method in the book adapts to a Romance genre novel. I might be missing something, but I can't figure out who the antagonist is in regards to Romance. Are the lovers antagonists, or are they both protagonists and romances have dual main characters?
> 
> Thanks in advance!


Seconding the recommendation for Gwen Hayes's book. Also Jenny Crusie has a Writing Romance blog that's incredibly helpful. Here's her unit on Conflict. https://writingandromance.wordpress.com/2015/09/01/the-conflict-unit/


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## LucasCWheeler (Feb 19, 2015)

Thank you both very much! I will definitely look into those.


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## DmGuay (Aug 17, 2016)

Uh, Let me just say that when I first read this thread, I thought "No way! Writing that fast is impossible!" Then I decided to give it a whirl. 

I try to write 2,000 word a day on weekdays. I've made it on many days, but not all. I started the first week of September, and I am already halfway through the first draft of a new book. (35,000 words as of today) I didn't quite hit the book in a month mark, but I will definitely have it written by the end of month two. This is much faster than the six months I spent writing the first draft of the last book. 

Boy. Y'all may have just changed my life!


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## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

I wish someone or a group of authors would write a detailed how-to-book or create a how-to-course on how to write a contemporary romance book, a cozy mystery book and a suspenseful thriller a month or maybe in 2 months. _edited to add, I meant three separate books or courses. _

I'd love to write faster.
I was so interested in Konrath's 8 hour challenge and attempted to write a short romance but failed miserably.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

BellaJames said:


> I wish someone or a group of authors would write a detailed how-to-book or create a how-to-course on how to write a contemporary romance book, a cozy mystery book and a suspenseful thriller a month or maybe in 2 months.
> 
> I'd love to write faster.
> I was so interested in Konrath's 8 hour challenge and attempted to write a short romance but failed miserably.


But people are so different. My process is:
1) walk around for a week or two as an idea first flits in and out and then forms more concretely, as scenes begin to appear. Eventually, begin to do some research and take notes. 
2) start to write and edit the book. It will go slowly during first week. 
3) keep doing that. 
4) a week of editing.

100-150k, 8-10 weeks in all.

There you go! How much do you think I can charge? 

Some people have a really structured process. Problem is, it won't work for lots of folks. People's creativity comes differently.

If you want a structure approach to outlining, Take Off Your Pants is very good.


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## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

Rosalind J said:


> But people are so different. My process is:
> 1) walk around for a week or two as an idea first flits in and out and then forms more concretely, as scenes begin to appear. Eventually, begin to do some research and take notes.
> 2) start to write and edit the book. It will go slowly during first week.
> 3) keep doing that.
> ...


Yeah I realise that. I just thought of it when I saw Konrath's challenge a little while ago and also there are so many videos and books on how to write a non-fiction book in 1 month or two weeks. 
I've just not found a great book that deals with how to write a commercial fiction book in a short period. I've found blog posts or some podcasts a little useful.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

BellaJames said:


> Yeah I realise that. I just thought of it when I saw Konrath's challenge a little while ago and also there are so many videos and books on how to write a non-fiction book in 1 month or two weeks.
> I've just not found a great book that deals with how to write a commercial fiction book in a short period. I've found blog posts or some podcasts a little useful.


I can't even imagine what that would look like, but I'm sure somebody's written it.
A process depends a whole lot on whether the person outlines or not, and whether they edit as they go or do it at the end. Time for "writing" a book, if it doesn't include editing, can be deceptive. A person who edits as they go may seem like a slower writer but may produce the book faster. Or not.

I honestly think the only real way to do it is to flounder around and figure out which way works best for you, which can include trying things that DON'T work for you, even though they work for other people.


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## azebra (Jul 30, 2011)

I found this blog very inspiring:
http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html


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## Mari Oliver (Feb 12, 2016)

Rosalind J said:


> Between writing and editing, usually somewhere around 6-10 hours sitting there working. More hours wandering around or riding my bike thinking stuff up. I'll write fewer hours in the early weeks. By the last couple weeks, it can be 12 hours a day easily. I get pretty consumed.


Yes! Once the story gets going it's hard to put down some days. All I can think about is what's coming next.  I generally work 3-6 hours a day doing a mixture of writing new words and editing. I take breaks though to exercise, clean, spend time outside or tend to my family. So it's never straight through time. I've written novels in a month before but it's not my best work. Lol I don't write clean AT ALL. 2-3 months is the perfect pace for me.


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## azebra (Jul 30, 2011)

ElHawk said:


> Maybe doing sprints with other authors might work for you! I have a few friends who routinely do sprints, where each day they sign into their sprint group and then are answerable to each other for writing X words that day. It works great for them. They've invited me to try it, but as I sometimes have to drop what I'm doing and take care of other business stuff mid-stream, I declined. With my luck, I'd end up failing at my sprints every time I tried to stick to it. Ugh.


I love the idea of sprints!


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