My husband made fun of me a few days ago. I bought new running shoes, expensive shoes because I have old knees and I need good shoes. They felt so wonderful on that first day out on the road. I returned home after an hour's run (dripping sweat, not a pretty picture) and told my husband I ran fast and felt great in my pretty new footgear. He laughed and said steady might be a better description than fast. Okay, so I resembled more a snail crawling through peanut butter than a world class marathoner, but the pace felt perfect for me at my present stage of life.
Our pace at many things changes at different stages of life and career. Seven years after my first publishing contract, I write much faster (and I hope better) than I did all those years ago. I was satisfied with finishing one novel during those early years of being a writer. Now I'm trying for four per year. It's the pace that fits me now.
Can you write a novel in one month? Two months? One year? Four years? I feel more comfortable every day with my pace as I settle into being a full time writer. When I was working on the day job full time and as my children grew up, I'd advanced to a two novels per year pace. But those were first drafts. There was still a lot of editing and rewrites to be done. Being comfortable and enjoying the journey is part of the fun of being a writer. There's plenty or room in this world for jets and snails.
In case you're worried about young people and the state of reading and writing in our society, let me introduce you to a young man, a teenager actually, who is celebrating some of his short, short stories being published. Patrick Stahl's drabble titled, Trying to Make a Living is featured on Specklit. I hope you'll stop by and leave a comment for Patrick. He's a very cool young man and a gifted writer.
Every write a drabble? Are you comfortable with your writing pace? Has it changed over the course of your career? Ever see a snail gliding through peanut butter?
Showing posts with label Pacing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pacing. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
More Than You Think
I belong to my local chapter of RWA called Central Pennsylvania Romance Writers. We meet the first Saturday of every month, sharing news and helping each other with whatever questions we might have. Sometimes we have guest speakers. Last Saturday one of our authors shared what she'd learned at a workshop on pacing. She did a terrific job, providing us with an outline and going over lots of information and giving examples.
I love taking notes. As I sat there with pencil poised, I waited for those lovely new ideas that would help me improve my writing. A strange thing happened. As she shared the information, I realized I was doing or at least trying to do everything she talked about. As I silently tested my WIP, comparing it to the information given, I found it fit the suggestions. Though I didn't consciously think about those exact pacing parameters, I was doing it correctly. What is my point?
I'm a rather confident person in most areas of my life, except for my writing. I just don't feel I have expertise in any part of this business. But once in a while, I find out that I know more than I think I know. And most of us struggling along in this up and down business also know more than we think we know. Lots of us have some expertise to share. Think about what you knew when you first sat down at that keyboard and typed the first sentence of you novel or story with what you know now about story structure, pacing, editing, publishing, marketing and many other things. You know more than you think you know.
What areas of writing do you feel confident in and which are not your area of expertise? Would you feel comfortable teaching a class in one of those areas? Have you visited the IWSG blog and some other participants?
On a bonus note today, if you want to read a perfectly paced novel, check out this special week long sale of CassaFire by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Only .99 for this week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)