What I’m Doing: My Big Writing Goal for 2012
Those of you who are following me on this new-fangled (ok, ok, for me, not the wider ‘verse!) Twitter thing should already have picked up that the Christmas-New Year holiday is now over and I’m back to work. So far, I’m not matching Rachel Aaron’s 10,000-12,000 words per day (you can read all about how she does it, here) or Brandon Sanderson’s 10 hours a day (as discussed in our blog interview late last year here) but I am slowly getting into the groove—and I do have a writing goal for the year.
Basically, it’s this: I would like to try and complete Daughter of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three, by 31 July of this year–without compromising on the quality of the work.
The only book I’ve managed in this kind of timeframe before is Thornspell and it is around 1/3 the proposed size of Daughter of Blood. So I am definitely setting myself a challenge with this. On the other hand, I found myself getting really good momentum both last year and in the final quarter of 2010 with The Gathering of the Lost—and as my personal view is that Gathering is the best book I have written yet (how’s that for nailing one’s authorial colours to the mast?) I don’t believe quality necessarily has to suffer as a result of commitment to improving one’s time/output ratio.
So what do I think I need to do/set in place to achieve this goal:
- I shall definitely need dedicated writing space and time without distractions (ie internet disconnected, phone off hook, door ‘locked’)—needless to say, I am hoping the creative writing residency at the university for the same time period will really help with this;
- I need to treat every month until the job is done as NaNoWriMo—aiming for that 50,000 word count, or better. If I can get to Rachel Aaron’s approximately 200,000 in a month, well that would be awesome—but I’ll start with the NaNoWriMo 50,000 as my goal and work from there.
I think those are the basics but I’ll certainly let you know if other absolute “must do’s” arise as I go.
And as well as the daily tweets on what I’m doing writing-wise, I’ll also be doing more in-depth weekly updates here on the blog.
So, let the games begin …
.
Oh, why am I doing it? Well, partly just to see if I can do it. Secondly because I would like to experiment with writing more, and more efficiently. Finally—and possibly most importantly—I feel that having embarked on a series that is effectively one story told in four parts, I have an obligation to get the books to readers in as timely a fashion as I can manage. Earthquakes and related factors have thrown quite a few spanners into The Gathering of the Lost works, so I want to see if I can do some catching up as well. But it will never be at the expense of the story—that, I feel, having entered the service of the Muses, must always be a ‘not for trading off’ item.
—
And do you like ‘all the pretty book covers’—I’m so excited that they’re all milestones for 2012 too! 🙂
Oooh, the top two covers look great together now, don’t they? They really work as a pair.
Phew, you have your work cut out for you, Helen, but I bet you can do it! We’ll be here to cheer you on 🙂
They do look great together–except 1 is UK, t’other US, & in fact I understand that the UK cover release for GATHERING may be on the Orbit blog tonight. If so it wil be featured here tomrrow!
And yes, it is going to be a lot of work, but I am keen to give it a go, especially having read the Rachel Aaron article. I don’t think I could ever write 10 hours per day like Brandon Sanderson though; 6-8 usually see me ‘wrung out.’
I was just wondering if you’ll still have time for poetry? I read ‘From the Hill’ and enjoyed the poem. Good luck with achieving this goal!
I don’t think there is a power in the ‘verse that could stop Helen from writing poetry…
(With thanks to Captain Mel)
Is that “Captain Mal”, maybe–ie ‘Malcolm Reynolds’?:) But thank you for the vote of confidence, although as I just said to Penelope, sometimes it’s not the ‘raw’ wriitng, but the refining that gets sidelined. Am hoping that if I get into intense creativity it will start “bustin’ out all over”, including with poetry!
Penelope, I will always have time for poetry, but admit it may get a little squeezed by the ambition of the book project. Usually what I find is that I don’t stop writing the poems but editing/refining takes a little longer.
I know you can write it in the time – you prepare so carefully for a book before you begin. That’s the trick of a good book written in a short time, I suspect: how well the writer knows the world and its people before they begin; how deeply the writer can delve into emotional truths and explore underlying meanings.
Hi Gillian–you are a wee bit more confident than me, he-he—but I aim to give it a dashed good try and you are right that I have put in a lot of prep time as well. But then once you start writing all bets are off planning-wise I find—the story knows what it wants to be and as author I can either waste time and energy fighting it or go with the flow the Muses send, even if it does mean revising the plan! It’s all very Carl von Clausewitz: “No campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy!”
Of course, I’m worried by the inference that the book might be the enemy during the writing process!
Good luck with achieving your writing goals! It’s quite a challenge, but I have every faith in your ability and commitment.
Thank you, Marion—I really appreciate your support.