So Much Writing

Here it is, just one month into the new year and my writing journey is going well.  Last year I was a speaker at an event where i talked about my travels. Some really funny things have happened as I visited various countries (not many) and explored my own, Australia, that I do make people laugh.  One of the audience said I should write it.  At the time I said that I couldn’t as I had another project underway.  True.  I did.  A novel I am working on, for some time.

But, weirdly, I started taking notes and then good hooked into writing the story.  I’m a bit miffed with myself, but proud too as I have in three months written over 37,000 words!   OMG!  Really?

Distractions.

Over the past nearly two years I have been house sitting.  I have mixed feelings about it.  When I started, I did it as I could no longer afford the high rents I was paying, and my legs and back made it hard for me to mow lawns, which I had to do or pay out more dollars for someone else to do it.  I lived in a van for sometime – but it was not at all conducive to writing.  No desk, back trauma and so forth, so I did some house sitting.  Mostly it was ok for me to keep writing, but not all places had comfortable seating/desk for me. In the end, I decided to rent a unit, which I am in now.  It’s on the second floor – no garden or lawns to mow.  In fact, I can shut myself away and just write.  No distractions.

I can sit at my desk, see nothing going on around me and just make my fingers dance around the keyboard.  The novel I have been writing has been neglected, but my plan is to spend some time working on it soon.  Progress has increased!  My writing journey is on high beam!

Other Writing

It’s not the only writing I do.  There are some blogs and I write for an online magazine too, though this has been neglected somewhat over the holiday period.  I have some projects on the go at the moment anyway, so will see what happens.  In the mix are also manage a couple of websites.

I am lucky I am “retired” and single as I can put aside a lot of time to do these things.  I have also been asked to help another writing business.  Mmmm.  I am thinking about that.

How Many Words can I Write in a Day?

I’ve listed that I should write 5000 words a day, but I might change that to 10,000 words per day.  One of the most prolific writers, Steven King is reported to write 2,000 words a day.  I do exceed that sometimes, but I am not consistent.  I think it is good to have a word target but not to beat yourself if you don’t reach it.  Here are some figures re other writers here. 

If I wrote consistently 2000 words a day for 30 days, it is 60,000 words!  Awesome.  I’d have my book written in no time!  But life gets in the way.  I talk to my writer friends and am happy with the progress on my writing journey, but it is not all easy. Some days I leave home at 7 am and don’t get back before 4 pm, and am often knackered by then.  Not much writing is done.

By Hand or Keyboard?

I am so grateful that my teacher in high school “encouraged ” me to change schools.  She said I wouldn’t  “amount to anything” so I changed schools and did typing as a subject.  I am so pleased I did that as my hands dance over the keyboard and I often say the words are in my fingertips.

Handwriting?  I do a lot of that too, but more so for communication.  Fountain pens with purple ink are my favourite writing tools.