I need to either increase the amount of time I spend writing each day or increase the number of words I write during the same amount of time (or both!). 5 kids and a 50hr/wk job pretty much rule out the possibility of spending more time writing.

Does anyone have any practical suggestions for making a limited amount of writing time more productive?

Thanks,

1.5 hours a day sounds like a very respectable habit. Is the small number of words you get each day from typing speed, from editing and rewriting what you generate, from having trouble deciding what to write next, from spending a lot of time figuring out how to write what's going next, from some other issue? I have a couple of suggestions, but they might or might not apply ...

I feel like I know the story and its characters quite well. I finish each day with a strong sense of where I'm going to go the next morning.

I suppose I've answered my own question. I need to restrain my self from editing and focus instead on moving the story forward.

As an Industrial Engineer, productivity is close to my heart. I've actually studied both the quality and productivity of my writing, and I've discovered a few things that might help you.

When I first start a writing sesion, either my speed or quality of writing is usually low. I reach my best pace after just over an hour. After three hours I find my quality and productivity dropping, and after four hours of writing my quality stinks.

Three hours is a magic number for me. One three-hour session produces more good material than ten one-hour sessions. Since I am a busy person, I no longer waste my time with one hour sessions, and I seldom bother to go a whole four hours. If I can't put together at least two consecutive hours, I don't bother getting started.

Oddly enough, when I do find myself with <2 hours of writing time, I usually spend it critiquing for my writers group or here at Hatrack exchanging ideas.

Other factors: my writing stinks when I am tired or hungry. I write best in the morning. It also helps if my blood sugar level is up a bit, so I eat those flavored oatmeals and drink soda pop or hot chocolate while I write. I can usually get a good burst of productivity out of a Hershey bar, but then I crash. OSC will warn you about chemical abuse while writing, and that includes overdoing the sugar.

Another thing about the editing: Maybe you'll find that your editing is more effective when you do it for larger sections and after you've had time for the work to "cool." I don't know how many people this technique would suit, but with the novel I just finished (it needs another draft before I send it out; right now it's in critique), I pretty much wrote it straight through without editing much of anything until I got to the end.

As I went, though, I made notations at the head of each chapter of things that I later realized needed to be changed: There needs to be more tension in this scene, the reader has to know why this thing can happen, change the dialog here in chapter 3 so that it is consistent with what we find out in chapter 15, etc.

Then I went and did exactly what the notations told me for my "first and a halfth" draft. Once I have critique back on it, after a period of at least a few weeks from having finished it, I'll be able to go back to it fresh, using both the critique info and my newly-acquired distance from the story to do my edits.

Because there are few pieces of writing, if any, that can't be improved at least a little more -- so you can spend any amount of time editing with some justification. If you do it in larger sweeps, though, it might be more efficient. (It is for me, although I'm sure it isn't for everyone.)

Doc, interesting info! My modus operandi is different. I usually need music (like alternative rock), and it doesn't much matter if I'm tired out or edgy or whatever: the writing wakes me up and gets me involved; it's active entertainment (and work) enough to keep me on my toes.

Sometimes I'm effective in a 30-minute session, sometimes I can write for five hours straight and still be spitting stuff out that I like. It takes me a few minutes to get in the groove, but once I'm there, providing I don't need to stop to think through the story in a deliberate way or for some spot research, I just kind of keep churning on through it. If I get sleepy or it gets too late or something needs to simmer more before I can continue it, I stop.

I generally only have the peace of mind and of house to write at night (say, after 10 or 11), so I sometimes am up to 3AM or later doing that. That causes problems from time to time!

It's very easy to get caught in a loop of editing and editing and you never get the story down. I used to think you had to do it that way, after all the pages I did the day before were in need of "fixing".

Now I have found I write faster, get more good wordsa down, if I just write the story then let it sit for a few weeks and then go back and edit.

Besides in a long work there are always things that need to be worked into the begining or researched better.

Just get the story down then worry the details.

I do average 1,500 to 3000 words a day. I type about 120 words a minute. (that helps.

Having said that, I am expected to produce a fair amount of written material for work - and the environment is busy and full of interruptions - so now I am trying to discipline myself back into the habit of concentration at home.

Another thing that I do (which I will freely admit can have it's drawbacks for many) is that I mull things over for a long time before I settle in. Many years ago, college days, I painted (amongst other interesting duties) interior and exterior buildings. The major portion of skill and effort went into the prep work. And I think that applies to writing (for me) - so . . . I play with all the ideas in my mind before I get started. I'll occasionally jot things down, notes here, diagrams there, but I don;t tend to settle in until I feel prepped - as I said, this can have it's drawbacks - I can get stuck in prepland -

sigh

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I was taught (and I must say it works when I use it) that to write, one must simply write. Don't stop. Don't critique. Don't edit. Just go for it. Get everything out on paper (or computer) until you are empty and them give it a few minutes to really make sure you are done for that space of time.

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I must say that I agree with this by and large, although for what it's worth, I find that it's comfortable and even helpful for me to do spot research in the middle of writing. For instance, I get to a scene where someone's in a river with a crocodile (one I hadn't expected to have), and suddenly I need to know about crocodiles before I can write a credible scene, so in mid-sentence or mid-paragraph I'll surf for crocodile info (I have a persistent, albeit not lightning fast, Web connection) and then go back to writing once I know what I need to know to proceed. I don't know if this would work for other people or not. I do know that I don't feel it's worthwhile for me to write a scene before I have the pertinent facts, so of course the ideal for me is like what Hope says: research and prep beforehand. Spot research is for when I write myself somewhere I hadn't realized I'd be going, or need a detail I hadn't realized I'd need.

Oh, I realized (again for what it's worth--nobody's publishing my work yet, so for all we know this might be "what I'm doing wrong") that I also stop if I need an exact word (in which case I hit the thesaurus) or if I need a comparison (e.g. a metaphor) and need to pause to get just the right one. For me it works better to find these as I'm writing initially, because it's then that I'm most in touch with what I want to convey in the scene. For other people, I could imagine that it would be a problem to do that, that it would interrupt the flow of their work.

Even considering that I take out time for these kinds of things, I average 1,200-2,000 words per hour. My typing speed (80-100 wpm; I haven't been tested in some time) definitely helps with this. I'd be quick to recommend getting a typing skills program or something and learning how to type well for writers who would like to see themselves up their output.

I fear for me that I would never get back on track again -

when I get to sticky points like those, I find that most often I can inscribe a note to look up thus and such . . . but I don't too often get there -

which very well could do with the amount of output on my part but might also have to do with all the time I spend on prep work -

I think there is a fine line which I am certainly always seeking for -

Perhaps the best advice of all is to find what works and stick with it -

One of the things I am struggling with is learning how to separate my "work writing" from the writing I feel compelled to do for me at home - I have messages and info I desparately want to share but I feel fairly polluted by work at the end of the day.

As to dishes and other daily living things---well, my hubby is great at picking up the slack when I am in the middle of a brain storm. And if he can't I make sure to end at a hanging spot so I am in the middle of a sentence or tense scene when I come back to it. This took practice, as I used to lose the scene if I left it for the everyday life things.

I do make money off my freelancing and editing and some of my writing, but not enough yet to "quit my day job". LOL

Soon. Very soon, though.

No hubby to help out with chores, though - I used to think that was bad, but as time has gone by I see there is actually less work so it ends up just being that ability to switch gears -

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I was taught (and I must say it works when I use it) that to write, one must simply write. Don't stop. Don't critique. Don't edit. Just go for it. Get everything out on paper (or computer) until you are empty and them give it a few minutes to really make sure you are done for that space of time.

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I just don't agree. I know it's important to write ugly, quick, and dirty in the name of finishing and getting the story down, but I deplore writing poorly and poor writing. Grunt-sexing a novel would leave me with a mountain of guilt which would burden the story because my characters, conflicts, and prose get more compelling with every microedit and tightening; I wouldn't have as much freedom with the characters and the plots if I wrote large ugly chunks at a time.

I felt a little vindicated when I realized that my favorite writers write slowly and edit meticulously. OSC is an exception, but I don't put him in the same realm as John Irving or Joseph Heller. (Though Hart's Hope is an exceptionally wrought novel, I don't think it's a coincidence that he admitted to putting significantly more time into that novel than he did in his others- it shows on every lovely page.)

With all of the poor storytelling and trite plots which abound, and are shamelessly on the make, in bookstores, do you really feel obliged to produce another shallow work.

Writing a book is like rearing a child, it's not how many you have that matters.

I have tried a meticulous approach to getting the written word out on paper, (courtesy of any number of english teachers throughout my youth - and some professors in college) and I get bogged down in triviality. The purpose of editing and revision - as I see it - is to clean up things that can sour good writing.

For instance - I can correct spelling or grammar later, I can verify a fact later, I can flesh out some detail later - but if I stop my train of thought to do those things right now, I frequently lose the thread of where I was going. Which, for me, is highly frustrating.

I don't think that my particular approach is any worse or better than anyone else's, nor do I think it produces garbage. It has worked for me thus far.

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Writing a book is like rearing a child, it's not how many you have that matters.

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Well, it makes a difference if you are aspiring to reach the point where you can sell your children for a living--especially if you only get $3,000 for the first one (the normal first-timer advance, as I understand it, and often royalties don't even pay out the advance). <grin>

In a more serious vein, though, I agree with you. No point in turning out shoddy work. I've been bending my efforts to learning how to write things well the first time, so that I will have very clean, energetic first drafts that don't need to be heavily edited before they become final drafts. However, I don't know if that approach really would appeal to everyone. Probably it wouldn't.

It sounds as though the spot research thing I do wouldn't work for many other people. It's a bit of a shame, because sometimes there are wonderful little gems of inspiration in that research, and it makes it possible to have some authenticity to the writing even if you hadn't planned to write about the particular subject beforehand. For me, it wouldn't work to flag it and research it later; often the development of the story depends on the details of the research. But for others it sounds as though my method would threaten to stop their writing cold, and that's much worse.

Interesting discussion!

The agent considering my last novel even asked how far I was into the second book. They wanted to know how long it took to write the first one, how long I spent on editing, and how long all together, it took to get it to the point of "well done" the first was in (the 75 sample pages they had at that point). They asked about time I spent on research, day job, time I had to use for writing---many things before they told me they wanted the complete manuscript.

Sounds odd---but they are a big name agency. I have e-mailed some of their writers and established a dialog with one who writes in the same sub-genre I do of Sci-Fi. Alternate history. They expect a book a year or better. But they offer things that other agencies don’t. Monthly reports, monthly payment of royalties, and support. Many other agencies pay quarterly, offer no regular reports, don’t send you the rejections they receive ect. But my writing speed seemed very important in their decision to look at the complete work.

If a scene needs spot research before I can go on I do it. If I can’t find the info I do depend on writers BB to help me out—this one has many times. Someone once said, well this might seem old fashioned, but why don’t you go to the library? My answer, well if I can find it online it saves me time.

Just so you know, I do not have tons of time to write. I have a spouse, a teen and an 8 yr old. I home school the 8 yr old. I am actively involved in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and other charities. I am an assistant editor for on online magazine, and do freelance business letters ect. I also work with writers on developing synops and query letters. I have had some good success with those, one woman whom I worked with, now has three books out and a fourth on the way.

So I guess I am saying that no matter what amount of time you have, you can find a way to write well and fast. It’s a matter of finding what works for you. A form like this is a great place to find ideas to try.

Oh and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to thank all of you who have aided me in research, and who have looked at things of mine from time to time. Thank you!

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When I first start a writing session, either my speed or quality of writing is usually low. I reach my best pace after just over an hour. After three hours I find my quality and productivity dropping, and after four hours of writing my quality stinks.

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This is interesting. I have noticed recently that I really start to get warmed up just as my kids’ alarms start going off. Maybe just a half-hour or even fifteen minutes more every morning would yield a big boost in productivity. I’ll give it a try.

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Another thing that I do (which I will freely admit can have it's drawbacks for many) is that I mull things over for a long time before I settle in.

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I try to use the remaining 17.5 waking hours for this kind of preparation. I have solved a number of plot problems while in meetings or in the car. I tend to put things in brackets to remind myself that there is a hole that needs filling (e.g. more detail needed, better word choice, background, etc.).

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Anyone else struggle with that? How do you get through those sticking points, to be able to change gears after the dinner dishes are washed and the children are snug in their beds . . .

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This is precisely why I started writing in the morning. By the end of the day, I am completely spent. When I was writing at night, I would often fall asleep in front of the computer without having accomplished anything. In the morning, I was less of a husband and father because of my lack of sleep. Now, though I hate getting up early in the morning, I have found that if I don’t, my whole day suffers. I can’t wait to get up in the morning these days. At the end of an early morning writing session, I have the same sense of accomplishment that a runner must have as he arrives home from his morning jog just as the sun is coming up. I feel I’ve gotten a jump on the day, one that somehow helps in every other area of my life.

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I just don't agree. I know it's important to write ugly, quick, and dirty in the name of finishing and getting the story down, but I deplore writing poorly and poor writing.

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I think we would all agree here. However, in my case, my productivity is exceptionally low. I think Luc’s point of editing in bigger chunks is probably the best advice for me. Realistically, I’d like to write ~450 quality words a day. The fact is that most of the future technology in my current novel will have been realized by the time I get the book completed (at my current pace)!

Regards,

Interesting information about the agency. Is it from them that you get the impression that publishers are deeply concerned about the rate at which a writer generates novels? I can see how perhaps an agency might have a greater interest in this than a publisher (given that there is a certain amount of "maintenance" for each client for the agency, whereas the publisher is making and spending money per book rather than per client). On the other hand, maybe publishers are seriously concerned about this, in which case it would behoove me to brag about my writing pace ...

Adams said, "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by."

Set your own deadlines and take them to heart. It's goood practice.

For everythign a person does that goes against the grain their will always be an exception to the rules to suport the broken rule.