posted
Just a quick question about binge writing... That is, sitting for periods of 12-48 hours straight just writing... Anyone else do this, and any positive/negative thoughts about it?
My novel I started has been almost nothing but sessions of binge writing. I do best at Christmas time, after the presents are unwrapped and the women are off cooking dinner or doing their gossip thing, and then men are off doing normal men things... My wife's parents have this incredibly comfy couch that reclines, and I can get a good 14 hour session where I get a good 12-20000 words written.
But Christmas only comes once a year, and Easter is another good binge time for me so I took some extra days off work to try and get ahead... But I noticed last week that if I really push hard, I can put out about 12-1300 words a night. I did a calculation based on my currently word count, and if I could maintain that, I'll be done with my first rough draft in 25 days. (which is exciting for me)
But quality wise, does it make a difference? I mean obviously if I were to do nothing but binging on my next book I'll never get it done by deadline, but what is your guys experience? I've got chapters that need to be rewritten, but its largly because either I didn't have the idea at the time to finish it, or I've since come up with an idea that was better.
posted
Wow after a while my eyes hurt and my brain turns off, so, no.
The closest thing I've done to that was I had developed a well-outlined story over two years and sat down and, with the pressure of a deadline, wrote a first draft of the novel (120,000 words) in one month. That was an average of close to 4000 per day. But I don't think I've ever wrote more than 6000-10000 words in one sitting. Ever.
I don't know if that's good or bad for you. For me I think binge writing would be disasterous, I'd start writing crap eventually as I got more tired and bored with what I was doing.
[This message has been edited by Zero (edited April 03, 2007).]
posted
I think every writer may have a go at binge writing every now and then to get a lot done in their work. I've done it about 4 times and got roughly 15,000 words done, averaged out by now. So, all I can say, it depends on the person and if they're willing to give it a go.
Posts: 384 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
I spend all day at work in front of a computer so try not to spend to long over it, I usually spend an hour or so at a time, usually with an aim of getting at least a chapter done. I have this thing I call 'The Zone' when writing, its a period of time when my brain is over flowing with ideas and I can type it and think at the same time with no 'um's and 'err's. This can last for hours and I can get a few thousand words down but other times I just cant get down to it. Have been known at work to suddenly have a brainstorm and come up with an idea, so stop work type a quick outline on word, and e-mail it home for me to put in the book when i get home.
I couldn't do binge writing and I refuse to let myself, as I dont want to screw up my eyesight, for the sake of becoming a published author.
posted
Commenting on your experiencing writing 1,200 to 1,300 words per day, I have heard many times that the best writing habit is to set a daily goal, complete with daily times set aside, to write. I believe NaNoWriMo usually says that 1,500 words per day is enough to finish a novel a month, and you're right in that area.
Personally, I need to work on moving from 1,500 words per year to 1,500 words per month, first. Then we'll see about weeks and months.
As for binges, my record is about 8,200 words in a day. That was pretty hefty, but I don't think I could do more than that. It was getting tough near the end.
posted
I've tried to keep my writing at five hundred words a day, though sometimes I'll stretch that if I have more spare time. I try to operate on the theory that if I hate to stop at five hundred words, I'll be eager to come back and start up again the next day.
It's worked. Stuff seems to get written. I seem to be on a prolific tear. My calculations (done on the spur of the moment, all in my head) tell me I've written over one hundred thousand words of rough draft since the middle of last August---and, for me, that's a real hot streak. There have been times I've been laid low (like the week before last when I had a bad cold) and not written anything, but in this era of my life they seem to be the exception. I'm still pounding things out.
(Most of those hundred thousand words are in a half-finished novel (seventy-five thousand) and a finished novella (twenty-five thousand), plus this and that. Whether they're any good is another matter.)
posted
Yesterday, I read a David Wolverton interview where he does exactly that. Of course, it had to to be rewritten a number of times. On the other hand, I read somewhere that Dan Simmons writes only 5 pages a day--but he makes sure they are 5 publishable pages.
I think one of my best stories(of course, that's just the parent in me talking, it hasn't gotten any feedback yet) arose from one of my worst written stories. The first time, I had to churn it out, even though my heart wasn't in it. Then, after two insightful comments and letting it sit for six months, a better approach came to me, and I found it more heartfelt.
It could be what you are doing is a brainstorm. As long as you understand what you have is basically two or three steps up from an outline, in which little of the original text can be used, then it may be a very beneficial approach.
posted
I spent a career writing design specs, engineering procedure manuals and other technical writing in general, and for three years volunteered to edit and publish a weekly newsletter. So when I write fiction, it’s for the pure fun of escaping drudgery and creating something of my own. I won’t even think of gobbling it up in one sitting; instead I’ll savor these periods of relaxation … kind of like nursing a cold beer at the end of a hard day.
Posts: 147 | Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
Wow, that's a ton for one sitting. But, like going to a buffet, just because you CAN eat 10 plates of food in one sitting, doesn't mean you should.
I've written two books, and each time I sat down and wrote about 2,000 words/day for 2-3 months straight. I stop writing when I sense I'm getting tired and lazy and my writing is turning to crap. A little (or a lot, depending on what 2,000 words is to you) at a time, consistently is better than burning out.
posted
Keep in mind that while your mind has the ability to write in 14 hour stretches, your body might not like that so much. Long stretches of sitting inactive can lead to serious physical problems, like blood clots, which can be fatal. Get up and move around during that 14-hour period, take a walk while thinking things through about your character, but be sure to move a little. Your body will thank you.
Posts: 2026 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
The only people I know with the ability to write for a 48 hour stretch, if that is what they wanted to do, are diagnosed as being bipolar - or those who have a certain fondness for meth. Otherwise I know of no one who could, or would even attempt that.
The problem with writing tens of thousands of words at a sitting is that it is going to read that way - unless the writer goes back then takes some time for rewrites.
S.King, I've read, puts out about 2,000 words a day - polished. Some put out 500 words polished. When your mind though has had some time to work over a story idea for a time, it seems some passages can flow as quickly as your fingers can fly over the keys - but that is rare, at least for me.
posted
I write a little every day. When I can, I put in a huge chunk of my day. Unfortunately, that is not too often.
Posts: 3687 | Registered: Jan 2007
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posted
Thats actually kind of funny you should say that... I *have* been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
All though I freely admit I've never written for 48 hours straight, I have modeled in CG for 48 hours straight... When in mania mode I often have no concept of time, which is why I'm used to putting down such large blocks of text all at once. When I'm baseline it can be difficult, sometimes even frustrating to sit down and try to match that level of functionality. Which is why the 12-1300 word a night rule seemed to work for me... For about three days anyway. The thing about bipolar disorder is that it is by no means an advantage over others in the creative contiuum... I think its more destructive than it is helpful. When the depression kicks in, no writing gets done at all... Sometimes months go by. Which is why it's taken two, almost three years to do this thing. But it was also my first time, I'm still learning a lot. In a sense its not just learning to write, but learning to write long term while dealing with the disorder... that is the challenge for me.
As for the "binges," which I will simply admit what they really are, manic episodes in which writing is involved, I am able to put down relatively large blocks of text in a short period of time, and I don't know if I would say that quality suffers (because my critiquers are sworn not to tell me anything until the first draft is completely done) but my mind definately gets off on a tangent. A lot of times I'll end up throwing out text, from a few paragraphs to a whole chapter because I've written myself into a situation that either can't be resolved logically, or just drags the pace of the story.
On health concerns- I know exactly what you mean, and I do get up from time to time to stretch out. And I have a myriad of health problems, so if I died from this, I doubt people could tell.
But anyway. Trying to move away from that. (except of course for this weekend... binge writing also serves as a method to avoid family without them thinking you're avoiding them... hehe)
posted
"Binge writing" - LOL! Yeah, I've done that, but it's just the way I live. If I have a story to tell, I stick to the computer as long as I can manage, often the whole day (with potty and meal breaks, of course), since I'm self-employed and my art biz can putter along on its own at times. In November, I did a Nano novel, and that was a trip - literally. I had to make a ten day business trip, driving a day and a half by truck each way (pulling my art trailer to a show in Mass. from our home in Ohio). My hubby likes to drive, so I'm left to my own devices, so for 800 miles each way, I wrote the entire time. I also wrote in the evenings after my show was over for the day, but not that much then (I was too tired to write much then). With all that, I wrote about 56,000 words in ten days, and finished the 116,000 word novel when I got home - this without an outline or anything, just an idea of where the story was going and basic rough ideas of a few scenes.
I'm a "seat of the pants" writer, literally, LOL! I went back to polishing my other novel after I got that one written and just let it sit for a few months. I've recently gone back to work on it, and honestly, it's not bad! I've added to a few scenes, added some detail here and there, but it's still in first draft form and off to my betas for their opinions. Three of the five have reported in and say it's a good read, and they had few grammar or spelling notes for me, which is great, considering I was riding in a ton and a half truck pulling a big trailer over ROUGH ROADS! LOL!
When my hubby works late or goes on trips, I stay glued to the computer and get a lot done then, too.
posted
I used to write for roughly ten hours a day - I think I was adicted to it. If I didn't write in a single day, I felt that I was letting myself down. I would stay up to one o clock in the morning(probably how I finshed a 385k novel in six months). I don't know how many words I have written in one go - probably ten thousand or something, but I couldn't do that constantly - I would go into melt down. On the other hand I need to discipline myself to write at least four thousand a day if I'm working on something serious else I get distracted (since I got constant internet access I can write as little as fifty words a day!). Posts: 626 | Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
Because I'm still going to school (and every teacher here is a "Mad Professor") the only available time I have to write is in early a.m. chunks. I try to get most of my writing outlined in notebooks during the week and on the weekends I spend up to eight hours just thrashing it out onto the computer. It's great to get so much written at a time but the details sometimes get fuzzy in between binges and it maked editing a nightmare.
Posts: 13 | Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
I write...when I can. Due to the excuse known as "writer's block" (a.k.a. I can't think so :P) I don't get much done...often. I'm still at work on getting past the second chapter...and I've been going at it over a year now...>_<
Posts: 117 | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
I should add that my personal best was about, oh, fifteen to twenty thousand words. This (and similar bursts) came at the end of working on a novel, where I wound up consumed by the desire to get the damned thing finished and done with---a common phenomenon among writers, if some of the literary accounts (say, Tolkien's burst of writing at the end of "The Lord of the Rings") is taken into account.
Without that, my best would be about ten thousand in a sitting, at a time when I was trying to write to schedule (I turned out fifty thousand words of a [bad] Harlequin Romance in a week.)
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