How Long Does It Take To Settle Into A New WIP?

It usually takes me to the 30k mark to fall in love with it.

It depends on the book for me. Usually the pre-planning and research and outlining is more of the struggle; by the time I feel the rising tide of enthusiasm, it's time to start writing. My problem is usually mid-book when I start to think it's all crap and why am I bothering. Perhaps others have the same issue, which is why so many books tend to sag in the middle.

It depends. My first two I got into right away. The two I have in development now are not going all that well at this point, and I've more than 100 pages in each of them.

A couple of sentences.

To get motivated about the project itself, I meditate on it like I do after reading someone else's work that I really enjoy. I get myself fired up. I think about the characters and make sure I know them well.

To get into the writing process, I try to write "one true sentence" each time I sit down and then let that sentence get me to the first paragraph. Each scene works at its own pace. If I can get at least 1,000 words a day, no matter how fast or slow, I'm happy.

A chapter or two. A lot of the stuff I write is <25k...

Usually before I even start writing I'm deep into it because it wanders around in my head for a few days: dialogue, a title, then that's all I can think of when driving, or taking a walk, etc.

When I sit down to start writing I'm already (emotionally) committed to the story.

Anywhere from 100-500 words.
The problem is that I lose it as soon as I stop writing. I have to psych myself up at the start of every single session, which is presumably why I write so damn slowly.

Anywhere from 100-500 words.
The problem is that I lose it as soon as I stop writing. I have to psych myself up at the start of every single session, which is presumably why I write so damn slowly.

Sometimes after two or three sentences, and sometimes never. No two projects are the same.

At around the end of the first chapter I feel comfortable with my characters and can 'see' far enough ahead to maintain my momentum and passion for the story. Around midpoint I become a pain in the neck to my family because it's all I think about, so much so that I'm constantly excusing myself from whatever's going on to run to my desk and jot down phrases, sentences, paragraphs, ideas..... They're very long suffering.

Surprised to see several other people mentioned 30k.

Reading the topic's title "30k" was my instant answer. I write novels (90k edited length generally, sometimes as high as 120k in first draft), so the mark seems to be about 1/4 of the rough's length or 1/3 of the final product's length.

This is also where I usually abandon projects which I've either executed poorly or am just not totally digging. If I haven't burrowed deep into the characters' heads by then, and become personally invested in their plights, I'm probabl not going to (and that's as the author- if I am not digging it, I can't imagine readers would). At that point I'm not likely to continue, and if I do, it's usually with a rewrite.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the "couple sentences" replies. I suppose if they write shorts that might be enough, but I can't imagine someone could really truthfully say they've caught their stride on the first page of a full length novel.

How many finished MS's do all you two-sentence prodigies? *Smirk* No offense, but that sounds like the comment of someone who either hasn't finished many stories, or hasn't tried all that many. I doubt any of the greats, current or past- Hemingway, Thompson, Steinbeck, Rowling, Patterson, McCarthy, King, whoever you liked- would say with a straight face that they had a complete grasp on their MS within the first sentences.

Sounds a little pretentious to me if these people are writing novels, at least. I would disregard those replies- 30k seems a perfectly adequate place to draw the line.

It varies depending on the project. Sometimes I'm into it as I write the first sentence, and sometimes it takes a few chapters, and sometimes it's about halfway through and sometimes it just never comes.

I guess it depends on how you write. I'm not a physical planner, but I do spend days or even weeks daydreaming the story before I ever write anything. By the time I actually sit down at the keyboard, I'm fired up from the first word.

For me it's 60K, when I know I can make it to the end. Before that, there is the constant fear of losing my momentum, questioning the plot, and abandoning the story altogether. I have many, many manuscripts that died an untimely death around the 20-30K mark. Less so past 40K, but a few.

It's very hard for me to settle in, and I'm not sure why. Just abandoned yet another manuscript last week at the 30K mark. For me, at least, momentum is important. I have to feel passionate about the story to keep going - otherwise writing is a slog, and I'm sure my readers will feel the same.

I truly envy those of you that can settle in early and see it through to the end.

Depends really. I'm a plotter, so I do a little settling in before hand. But how much it takes me to settle into a story depends on the story's length. Novellas, a couple chapters- though I've only finished one, so this may change when I've written a few more.

Short stories, anywhere from the first line to the 50% mark of the story.

Novels? I'm not sure yet, I've shelved six since joining AW. Most within the first couple of chapters. But I'm on chapter 3 of a YA Paranormal, and that is still going strong despite minor setbacks. I doubt I will feel really settled until I hit the half-way mark though.

I'm a slow writer, it takes me 20, 30K over many weeks to get going.

Which reminds me that some five years ago on this very forum I started a new one and tried the fancy word processing software to which I had just treated myself, the newest version of Dragon Naturally Speaking which was quite expensive at the time.

The programme itself worked perfectly after very little training and I hammered out an amazing number of pages on a daily basis.

What would normally have taken me a year, seemed ready within weeks. On a strictly technical basis, the editing was minimal and it was all grammatically perfect.

I put it away for the obligatory month and re-read with a neutral eye. I had produced 200K of soulless rubbish, only readable to robots.

I spent the last four years on writing a novel the old fashioned way and feel quite happy with my limited success so far - it will come with time.

But I'm struggling with the new one, some 20K in, and wonder if the newest version of the latest word processing programmes have mastered the art of soul as well as grammatical perfection.

They've got Hoovers to clean your carpets without any input from humans, why not books?

This book took me about 10k words to really get into.

I've since spent three months editing the book before it, and wonder if it's going to take me another 10k to remember what the second one is about.

WornTraveler said:

I couldn't help but chuckle at the "couple sentences" replies. I suppose if they write shorts that might be enough, but I can't imagine someone could really truthfully say they've caught their stride on the first page of a full length novel.

How many finished MS's do all you two-sentence prodigies? *Smirk* No offense, but that sounds like the comment of someone who either hasn't finished many stories, or hasn't tried all that many. I doubt any of the greats, current or past- Hemingway, Thompson, Steinbeck, Rowling, Patterson, McCarthy, King, whoever you liked- would say with a straight face that they had a complete grasp on their MS within the first sentences.

Sounds a little pretentious to me if these people are writing novels, at least. I would disregard those replies- 30k seems a perfectly adequate place to draw the line.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what's with the snark.... mileage is going to vary not only on personal work flows but also on how people interpret "settling in." You've defined it as "catching their stride" and "having a complete grasp on the work." It looks to me like most if not all of the people who've answered "a couple sentences" are defining it in terms of enthusiasm and excitement for the project. Those are two totally different things. I'm one of the ones who doesn't even start without heaps of enthusiasm--like jaksen I'm deep into it for a while before I begin writing or even making notes, though for me it's usually months or years instead of days. But as far as "having a complete grasp on the work"? Honestly, I think I'd worked on my current novel for over three years and seven or eight rewrites before I even had a solid grasp on it, let alone complete. My excitement has nothing to do with pretension.

flapperphilosopher said:

I'm not sure what's with the snark.... mileage is going to vary not only on personal work flows but also on how people interpret "settling in." You've defined it as "catching their stride" and "having a complete grasp on the work."

Click to expand...

Yeah, this. To me, settling into a project is totally different from having a complete grasp on it, which usually takes a couple drafts. I see "settling in" as the words flowing easily (most of the time, anyway), and knowing where I'm going, what I want out of it.

I don't have this problem starting out, but maybe it's because I tend to start in the middle. But my attention starts to wane when I have about 30k done and then I have to work to get back to that same enthusiastic state.

WornTraveler said:

I couldn't help but chuckle at the "couple sentences" replies. I suppose if they write shorts that might be enough, but I can't imagine someone could really truthfully say they've caught their stride on the first page of a full length novel.

How many finished MS's do all you two-sentence prodigies? *Smirk* No offense, but that sounds like the comment of someone who either hasn't finished many stories, or hasn't tried all that many. I doubt any of the greats, current or past- Hemingway, Thompson, Steinbeck, Rowling, Patterson, McCarthy, King, whoever you liked- would say with a straight face that they had a complete grasp on their MS within the first sentences.

Sounds a little pretentious to me if these people are writing novels, at least. I would disregard those replies- 30k seems a perfectly adequate place to draw the line.

Click to expand...

Who are you to decide what is an acceptable length? As a so-called writer, you should know that every writer is different. Hence this thread to begin with.

PS. In your haste to put down others, you left a sentence incomplete.

It depends-- for me, it's when all the main characters are introduced and the world is established.

As long as it takes to sip one wee dram of Talisker, neat.

caw

I can't remember, because I've been writing my current WIP for 10 years! The one I started before that was fanfiction, and I was totally guns blazing about it for about 10 chapters (maybe 50k, as I write chapters between 4 and 6k). Then I realised it was an absolute mess. I had a great beginning, a really poignant end, but absolutely no idea how to connect the two. The middle just kinda sagged and went nowhere. Trunked it.

I don't even remember how I started the current WIP, although this will be its third rewrite. About 80% of the story is totally new material, just the characters and romantic subplot are the same. I guess I hit my stride around chapter 3 (not including the prologue). But it's not a consistent thing for me. I lose and regain my stride at some point every chapter