12 novels in 12 months
- Thread starter Lena Hillbrand
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Personally, I think this is a terrible, terrible idea. You're setting yourself up for failure. Why not set achievable goals instead?
Each time you complete an achievable goal, you get a little "boost" towards your next goal.
Each time you fail to achieve an impossible goal, you get a little "failure" dagger shoved into your already bloodied ego. (Nothing personal: all our egos get sucker-punched every day.)
I admire your ambition, but you're almost guaranteed to be disappointed by the results. If you do fail, don't quit - set more realistic goals instead.
Her goal is achievable if she really tries. It's certainly no harder than my personal goal of writing 2 million words in a year. It just takes time and dedication.
I would agree that it's not any harder - they're both unachievable in my opinion.
2,000,000 words per year equals 5,480 words per DAY. Personally, I probably average maybe 150-200 words per hour, sometimes more. Now admittedly, I'm probably slower than most. But at a minimum, you'd have to write 228 words per hour, every hour of the day (no sleep, no food, no showers).
If you could write 500 words per hour, you'd only need to work for a solid 11 hours per day. That doesn't include editing of course, or plot outlines, or anything else - just writing. Assuming you're independently-wealthy, you might be able to write 1,000,000 words per year, if you were a writing demon with no social life or other obligations.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I don't think it's going to happen, but I wish you luck!
Um. No. I write an average of about 2,500 words an hour. So it only takes me a few solid hours of work a day to hit my goal and leaves me lots of time for editing and plotting.
That is most impressive! To write a 80,000 word novel, it would only take you 32 hours! I wish I could write anywhere near that fast!
Does anyone else here write that fast? I must be much slower than I thought.
Eh, it's a skill you can acquire through practice pretty much like any other. For me it's a matter of having a well-planned book and then finding the right zen-like state of mind where the words can just flow. I actually find the act of writing to be more fun this way than when I used to go slower and have more of an inner editor distracting me. I personally write better stuff when I'm going fast too.I wish I could write anywhere near that fast!
There's nothing wrong with going slow if that's how you enjoy doing it either, though. It's just important to remember that people have different methods and abilities, so what's impossible for one person might be the perfect challenge for someone else.
@Layla, one of my crit partners also said I should space them out further. I'm still not sure about all the publicity stuff. I may very well change things up by then...that's a whole year away, after all!
@Don, my goal is pretty tentative now, but barring major life stresses, it is probably achievable for me.
@Creepy Centipede Wow! You write very, very fast!
@Don, my goal is pretty tentative now, but barring major life stresses, it is probably achievable for me.
@Creepy Centipede
Wow! You write very, very fast!
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But it's not just about the volume of words. There's also editing. Some people edit as they go, some people write everything and then go back and edit. There's no wrong way or right way, really.
ETA: I'm very slow. So - it's not just you, Don
I have it on good authority that James Patterson has Ghostwriters to help/co-write. His name is practically a franchise in itself - and that comes with a lot of pressure. I do think he admits it openly and even credits them as 'co-authors'.
So he's human after all.
I have it on good authority that James Patterson has Ghostwriters to help/co-write. His name is practically a franchise in itself - and that comes with a lot of pressure. I do think he admits it openly and even credits them as 'co-authors'.
So he's human after all.
I have heard this as well. It would be nice to have that much $, to just fork over a first draft or an outline and say, "Here's my story, see what you can do with it." But then again, it kind of takes the fun out of writing...at that point, it's just a business.
That is most impressive! To write a 80,000 word novel, it would only take you 32 hours! I wish I could write anywhere near that fast!
Does anyone else here write that fast? I must be much slower than I thought.
I type about 60 words a minute, but that's just typing speed. I don't think I've ever sat down and calculated how long many words I can get out of creative writing in an hour.
Going back over tonight's work, I wrote 2300 words in an hour and a half, including one pass back through the chapter to read and edit. That's pretty typical for me.
This is as much to keep me organized as anything else. But here's how I'm doing so far.
Book 1--complete, edited, revised, polished & queried (fulls out with 4 agents).
Book 2--see ticker below.
Book 3--draft written, but it's a hot mess. Query draft written.
Book 4--outlined.
Book 5--draft written, a bit of a cooler mess. Query draft written.
Book 6--written, shelved, re-outlined, rewrite began and set aside. Query draft written.
Book 7--written, line-edited, out with crit group and betas. Query draft written.
Book 8--written, line-edited, out with betas. Query draft in SYW.
Book 9--written, line-edited. Query draft written.
Book 10--only have a character in mind.
Book 11--written, needs complete overhaul, new outline, and a complete rewrite.
Book 12--25% written, shelved for now.
Book 1--complete, edited, revised, polished & queried (fulls out with 4 agents).
Book 2--see ticker below.
Book 3--draft written, but it's a hot mess. Query draft written.
Book 4--outlined.
Book 5--draft written, a bit of a cooler mess. Query draft written.
Book 6--written, shelved, re-outlined, rewrite began and set aside. Query draft written.
Book 7--written, line-edited, out with crit group and betas. Query draft written.
Book 8--written, line-edited, out with betas. Query draft in SYW.
Book 9--written, line-edited. Query draft written.
Book 10--only have a character in mind.
Book 11--written, needs complete overhaul, new outline, and a complete rewrite.
Book 12--25% written, shelved for now.
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