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Writing

When and Where Do You Write? How Long and How Many Words?

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“When and Where Do You Write? How Long and How Many Words?” by Joan Y. Edwards

English: Blue silhouette of a notebook
English: Blue silhouette of a notebook (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When Do You Write?

  1. Wee hours of the morning
  2. An hour after everyone is asleep.
  3. An hour before everyone wakes up.
  4. On your lunch hour at work.
  5. While your baby is taking a nap.
  6. An hour after supper dishes are done.
  7. Wake up from a dream with the answer to a plot complication or solution for one of your characters
  8. Your best time???

Where Do You Write?

  1. In your office on a desktop computer
  2. In an easy chair on an iPad
  3. On a bench in your favorite park
  4. Sitting up in bed on a notebook with a pen or pencil
  5. At the dining room table on a laptop.
  6. On the front or back porch
  7. On the patio under a beach umbrella
  8. Your favorite place???

How Long Do You Write Each Day?

  1. More than 1 hour
  2. 1 hour
  3. 30 minutes
  4. 20 minutes
  5. 15 minutes
  6. 10 minutes
  7. 5 minutes
  8. 1 minute

How Many Words Do You Write Each Day?

  1. More than 3,000
  2. More than 1,500
  3. More than 750
  4. More than 375
  5. More than 200
  6. More than 100
  7. More than 50
  8. More than 25

Do you get up in the wee hours of the morning to write when all the world is quiet in your house? You could.  Do you write and go to bed one hour after others are sound asleep? Do you set a special time to write?

Do you ever awaken from a dream with ideas that would make a good plot for a new story? Or do you wake up knowing how to solve the problem for your main character? As soon as you are awake, pick up the notebook and pen on the table beside your bed and hurriedly write down what you remember. If you don’t want to wake up anyone, take your notebook to the bathroom, turn on the light, and close the door. You could also use a tiny flash light.

Put a notebook and pen in the side-pocket of your car. You can jot down ideas at the next red light. (A personal note: Some lights last so long, you might forget where you are going.)

If someone else is driving, you can write for short spans of time. (Some people get sick when they read or write while the car is in motion.)

You might enjoy taking a walk. Take your notebook and pen with you. Perhaps you might like to take a pocket recorder on your walk. When you get home, you can listen and write it in your notebook or type it into a computer. Pretend one of your characters is walking down this same street. What would he notice? What would the villain notice?

If you’re go to a park with a lake, you could fish. Write down the sounds you hear. What the water looks like. If you went swimming in the water, what would the water taste like? Would it be safe to swim? Are there any signs of pollution? What problems could this lake pose for one of your characters?

Suppose you have a picnic. Do the ants come on cue? Or is another insect a problem? Or is a person a problem? Or do you run out of food? Can you find a place to sit down? What did you eat? Did you meet an old friend of your main character there? A classmate or relative you hadn’t seen in years? If you journal about this when you get back home or before you leave, it’ll give you ideas to use another time.

After an exciting time with family or friends, write down what happened and the emotions you experienced. What made you angry? What scared you? What pleased you very much?

Just take seven minutes a day to jot down seven sentences or more.  Seven sentences could take less than 7 minutes. It will be enough to help you remember the situation. That would probably be 100 words or more.

If you think you could write more than seven minutes, you might want to try 750 Words.com: http://www.750words.com/
750 Words.com will encourage and reward you for writing 750 words a day. If you don’t, it’s no big deal. Write what you can. They give you points for writing and badges. No one sees it but you. You can free write. Write what comes in your head. Or you can write a scene for your latest manuscript. No editing. Just let it flow. 750 words is about 3 standard pages of a manuscript double-spaced. They send you daily reminders, if you choose them.

You can also do this without signing up for 750words.com. You can create your own rules. Write 7 minutes, 10 minutes. You choose your plan.

Enjoy your writing when and where you choose to do it for as long as you choose to do it. Keep on writing.

Resource: 

Tanya Cilia. “How Do I Write? Let Me Count the Ways:”
http://www.poeticamagazine.com/apps/blog/show/3955254-how-do-i-write-let-me-count-the-ways

Thank you for reading my blog. I am very glad that you are here. Please let me know when is your best time to write, where do you like to write, how long you write, or how many words you write a day.

Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards

Copyright © 2012 Joan Y. Edwards