As I said in every post so far, I’m going to have one post per day here for the “ghost” novel writing process that I was hired by a New York publisher to do. I am now aiming for 9 to 10 days to finish this novel. I can give ZERO hints about the content of the book, so please don’t ask. I am only talking about the writing process and my day around the writing process.
I will add to this post at different times during the day right up until I head to bed so you can follow the process. At the end of each post I will add up the daily word count and project word count. You want to see what a professional writer’s day is like, I’ll put a post up here every day until this book is done.
If you are new to this, I would scroll back and start reading from Day 1 and read the comments under all the days so far. There is a ton of answers to questions. And the questions have been great. Thanks, everyone!
Here is how I ended Day 6 post at around 4:30 AM this morning…
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Day #1… 7,625 words
Day #2… 7,734 words
Day #3… 7,059 words
Day #4… 5,070 words
Day #5… 7,786 words
Day #6… 7,116 words
Total so far… 42,380 words.
And that, folks, is how you write a short novel in 6 days.
You ever wonder how writers like Lester Dent (Doc Savage), Max Brand, and other pulp writers, or the mystery writers in the fifties and sixties (such as John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain, and Earle Stanley Gardner) did it, that was how. Take one day off and start again. Four short novels a month. And I taught workshops and did a bunch of other stuff at the same time. And got full night’s sleep every night.
Now onward to a novel of 70,000 words because that what this stupid contract says and I still don’t have a climax, let alone an ending. But I will. I will.
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Now on to Day 7…
Day 7: Entry 1:
2:30 PM… Rolled out of bed by 1:15 PM today and was in here with my breakfast bars by 1:45. Now done with e-mail and comments, so headed to the writing computer before Kris comes get me to head out for errands and lunch and shopping and such. Back with a word count later…
Day 7: Entry 2:
10:30 PM… Wow, does this day suck so far. Yes, that time is 10:30 PM… late in the evening… I have about 1,200 words done so far and haven’t done the homework yet for the workshop. So off to do that next, then back to the book.
Just too much business stuff today. Sigh… Kris and I went out for errands, had lunch, I wrote a little, she wrote a little, and then business all evening. Now back in my office. And somehow I need to get my mind back on this book. (grin)
Day 7: Entry 3:
2:30 AM… Well, this day is a great example of life getting in the way. After that last entry even more business came up and had to be worked through and talked about. But I did get the homework done for the workshop and all that.
I think I have around 1,500 words done so far today, but going to get back at this now and see what I can manage. I fully expected to do upwards of 10,000 words today… yeah… so much for expectations… (grin) Just far, far too much business stuff I’m afraid.
So, not only is this an example of how to write regularly, it’s an example of how to work through life being tossed at you.
Now over to the writing computer and see if I can remember where I was before all this crap hit the fan…
Day 7: Entry 4:
4:00 AM… Two fairly intense sessions of about 700 words each session, both lasting about forty minutes, and I’m burnt to a crisp after today. I’m going to go watch some bad television and then go to bed.
I’m stunned I even managed those two sessions to be honest. With luck, tomorrow will be a better day and I’ll be back on track. Stay tuned.
I promised you I would be honest with the word count and the days and what happens to a point. It suppose it was too much to ask from life for me to get an open nine or ten days of writing without business crashing in and throwing around a few fun things to deal with. But they are dealt with for the moment, now back to writing for the weekend.
Still aiming for Sunday and ten days on this.
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Day #1… 7,625 words
Day #2… 7,734 words
Day #3… 7,059 words
Day #4… 5,070 words
Day #5… 7,786 words
Day #6… 7,116 words
Day #7… 3,005 words
Total so far… 45,385 words.