Writers, write. Dreamers, dream.
These four words sum up my entire writing ethos, namely that a writer writes, i.e. they produce 'stuff', whereas a dreamer merely thinks (and talks) about the ideas they have and either does nothing about them, or starts something, only to give up along the way. Being a writer is about writing regularly, it’s about commiting yourself to what is often a long and laborious process. A writer finds the time to write as opposed to letting the time get the better of them.
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I'm not one of these old-school Tory traditionalist types who bangs on about 'dreamers' as though they are somehow to be equated with 'losers' or 'drop outs', hopelessly naive and doomed to failure. But I distinctly remember - when I was about thirteen or fourteen - standing rigidly to attention in assembly whilst the headmaster droned on about how his school was not a place for dreamers and that it was a place for doers and achievers. Now, as I stood and listened to this lecture (well, I couldn't go anywhere else could I?) I found myself disagreeing with him, for if I was anything at all back then I was a dreamer. Since at the time I was about as popular as a fart in a bath tub I couldn't exactly do anything else ... My imagination was my palace and my dreams were my panic room. A voracious and highly-addicted daydreamer, I used to wallow in this ethereal state for weeks upon weeks on end - well it made up for my shortage of friends at any rate!
When I look back upon those 'halcyon days' I vaguely remember that at the time I had some pretty solid ideas for a novel. It was going to be called The Year Zero, and it would be well over 1000 pages long and would be a stunning, Nobel-prize winning masterpiece that would describe and chart the after-effects of alien contact with Earth. Of course, I say that it was amazing but really how do you know? How many words did I write of this great, all-encompassing novel? Ironically, I wrote zero. I wrote absolutely nothing. I just took the unwritten novel around in my head for weeks and months and then finally years until eventually it drifted away like last year's leaves and I forgot about it and went to university. All writing projects are fuelled and supported by our dreams, but ultimately if we don't make a genuine attempt to write them down and develop them then like all dreams they will eventually fade away over time just like The Year Zero did.
Developing Your Writing Routine
Stephen King in his book "On Writing" (which I highly recommend by the way) says that he writes 2000 words every day no matter what (not counting the time he spends reading, which is a whole other subject) and that a rookie writer should be looking at chucking out 1000 words a day. Great advice for sure, and if you can manage to churn out this amount you will be well on your way to writing your first novel in no time at all. Since the average novel can be anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 words in length then you could potentially finish your novel in 50-100 days. Now, I can already hear your groans - "But I don't have time ... I have this to do, that to do etc." And you are absolutely right - you do have lots of things to do, so if you don't quite churn out 1000 words a day or even write every day then not to worry. The most important thing for you as a writer is that you DO write. I've never been convinced by the necessity to write each and every day, but for me that comes more from the fact that like you I am also incredibly busy. For the last two years or so I have settled into MY OWN RHYTHM of writing approximately three chapters a week in five or six separate sessions - since I write between 2000 and 3000 words per chapter this means that I'm currently writing between 6000 and 9000 words a week (as a result my first novel Jack Strong and the Red Giant was written in just under a year, with its sequel taking even less), which is of course roundabout what Mr. King recommends. However, that's my schedule and I'm happy to say that it suits me fine - what you have to do is find a writing schedule that suits YOU.
Now whilst I don't necessarily recommend writing every day I do insist that you write at least five or six times every week; you have to keep it regular so as to keep your skill-set sharp, and to keep the narrative and characters fresh in your mind, not to mention to have a chance of finishing it. And if ever you find yourself backsliding on your schedule and your targets just remember the mantra "Writers, write. Dreamers, dream." Sure writing is as tiring and unrewarding as hell sometimes, but most of the time it's really enjoyable and takes us to places we scarcely knew existed in our own minds. And if - god forbid - we ever do give up and let the flood slow down to a trickle or a drought - then that's where these stories will ultimately remain - in our heads, where no one else can read them - so go on get writing!
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