How-to-write books have never had much appeal for me. I am happier when I learn by doing–and by reading other kinds of books. A teacher of mine in grad school used to say that bad novels teach you more about writing than good ones do; the also-rans and failures are cautionary tales, examples of what to avoid in your own work.
All rules, even the quirky personal ones, have exceptions, right? At the suggestion of Carole Sargent, proprietor of Booklab, a k a Georgetown University’s Office of Scholarly and Literary Publications, I just read a book called How to Write a Lot, by Paul J. Silvia, an academic psychologist. (You should check out Carole very’s astute blog about publishing and writing, BTW.) Silvia’s target audience is other scholars in his field who want to be more productive as writers, and he tackles the subject with a refreshing lack of mysticism, soulfulness, or courting-the-Muse nonsense.
Silvia’s working theory–and I do mean working–is that productive writers do not “find” time to write, they allot it. Does that sound uncreative? Silvia does not want writers to sit around and hope that inspiration will strike; that leads to what he calls binge writing. Binge writers spent a lot of time feeling guilty when they’re not writing, which is most of the time. His advice: Set aside regular writing time every week, no matter what. Put it on your schedule. Stick to the schedule. “Prolific writers make a schedule and stick to it. It’s that simple.”
As a recovering binge writer–I call it brinksmanship, and it’s a model that journalism tends to encourage–I figure Silvia’s approach is worth a shot. So I’ve blocked out three weekly writing sessions. If I can allot more time, great. If not, I will still be getting something done. (Put that on your calendar, Muse.) Don’t wish me luck, just tell me to stick to my schedule.
Beth Blevins says
I heard an interview with Michael Chabon tonight on NPR; he apparently writes everyday, with a goal of 1,000 words minimum. I think minimum word count is an easier goal, for me, than trying to block out time (I’m going to start with 500 words a day, 5 days a week, with no set schedule–which means I may be writing 2,500 words every Sunday night to reach my minimum…)
I, too, have been guilty of binge writing, and wasting much of that writing complaining about how long it’s been since I’ve written anything! Surely if I write in 500 words chunks on a regular basis, the complaints will cease after a few hundred words.
JHoward says
Hi Beth,
A daily/weekly word count like a workable strategy. I’m guessing that Michael Chabon owns his time more than many of us do, but one can adapt that strategy to one’s own circumstances.
I’m having mixed results with my own writing schedule, in part because it’s sometimes hard to keep that time intact. The word-count strategy seems like a good way to manage that problem.
One message I’m getting loud and clear from my writing group and from a couple of books we’ve been reading: Keep your goals manageable. Better to set a daily goal of 100 words and regularly exceed it than set a goal you can only sometimes meet. Part of productivity is feeling productive, I think.
Good luck! Keep me posted.