Word counts, like Nanowrimo. Page counts, I've read the R.L. Stine works this way. And time limits, it's what my writing teacher suggests. Having gotten more deeply involved in writing through Nano I try to do word count, usually between 500 to 1000 words. It's not a lot, but it gets me somewhere. For my writing class we're asked to write twenty minutes twice a week, not including other homework assignments. For some reason, I find the ticking down a clock too daunting. And after twenty minutes when I have five words on the page and four of them are explicit, it bites. But if after four hours I have a 1000 words and know where the plot is going for a few more chapters I feel much more productive even if I end up cutting the words anyway.
Maybe it feels better to work up to something (higher word or page count) then it does to work down to something (0:00).
I'm sure I have more to say on this topic, but I have at least another page and half to go tonight plus other homework. So, what's your take? How do you make yourself write and do you have any rules to follow?
I withhold dinner from myself -- kidding, well kinda. I do think writing when you're hungry makes you write hungry, hahaha.
ReplyDeleteI usually work towards a word count, but during Nanowrimo I also did it by time limits via Write or Die. Of course, with Nanowrimo I wasn't even trying to make it sound decent, so time limits didn't stress me out. Now I mostly work by word counts.