Word Count, Pages or Chapters?

A writing group I'm associated with had put forth a challenge to us.  They wanted to see how many of us could write a thousand words a day for the month of July.  

I've never been too fond of setting a goal on a number of words to write in a single day.  I've always been afraid that if I concentrated on a number of words to write then I would lose my focus on the story I am writing.  

The goal I've always set for myself was to write a chapter.  It didn't matter if the chapter is three pages or ten pages I've always felt better to write and finish a chapter in a day.  There are a lot of days that I don't quiet make it and I have to put it off until the next day but most of the time when I start writing into a chapter I like to try and finish it.  

To Each His Own. 

As I've studied and researched writing styles, word count and anything from how many pages a chapter should have to how many pages should a good novel have, I also studied how other writers set themselves on a pace to write their books.  

I've learned each one has their own style of writing and very few of them do what we call a "word count".  

I once heard that Stephen King likes to write about ten pages a day, which is about 2,000 words, give or take.

Anne Rice likes to write episodes or an average of about 3,000. 

Jack London was said to write anywhere from 1,000-2,000 words a day. 

Mark Twain once said he averaged about 1,800 words a day.  

I've heard of writers putting an alarm clock in front of them and write until the alarm goes off. 

I've also heard of writers who are like me, they will write a chapter before they quit for the day or evening.  

That's well known writers.  What about those of us that has to juggle a full time job with a home life?  It's hard to think about writing a thousand words a day or more, especially when you've had a tiring or aggravating day and all you want to do is to kick back, relax and read a book or see what's on TV.  

I like the advice that John Grisham gives to inspiring writers, write a page a day.  But he also said to us future best-selling authors, don't make an excuse for not writing at least one page a day.  

I don't concern myself with word count or pages.  To me I like to focus on the plot, the twist, the story in general.  I know where I'm going with it and I know how it ends.  What's inspiring to me is finding all those twist and turn fillers between beginning and end.  

I got to thinking about the challenge with our writers group and I began to study on exactly how many words do I write in a day or week as I've never really kept up with it.  When I do sit down to write I try to write one whole chapter before I quit.  This week I was able to write three chapters.   My chapters are usually between five and seven pages.  Every once in awhile it may be four pages but most of the time it averages about five pages.  I write single space instead of double-space and at an average of about 300-500 words per page that puts me writing anywhere between 1,500-2,500  words a night, when I do write.  Which is a surprise even to me as I've never really given it much thought. 

Since I've had so much going on in my personal life this year I've had to put off a lot of my writing to focus on other issues.  Now that I'm back on track I can put a little more attention to finishing at least one novel this year when I had a goal of three.  

The biggest problem I have is that it's hard to focus on writing just one novel.  I like to tell people that my ADD kicks in and today I may write on this novel and tomorrow I'm writing on that one.  I know all the characters that are going to be in the book, I know the plot, the plan, the layout, so for me it's hard to stay focused on just one book. 

Anybody have any suggestions on that problem? 

So this week and the weeks to come I want to focus all my time and energy to getting one novel finished this year.  

For those of you that haven't started yet or is thinking of getting started writing a book or novel, find your niche and start writing.  But whatever you do, WRITE! 

Love you all and have a Blessed day! 

A New Method To Reading

Recently I came across a new method to reading books and I decided to give it a try. I have always had a hard time reading books. I would get sleepy, tired, bored (especially if the book is boring).  When I was in high school our English/Literature teacher always had a book for us to read. To say the least that is one thing that I always failed at when it came to taking test. Why? First of all I didn't like reading to begin with. Then we had to read these boring classics like Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Dracula and the likes.

As I got older I got into reading more. When I came to the realization that there was absolutely nothing worth watching on television I took up reading. Plus, reading stimulates the brain, or so I've heard. I've always read the bible and I still do.

I remember when I told my wife that I wanted to read more and the first classic book I read when I started was Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. I have since read those books that I was supposed to read in school, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Dracula. And even as an adult I still had a hard time getting through every one of them. I saw my former English teacher in the grocery store one day and I proudly told her that I had finally finished reading that book she wanted us to read thirty years ago. Then I told her it was still boring but I read it.

One thing I can say about the books I write. First of all, I ain't no professional. Never claimed to be. But I do have a story to tell, quite a few to be exact. I only wished I had picked up writing books in my teens and twenty's instead of my forty's and fifty's. I wish I knew some of the secrets to writing that I know now. When I read a book I will read it all the way through. Very few books I will put down and not finish reading. One thing if I am going to give a book an honest review then it's only fair to read it all the way through.

With my own writing that's also the one thing I ask of people about my books. Read it all the way through then give me constructive criticism. I've had people tell me they didn't like my book and wouldn't finish reading it for one reason or another. To me that's like water off a duck's back. Their opinion and criticism don't mean a hill of beans to me. I could care less what their opinion is if they didn't finish reading my book. And I'm very verbal concerning their opinion. I tell them to finish reading the book then tell me what they thought of it. A good writer will welcome what others think of their work. In reality it helps to make one a better writer.

One secret I have I would like to share with you and that's the secret to reading a book. At least it's my secret. My problem has always been that once I start reading a few pages in I would get tired or sleepy. Some nights I would have to push myself to read ten pages. Twenty if I'm not so tired. I have ebooks, like the ones I write and publish, but I also have a lot of paperback and hardback books. One night I decided I was going to set myself on a goal. I decided that I was going to read one hundred pages in a book. If a novel had four hundred or so pages then I could read a book in four days. That would have been a far stretch for me but I was determined to do it.

Next question I had was; how was I going to do it? I decided the best way to do it and to reach my goal was to place my book marker one hundred pages in or to the nearest chapter of a hundred pages. So that's what I did. Low and behold once I set my goal I was determined to reach my goal. Aren't we all determined to reach our goal? People set a goal on losing weight all the time. Actually I was quiet surprised how quickly I did read the one hundred pages. Some nights I set my goal at fifty pages and again I was surprised how quick I got to my goal.

I haven't read two books in one week since I read a series of books by Doctor Seuss when I was little. I was doing good at times past to read one book in a month. Now I'm reading two books in a week. Or at least I done it for one week. I plan to continue to use my plan of placing my book marker ahead of where I want to read to, setting my reading goal. I will continue to do what I've always done when I started reading though. I would read a classic, then a modern day novel, maybe then a western (did I mention that I've got a lot of westerns?) and of course a book in the bible. I've quit counting how many times I've read the bible through but that's another goal I've had and I've done several times over.

So grab a book at a yard sale, flea market or thrift store. It doesn't matter what writer. Just grab one of a writer you've never heard of and read that book. Set yourself on a goal. Use a Post-It note as a book marker that way it'll stick to the page you're reading to and it won't fall out.

Get a book, set a goal and have a very Blessed day.