Sunday 15 February 2015

Writing a book a word at a time

My work in progress is skidding along. It's providing me with a much needed escape from the turmoils of home life and half-term, and I can feel it gathering pace now the end is in view. 

So easy to be clever with hindsight. With each 'book' I've written, I've learnt so much. With this one, the thing I'm learning most is that writing little and often is far more important than a good long stretch infrequently. It's the sum of those half hours at a time that adds up to something. And when writing matters, and there's a deadline (or a finish line) in sight, you suddenly find that you can sacrifice that hour in front of the tv, or put the ironing on one side for another night and before you know it, the words are stacking up into chapters, and the chapters into 'acts' and the book is more than half done. 

If only I could bear that in mind all the time, my productivity would be immense...

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for this. You have confirmed something that it has taken me years to 'discover' for myself. That a little bit often produces far better results than an intense effort at infrequent intervals

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  2. Glad it made sense to you - I still struggle to make myself sit down for a shorter session, though!

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