Pacing Myself

As I wrote in last week’s post, I have a word count on my chapters, which helps me pace myself, pace the scenes, and motivate myself for the daily work.

My regular word limit for a chapter is 3,000 words, which is pretty average. For me, that makes it a chapter you can read in about seven minutes (mileage may vary, I’m a fast reader). For novellas, my limit is 2,500 words (which is pretty average for shorter texts). Eight novella chapters make 20,000 words, which is a minimum for a novella, while twenty novel chapters make 60,000 words, which is a minimum for a novel. My texts usually tend to go above that, though.

As I already mentioned, the word count serves me in various ways.

First of all, knowing how long a chapter (my minimum for writing days) will be, means I can see how much work I still need to do for the day. That doesn’t mean I’ve never written more than a chapter a day. There have been quite some days when the story was flowing on which I’ve written two chapters (6,000+ words) and even a few where I’ve written three chapters (9,000+ words). But it means that I know how much more I need to write to meet my quota.

It also helps me to keep my story flowing. I write between one and three scenes per chapter on the average, which means I can gauge whether I can put the next scene in or should, perhaps, expand a little on the other ones. It doesn’t pay to start a new scene with about 500 words left, but it might benefit another scene to add more detail to it or expand it a little. I might, of course, undo that later in the editing process, but it helps me with the scenes in the first place. It also helps me avoid starting and not finishing a scene, since picking up a scene again after a longer break is hard.

With the chapters all being similar in length (usually, I don’t go more than 400 words above my count), it’s also easier for the audience to pace themselves while reading. They can decide how many chapters they want to read in one go and they won’t find chapters too long or too short.

I’m not a writer who can just sit down every day and write the same amount of words, though. I’m a discovery writer and until the next part of the story is finished in my mind, I will not have much success writing it. If I have the story figured out, though, I can easily write two or even three chapters a day and finish a story within a very short amount of time (less than a month is definitely possible - I have written my first two novels in about 1 1/2 months).

My writing process is pretty much like this:

1. I get an idea for a new story.
2. I turn that idea over in my mind for a little while.
3. I start writing the story, once I’ve figured out the beginning.
4. I continue to turn the idea over in my mind.
5. I write on whenever I have a part figured out.
6. I repeat the last two steps over and over again.
7. I finish my story.
8. I put it aside, read it through a little every now and then.
9. I start the next story.
10. I edit the story I’ve written a good while later.
11. I put it out as self-published.
12. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I do next to no plotting (although it depends on the type of story - if there’s a mystery, I do some basics on that part beforehand), because if I plot, I don’t get the story written. When I make a file for a new story, the only thing I do is write a few words about what I think will be in a chapter (and I put down the first eight/twenty chapters, depending on type). I might leave chapters unmarked, if the story hasn’t gotten far enough in my mind. Usually, I have an idea about the big confrontation towards the end and a few thoughts about what will happen on the way. But I don’t know the full story until I’ve finished the first draft. I like it that way, so there’s no complaint. I’ve tried the other way, but couldn’t bring myself to finishing any story I’d plotted out completely. I need the discovery element.

I also enjoy researching for a story - the internet is a great help, of course, but I also like reading non-fiction books and sometimes stumble over new ideas that way, too. Reading, both fiction and non-fiction, is an important part of my life and always will be. You never know where the next inspiration might come from.

That I’m not writing, though, doesn’t mean I’m not working on my stories. I have to turn them around in my head over and over again, until I know how to proceed. I take walks, trying to figure out the next part. I do housework, trying to figure out the next part. I read, hoping it will help me with the next part. I have a story on my mind, even when I’m not actively writing it.

Once I have that part, though, it’s completely possible that I will write two or even three chapters a day and that for several days. It depends on how well it flows. As mentioned, I have written a full novel in less than a month, which is a very short time. I’ve also needed a long time for a novella or two, because the story never flowed that well.

Sometimes, you need to find a way to pace yourself. A daily limit of work which you know you can manage - perhaps even go above on some days - can help. Otherwise, you might set yourself too high a goal and thus end up not doing anything, because you can’t meet your own expectations.