A Novel isn't Built in a Day

You heard the phrase, "Rome wasn't built in a day..."

Neither is a good novel.

For some reason, this year, it's taken me way too much time to finish the novels I'm writing for release next year.

MY NATURAL WRITING RYTHM

I have a natural writing pace of 0 to 71K words in four months. I know to many that sounds ambitious but for me, it's a comfortable writing pace. Also, I'm a speed typist which helps.

WHEN the RYTHM is OFF

Now, there are some writer friends I know that fight through lulls or times when they can't write for various reason. Well for me, I just couldn't muster up the desire to do it as often or fast as I usually did. Maybe because my already hectic life got a bit more hectic or that long vacation kind of made me a bit more lazy, I don't know. But for the first time in 5 years my momentum came to a screeching halt.

WRITING IN SPITE OF

I tried to write in spite of my lack of desire or energy to do so. And you know what? My first draft totally sucked. Yep, it was horrible. Bad.

I felt like it was a waste of time, but I saw the story there and well, I edited. And edited, and cut, and pasted and changed. At the end of the day, it took just as long as it would've taken had I gone with my 'off' writing flow and just sat down to do it when I felt like it.

WHY NOT TAKE A WRITING BREAK

Most full-time writers who make a living at writing don't have the luxury to just well, take off. So if you want to have a writing career, make a living at what you love to do, than you better be able to produce or have a spouse that pays most of the bills.