Imagine… if you could write one chapter a day – a first draft – you’d have your first completed (draft) manuscript finished within a month.
Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? You’d think it would be easy to write say 10 or 12 pages a day. Simple! For some this may be the case but for most, it is not.
OK, let’s be more realistic. Let’s say that we can write one chapter a week. Now this is setting a much easier goal and it’s more likely you’ll achieve it. If we did this we’d be writing a complete manuscript in roughly six or seven months. This would mean a word count of approximately 100,000 words and as unpublished authors, this is the recommended length of our first unpublished manuscript.
With the first draft down on paper, you will be able to go back and revise efficiently because not only are you still feeling enthusiastic about the storyline, you will be able to remember most of it! Some of us (yes, I include myself here) take so long writing our precious masterpieces that we actually forget how the story started – that’s how long it has taken to write the thing.
There’s nothing worse than reaching the revision stage and then thinking – “I am so sick of this story!” Of course you are, you’ve been writing it for 2 years (maybe even 5 years). You need to write something new and exciting. So, if this sounds like you – maybe the “one chapter a week” method is exactly what you’ve been looking for.
Filed under: Planning, Writing Habits, Writing for Children | Tagged: organisation, Planning, prioritising, writing
I’m not sure about writing one chapter at a time. Most authors don’t have a clear cut answer as to how a chapter should be broken down. I find that writing a scene at a time is much more defined and easier, plus keeps writer’s focused; worrying about a scene instead of a chapter.
And each writer can set their own milestones, such as 7 scenes a week, which can equal to 1 scene a day.