An article in ALCS news got me thinking about my writing day. Not every day is a writing day. But then if I’m gardening, playing golf, sailing, or shopping, I might also be thinking through a plot idea, or turning an unsatisfactory phrase over in my head. If I am sitting in my study then my writing day usually starts about 10 a.m. It will inevitably involve research, as well as writing, that’s just the nature of historical crime fiction. I’ll probably need a break for tea after an hour and a half, during which I’ll be thinking about how what I’ve just written can be improved. Then I’ll return to the study, make any improvements, and continue. I rarely find that I can write for more than four hours a day, unless I’m nearing the end of the story. When the finishing post is in sight, the energy and inspiration, gets a sprinter’s sudden spurt of speed. On the average writing day if I write a thousand words I’m delighted, and if it’s less than three hundred I resolve to do better the next day.
The article in ALCS (that’s the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society) was an interview with Mary Beard. She says that she writes from 8:30 until 17:00 (presumably with tea and lunch breaks) and that if she finishes the day further ahead than when she started, even by just a hundred words, she’s delighted. With a thousand words she’s over the moon, and if it’s more than that then the writing can’t be any good.
My writing days in August have ranged from 350 words to 1400 words per day. In March last year I wrote 19,000 words. On reflection I think Mary Beard is probably right. Write little and often. Make every word count. The first draft is about getting your “shit” down, so that you have something to rewrite, but there are limits.
In case you were wondering the ALCS collect the money a writer is entitled to when someone copies or uses your work, such as when someone photocopies a page of your book in a library. Certainly the ALCS payments represent by far the greatest share of income from my non-fiction book Project Sponsorship.