katecavanaugh
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How to write a lot of words when you're in a time crunch!
🕑 Added 2022-08-01 17:36:35 +0000 UTCY'ALL!
Y'all....
I did it.
Okay, okay, it's worth pointing out that I'd originally thought this first cozy mystery draft would be 45K words and it ended up landing at just over 40K.
But still! I COMPLETED IT IN TIME.
(If I'd been a smarter Kate, I would have written more on the 27th and 28th and wouldn't have felt such a crazy push to reach the end these last few days, but ALAS.)
A quick recap of my plans to write this draft in 14 total days and finish before July ended:
- On Friday the 29th, I was aiming for a 10K Day.
- On Saturday the 30th, I used the Stair Step Method to get my words.
- And on Sunday the 31st, I used an amended version of Chris Fox's "5K in an Hour" method.
So besides letting y'all know that I did it (still very excited, will not shut up about it!), I also wanted to share my lessons learned from this long weekend.
1) Have an actionable plan.
Ahh yes, the part I missed. It's worth pointing out I didn't hit 10K any of the three days, but I was farthest away from it when all I had was the vague 10K goal but no method.
If I were to attempt it again, I think I'd actually use 3 different methods throughout the day: pomodoros in the early morning (since my brain works best then), the Stair Step method in the afternoon (for when I need some competition, even with myself, to motivate me), and finally my ~amended~ Chris Fox method in the evening to get those final bursts of words.
2) Short sprints are your friend.
Y'all know it's been a long road for me to reach 45+ minute sprints and feel like they're "solid" instead of, you know, torture.
But when you don't have a lot of time, are taking care of others, or are trying to fit words in between meetings -- short sprints are best.
I think it's also easier, for me at least, when I've already written SO MUCH, to motivate myself for 10 minutes or 15 minutes. An hour sounds scary and tough. But full focus for even 20 minutes doesn't sound too bad.
3) Mini scene outlines are truly where it's at.
This might be something you already do in your outlines! But before I began drafting on Sunday, I made sure each remaining scene had about 4 - 6 bullet points (and some of those bullet points got up to 200 words in their own right), describing in detail what needed to happen, and made sure to list them at the top of the scene page!
This meant that I never had to sit back and wonder about what to write. I just needed to flick my eyes upwards. It also helped visually to cross through/delete the bullet points as I wrote the scene; I found it surprisingly motivating!
(For me, this meant taking the first half hour of my day and looking over my outline, expanding on it, and making sure to transfer those bullet points to the draft.)
Alright! That's it from me.
I'd love to hear about y'alls methods for getting lots of words when it's crunch time. (OR! Your plans on how to avoid experiencing a "crunch time" in the first place bahaha.)
Now I'm going to take a bit of a rest! But tomorrow I'll get started on editing the Comic-Con vlog and continuing the Project Death revision!
Until next time, happy writing!!
Comments
Nancy Chen
I will definitely try the staircase method and do some mini sprints. When I draft, I tend to write for 2 hours straight, sometimes up to 4 hours. But then I'm beat and I can't produce anymore for the day, and my writing quality also declines. Mini sprints may be the way to go, especially since I'm starting a 1st draft this weekend! I wonder for these mini sprints, how long of a break do you take between them?
Kate Cavanaugh Writes
THAT IS INSANE. That's so awesome. What pulled you to set that as a goal?? And I love that you called it the "preproduction process," I'm going to have to start using that too!
Maynard Hearns
This reminds me of that time I tried to write 100 stories in Februrary in 2021. Crazy thing is that I got super close and made a personal best. You are right: having an actionable plan makes all the difference, as well as structured sprinting time and sufficient investment in the preproduction process (the mini outlines). So thrilled for your progress Kate!
