Hello, Go Teen Writers! Jill here. Who saw the eclipse yesterday? I did. I really liked how it made the landscape around me all golden and buttery.
This is my last week of summer. My kids start back to school next week, which means sleeping in for me is over! *weeps*
Last week I got to attend, teach, mentor, and play at yet another writers conference where I had two GTW sightings! I met author Ivy Rose and her friends, and I also saw Taylor Bennett again. Got pictures with both. 🙂 Click here to read more.
I also got to take an early bird workshop from screenwriting consultant Michael Hauge (who is a story genius–even Will Smith thinks so!) and the brilliant Frank Peretti, who was the conference keynoter. So much wonderful learning went into my brain. I am still trying to process it all.
We are nearing the end of our summer Q & A panels. *again weeps that summer is almost over, then remembers that Christmas will come and decides that’s a good trade*
Below you’ll find today’s question that Stephanie, Shannon, and I have answered, and we want you to answer in the comment section so we can all learn from each other. I’m curious to read all of your answers to this one.
Do you consider yourself a fast writer or a slow one? Why do you think that is? And if you are ever the opposite, why?
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| Jill Williamson |
Overall, I’m pretty fast. I can write a draft of a 80K novel in a month. Doesn’t mean it will be good, but I’ll have a solid rough draft. A combination of NaNoWriMo and working to meet deadlines have trained me to do this. Now, there are certain types of scenes, however, that totally destroy my work flow. Fight scenes. Major battles. Situations I know nothing about, for example, King’s Blood took place on ancient sailing ships. I knew nothing about ships, so I had to stop writing, research like crazy, and it still took me a long time to write the scenes that had to do with sailing or navigation. That’s just part of my process. I want to get those details right, so I stop and take the time to research.
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| Shannon Dittemore |
Depends on the day. Depends on the project. Depends on LIFE. When discussing deadlines, I remember telling my publisher that I was a fast writer. How stupid was I? So stupid. It’s a dumb claim to make in such a moment and I hadn’t actually written enough at the time to understand that. My speed depends on a lot of things. My mood. My story. My schedule. The current brain space I have available for all of those things. For example, I should have been done with my current work in progress last fall. I was on schedule. Trucking along. No reason I shouldn’t make it. And then the landlord decided to put in new floors and my son was terrifyingly sick for almost a month and then our car broke down. And to cap it all off the doctors decided I needed to have my gallbladder removed. I could not have foreseen any of that and each incident required more energy, more time, and more brain space than I had to offer. My writing fell off and a book I should have finished last fall got turned into my agent in April. It’s real. It’s life. And, honestly, the ups and downs of it all can improve your story, if you’ll let it. Your imagination is still spinning back there while you’re busy doing other things. Let it. Life is not wasted on a storyteller.
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| Stephanie Morrill |
I’m not absurdly fast. In general, I write about a thousand words an hour. But in my current stage of life, I lack consistent stretches of time in which I can write, so I don’t produce books very quickly. And my edits tend to take me quite a while.
Now it’s your turn. Do you consider yourself a fast writer or a slow one? Why do you think that is? And are you ever the opposite?
