How I Wrote a Novel in 12 Weeks

 

It’s been a while since I updated my blog, even though I promised to do it monthly.

BUT I have an excuse!

Within twelve weeks, I started and finished book SIX!!! (well, a rubbishy first draft that will almost disappear once I go over it with my red pen) But one hundred thousand words in three months nevertheless and a record for me! Plus, I even got showered and dressed, cooked a bit and managed to see friends! Yaay!

If you opened this blog to find out how to do it, here’s how I managed it…

  • Turned off all known devices like the pink smartphone aka the Pink Queen of Procrastination.
  • Switched off Netflix, the satellite box and all other known devices that can beam 6 hundred boxsets into my working space.
  • Stared at my computer.
  • Prayed.
  • Stared at my computer some more.                           
  • Wrote.
  • Took a break.
  • And I wrote again until I had achieved the word count of 2K that I had set myself (Unless I had a really good excuse like the solar eclipse or something, I would usually achieve the number). And of course, I had days off to do other things.

Don’t worry if 2k seems a bit steep (some of us writers also have kids, dogs, demanding jobs- life stuff to deal with) just pick a number that works for you… but stick to it. As in, try not to fall below it but do of course, allow yourself to go over it.

Consistency is key.

It feels so rewarding at the end of the day to realise that you actually did what you set out to do!
I knew I could handle 2,000 words a day because the words were just flowing out of me. In my brief history of book writing, it doesn’t always happen that way; only when there’s a bunch of characters BEGGING me to tell their story (an epic tale I will get to share with you in 2018!) My current novel Orphan Sisters  took a bit longer to write, but I had written that book during a different time and set of circumstances. In fact, I will address that in the next blog…