Treating it like a job.

I enjoy writing first drafts.  As if I'm telling myself a story, like being really engrossed in a book.  I like being surprised, I like felicitous phrasing, characters who suddenly do something unexpected.  I like where the story often goes in unforeseen directions. 

I like most everything about that creative process.  The thinking, the planning, the attempt to put  down on paper what is in my head.  It is very fulfilling and satisfying.  I can even get a kind of 'high' from it.

But as anyone who reads this knows, I dislike re-writing, most of the time.  But I know it is necessary, maybe more so for me than most writers.  I usually need to flesh out the story.

Anyway, what I think is happening is that the original material is getting too far ahead of the revised material.

I don't want to stop writing the original material -- that's the motivation, the fun.  I find that if I take more than a few weeks away from writing, I start feeling antsy.

But I also don't want to leave a bunch of unfinished manuscripts.  If I do, all that inspiration goes to waste.  I may be very prolific, but I haven't really taken into account the months it takes to shape each original manuscript into shape.

In some ways, I can't rush it.  My editor actually takes more time editing than I do writing.

But I think I think there are things I can do before that final step.  I can make some progress on the formerly written manuscripts, shape them up, make them closer to being ready to be published.

I have found that writing 2000 original words a day is the most effective pace for me.  I could write more than that, but it is better to leave myself a little hungry for the next day.  Sometimes, if I push it, it becomes a trudge -- which I don't want.  2000 words is still a pretty big chunk, and as long as I do it every day, the first drafts of the books can be finished in about 2 months. 

But I'm finding that it really only takes a few hours to write 2000 words.  Add in cushion I give myself to nurture and think, and it is still less than a full time day.

So I'm thinking what I need to do is write the 2000 words as soon in the day as possible -- which I have already found is the most effective thing to do -- and then come back later in the day and pick up some of the unrevised manuscripts and work on them.

It may not work.  I don't want to be distracted from the original story I'm attempting.  But I think I'll give it a try.

If it doesn't work, I'll quit messing with what has been a very effective formula immediately.  But if it does work, it will help me finish up the backlog of material I've created.  Shape it up, make it nearly ready for publishing.  I can get most of the way there, but I still feel like I need an editor(s).  Beta testing if you will.

But most of the material isn't ready for that final step, so I need to get on that.

Treat it like a job.