2000 words today. I’m getting restless again. I had a very good writing day today after a couple days off, but I’m back in the saddle again.
I had another crazy idea, because you guys know what happens when my mind gets restless…
Here’s the deal: my novel will be back from my editor sometime in the next few days, and once it comes back I’ll load it up and it’ll be ready for publication.
But I’m not going to publish it, because I need at least one more book in the series first.
That means I need to write book 2.
Another issue: I have my second and final law school class coming up on March 22. This class will probably be more intense and I won’t be able to work ahead like I did with my first one.
That means I need to finish Book 2 by at least March 21. That gives me exactly one month.
But why take up the whole month?
THE IDEA: THE 5-5-50,000 Challenge.
My average cycle time for a completed novel manuscript is somewhere between 3-4 weeks. That’s blazing fast, but seasoned pros can do it in half the time. I’ve only ever done that twice—my fastest time is 7 days, and my second fastest is 10 days.
If I want to join the ranks of the Olympic writers, I need a 10 day or less cycle time, every time.
What would happen if I wrote Book 2 in 10 days?
It means I need to write 5,000 words per day. Can I do that? Sure. My average fiction word count is between 2000-3000 but sure, I can ramp up to 5000 if I wanted.
How?
First, wake up earlier. If I wake up at 5AM, I can start writing by 5:30, which gives me a solid 2 hours before logging in for work. If I dictate on my bike, I can do 1500-1800 words in 30 minutes, which is 3000-3600 words an hour. If I type for the second hour, I can probably do about 1000-1500 words an hour, when you include looping. In a 2-hour morning session, that’s 2500-3300 before breakfast. That leaves 1700-2500 words remaining throughout the day.
So if I wake up at 5AM and write 5,000 words per day, that would net me a 50,000-word novel in 10 days. Hence 5-5-50,000. Even if I fail and do 12 days, that’s still a huge win in my opinion. Plus, no one’s going to come to my house and shoot me. LOL
YIKES…
Oh, and as y’all know, I write my novels “into the dark” (no outline), and in one draft.
Writing a novel in 10 days means:
- I have to destroy my critical voice
- No excuses
- Almost no margin for error
Challenge accepted!
(Also, if intervening circumstances occur, it is what it is. While I’d like for this to be a 10-day straight deal, if I have to miss a day due to personal issues, I’ll just pick up the next day. Life happens, folks, especially when you have kids.)
When will it start? I’ll start the day after my editor sends me final edits and I have them loaded into the system. Could be as early as Monday.
LOGISTICS
In preparing for this type of challenge, I have to start thinking ahead:
- My emails need to be under control.
- Incoming mail needs to have an autoresponder that lets people know that my response rate may be a little longer than usual for a few days.
- My podcasts need to be loaded and ready to go for at least 2 weeks
- My YouTube videos need to be loaded and ready to go for at least 2 weeks
- My calendar needs to be blocked from all new appointments for at least 10 days
- I still need to blog every day.
Fortunately, I’m in a good spot for all of the above. This is the perfect time to do a challenge.
So, stay tuned and we’ll see if I can make this happen or if I’ll burn up flames…
