July 9th, 2007
Natural Rhythm

In one of the creativity classes I’m taking online, the instructor has talked about finding our natural rhythm. One reason the Seventy Days of SweatA Rhythm of Colors will work so well for me, is that my current comfortable and most productive rhythm is around five pages a day.

I’m still gone from home from between 6:45 a.m. and 6:15 p.m., and though I can write at work, the atmosphere there as we close down isn’t conducive to concentrating.

I do it, just as I’ve always done what’s required. But if I had my druthers, sitting and writing 5 pages at a pace that is not frantic or hurried is perfect. I can move faster, get into the zone and pour out the words – I just don’t like it much. *g* I like getting up, getting coffee, getting into the groove of my characters’ world and telling their story, unrushed, from deep inside their heads.

What about you? Discounting deadline madness where too many of us scramble, what’s a perfect daily pace for you?

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16 comments to “Natural Rhythm”

  1. WendyPortia
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    1
    · July 9th, 2007 at 1:40 am · Link

    I’d say probably around 1000 words a day, when I’m not being bombarded by a load of life-crap. Although absence of that is a rarity these days…

    What would you say 5 pages equates to in actual words? I’ve tried to think in terms of pages, but my brain stubbornly clings to wordcount. :)



  2. Alison
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 5:36 am · Link

    Lesse. Five page is about 1000 – 1200 words. It’s hard for me to say because I still think of a page as being 250 words. I have yet to transition my brain to using computer count!



  3. Anna Black
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 8:03 am · Link

    I’d say about about four pages a day. That’s pretty comfortable for me. That’s not to say I actually do those many pages every single day (I also have to work full-time) but that’s a pretty comfortable pace for me.

    I can push it beyond that if I’m on a roll, however. And, since I tend to think more in terms of word count than actual pages, a comfortable pace for me word count-wise is between 1,000 to 2,000 words a day.



  4. Ember
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 9:30 am · Link

    1000 words is “comfortable” on a good day. But I usually under (rarely over) perform – there just aren’t that many days where the schedule is good.
    I’ll be stretching myself for the next 70 days for sure.



  5. Charlene Teglia
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 9:32 am · Link

    I’d love to say that a nice, sane 3-5 pages a day every day is good for me, but it’s not. I work best when I write the book fast, 12-25 pages a day. Naturally this isn’t a sustainable pace that you can do every day, but it works for me as long as I take a break afterwards. I.e., whether I write fast or slow I’m going to write the same number of books. But if I do it fast, I end up with less work revising.



  6. Selah March
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 9:39 am · Link

    Sadly, I don’t know. I’ve always been very helter-skelter in my writing habits, working when the spirit moves me. It’s caused me no end of trouble on various fronts.

    I’m hoping this challenge will help me make daily writing of a specific number of words a habit. :)



  7. Elisa Adams
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 9:41 am · Link

    Anywhere from 10-20 pages a day is about what I do. 10 pages is more comfortable, but if I’m really involved in the story and ideas are flying at me, I tend to go closer to 20 so I can get everything down on paper.

    That’s if I take weekends off, or at least Sundays. If I’m really working steady, seven days a week, I think I average about 10-12 pages per day.



  8. fairie
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 9:43 am · Link

    I would say around 1000 words a day. I am fortunate that I don’t work outside the home. But I have kids, ones I homeschool. So my ideal time is after dinner with headphones on. I write better when I have music playing.:)



  9. Tamara Siler Jones (tambo)
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 10:02 am · Link

    My best compositional pace is 10 – 15 pages a day all in one five or so hour run. Strangely enough, when I was working full time it was a pretty easy pace to keep. Now that I’m the stay at home mom, a job filled with perpetual initerruption, it’s almost impossible to get 10 pages a day. I’ve done it, but it ain’t pretty. ;)



  10. Stephanie Staton
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 10:39 am · Link

    Between 1,000 to 2,000 words a day seems to work for me between my other job and family life. I try to write everyday, but I find it easy to convince myself I can make up the words if life gets in the way. Then the end of the week comes and I haven’t accomplished my goal. So, I am looking forward to this challenge keeping me to my goal.



  11. Amelia
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 10:39 am · Link

    Add me to the 1000 a day group–I can do more if I’m on a roll, but on most days I struggle to pull the story out of the void, and 1000 is usually enough.

    I work best in the mornings, but I often only have time after dinner. Hey, do what you gotta do!



  12. Val Griswold-Ford
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 6:07 pm · Link

    My ideal pace is about 4-5 pages a day, but I tend to try and push for more. Or work on several projects at once.



  13. Violet
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    · July 9th, 2007 at 6:18 pm · Link

    With this challenge I’m aiming for 1150 words per day. It’s working best for me to do them in ~400 word chunks, with breaks in between.



  14. Lynn Matherly
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    · July 10th, 2007 at 12:13 am · Link

    When I get into my groove I can crank out around 5000 words in about 4 hours. I tend to loose steam after that. Because I can’t always work everyday, I have to spend a bit of time rereading the last few pages to get my mind back into the story and my characters.



  15. Jess
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    · July 10th, 2007 at 9:43 am · Link

    My scenes tend to run between 900-1500 words, probably because that’s what I’m comfortable writing per day. So this challenge is “easy” in the sense it’s easy to accomodate/plan for it. The words themselves are another story. ;)



  16. Victoria Blisse
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    · July 17th, 2007 at 7:38 am · Link

    I think 1000 words is about right for me, it is unusal for me to write much more but the days when I do are always special. I get up at 6am to do an hour/an hour and a halfs writing before the family gets up and in the time I can happily do 1k and it sets my mind at ease to know its all done and i can then concentrate on every day chores and tasks.



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