I read an article in the RWR magazine about how different writers find the time to write. There are usually two types–people who need blocks of time (hours) to do any writing while others use snippets of time (maybe only thirty minutes or an hour) to write. Which are you?
I’m a snippet writer. In fact, I can’t stay at the computer more than an hour or two at a time. My brain turns to mush when I do. I usually do an hour here, an hour there. This is when I’m writing the rough draft. When I’m revising, I stay at it for hours. But the creative part of putting the first draft down comes in short bursts for me. I’m not sure if this is because I started out writing when my son was little and I had to grab snippets of time when I could get them. Now it is a habit–my way of writing. It works for me. I think of myself as the Eveready Battery–I just keeping on working, slow but steady.
I have a friend who will write huge chunks at a time (20 or 30 pages is nothing to her), but she doesn’t write every day. She will go days and days between writing unless she is on a deadline. Not me. I usually write everyday–even holidays. I think the most pages I’ve ever gotten done in a day is 18-20 and that is rare. Usually I’m deliriously happy if I get 8-10 pages done which doesn’t happen that often and only on the weekend or a day when I’m not teaching.
