The 250 Word Resolution
For many years I wrote sporadically, sometimes spending a few months writing a couple thousand words a day, then going months doing little to no writing. Last year, Kij Johnson, coordinator of a science fiction writing workshop I went to, challenged all of us to commit to writing at least 250 words every day for a month. Most of us did, then renewed the commitment every month for four or five months. That was enough to make it a habit for me and I'm uncomfortable if I don't get that minimum number of words done. If I have a busy day I stay up a little late and try as hard as I can to get at least that minimum in before I go to bed.
It takes me fifteen to twenty minutes to write 250 words. I usually write at least a little more once I overcome the procrastination, but even 250 words a day adds up over time. Figure 1750 words a week and 52 weeks per year. That's 91,000 words--a fair-sized novel or around twenty fair-sized short stories. Not bad for fifteen to twenty minutes per night. I usually work on three short stories or two short stories and a novel at a time. If I get stuck on the primary story I go to one of the secondaries. When I finish one, I add another one to the rotation. I have more uncompleted stories from before I started doing this than I'll finish in a lifetime, so there is always a story to rotate in.
It works pretty well for me, and the last ten months have been my most consistently productive time yet as a writer.
It takes me fifteen to twenty minutes to write 250 words. I usually write at least a little more once I overcome the procrastination, but even 250 words a day adds up over time. Figure 1750 words a week and 52 weeks per year. That's 91,000 words--a fair-sized novel or around twenty fair-sized short stories. Not bad for fifteen to twenty minutes per night. I usually work on three short stories or two short stories and a novel at a time. If I get stuck on the primary story I go to one of the secondaries. When I finish one, I add another one to the rotation. I have more uncompleted stories from before I started doing this than I'll finish in a lifetime, so there is always a story to rotate in.
It works pretty well for me, and the last ten months have been my most consistently productive time yet as a writer.