Monday, October 11, 2010

Are You Fast or Slow?

It seems to take me more and more time for me to finish writing books lately. I'm distracted by marketing, including Facebook, blogs and other ways of networking. Also, I've decided I absolutely need to read, which I had pretty much abandoned for a while in favor of writing. On my last vacation, I was in relaxation mode, so along with going to the casino, shopping and other vices, I read one book, am almost got through another, and only spent one afternoon writing. It was great to be able to read, but that didn't help me get my WIP done. Should I have spent more time writing instead of reading?

I know there are speed reading classes. Maybe I should take one. But what about speed writing?
Or, maybe I just need to resign myself to being a slow writer.

What about you? Are you fast or slow?

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:45 AM

    I like to go slow at first, then go fast.

    Stephen Tremp

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  2. Slow and steady wins the race!

    And, why are you writing on vacation? You're supposed to be relaxing!

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  3. Meg, I'm on semi-vacation now, the transition period between vacation and going back to work tomorrow.

    We came home from Wisconsin on Sunday and have off for Columbus Day. I'm glad I didn't stay the extra day. I needed the time to get a few things back into order here and get back into the swing of real life.

    Morgan Mandel

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  4. My problem isn't slow or fast, it's obsessive or balanced. I'm either writing all of the time and letting everything else go to seed or the opposite.

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  5. Oh, I'm slow.

    Although, Jackie, I can relate. It's either all or nothing for me when it comes to writing. I'm either totally in it, or totally out of it. (I've been out of it for a while...need to get that muse flowing.)

    And, Morgan, I just can't give up my reading time and replace it with writing time. That reading time is my "me" time, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

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  6. Anonymous5:01 PM

    i guess i'm a sprinter...:) go in bursts.

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  7. MORGAN-I've become a slow writer--verrrrry, verrrrry slow. At first, I wrote a full-length ms in three months,one after the other. But I did nothing else, I mean no promoting or anything because I didn't submit. With publication, I became side-tracked with promo--a lot, and most times, too much--and I couldn't concentrate like I did before. Plus, I question everything I write now, when before I had NO inhibitions. So, just to get a 15,000 short story written is a real chore. I hate it, but cannot do anything about it right now. I'm hoping it'll change one day--magically, of course. Celia

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  8. I write at lightening speed in a first rough draft but edit at a pace slow and sure ... one word at a time, sometimes agonizing over which is the best word to represent what I am trying to say. Writing is reading -- reading a manuscript as if someone else had written it, a dictionary as if it is a foreign language, a thesaurus to test all the possibilities when there is a choice and last but most important, my worn and annotated copy of Strunk and White.

    My first book which came in at over 100,000 words became a first draft in 6 weeks writing only after work and on weekends. I took over 6 months editing it to a point where I was ready to submit it. It then went through the editing process with the publisher's copy editor and project editor which took an additional year.

    I read the works of others as if each word were 20 year old vintage wine and enjoy each word. If I don't enjoy it after a few pages, I cork the bottle and send it on to book heaven where many a work resides. I'd rather suffer an epidemic of boils that struggle to read drivel.

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  9. Hi Morgan,
    I like to start slowly and build up the tempo.

    Regards

    Margaret

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  10. A highly personal and provocative question. I think I'll keep my answer private.

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  11. Hmmm...what am I? I don't know. I can't say I'm slow, as I dedicate the little time I have to writing, but I'm not fast in getting things completed because there is so little time to work on things.

    I'm thinking of cutting back from book reviews next year. We'll see. I'm a sucker for a good book.

    Cheryl

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