Bumping Along (Progress of the Project)

A report:

The book I'm trying to write is going well enough. It's full of digressions and stories—I can't seem to help heaping on the stories!

I'm going to dish a bit of dirt, too, because now's the time—it's past mattering in many cases, and if I don't tell some of my stories it's likely I'll carry them unintentionally to the grave, at which point they'll be done for. And what's the good of a juicy story but to tell it?

The working title is The Education of a Blogger, and it would be insolence to offer apologies to Henry Adams. It's loosely (very loosely) the story of TOP. It'll contain lots about photography and a fair bit not.

The biggest problem is working out how to juggle TOP and the book. I have a definite appetite for writing—if I don't get to do enough of it, the appetite builds up until I'm hungering to do it. But on the other hand I also have only a finite amount of energy for it. I think of my capacity for it as "writing energy," and it's a mysterious thing. If I write too much too many days in a row, I can empty the tank to the point that even answering emails becomes torture. The writing gets bad, too; with the reservoir depleted, the words don't flow out. Five hours seems about the ideal workday for me as far as writing is concerned, and a couple of thousand words the upper limit. One thousand or fifteen hundred is more comfortable. Looking back, I notice that most of what I consider to be "full length" posts are right around that range. For example, "Sands of Time," the post about my trip to see my brother Scott, has 1,605 words of text.

All writers are different this way. Hemingway worked six hours a day but produced on average only 600 words, or so I recall reading; Stephen King says in his book On Writing that any self-respecting writer ought to be able to produce 2,000 words per 24 hour period—and he kept right on doing so even after he supposedly "retired"; Larry McMurtry wrote five new pages every day and revised the previous ten, meaning, if you work it out, that he went over everything three times before moving on. I don't know what a "page" was for Larry so I don't know what his word count was, but the typical double-spaced typed page, back in the days of those quaint mechanisms known as typewriters, was maybe 250 words. He told me back when I knew him that he worked 364 days per year, every day except Christmas, and that he missed it on Christmas. All that adds up.

Anyway, when I work on the book, I keep meaning to write for only an hour or two and then get to TOP, but what I find is that I can't stop. By the time I come up for air, my writing energy has dissipated and I don't have any mojo left to give to TOP. But on the other hand, if I write a full-length post for TOP, like "Sports Has a Bad Scriptwriter" or "Honesty...Isn't It Refreshing?", I have nothing left that for the book. The upshot is that I seem to be doing a less-than-adequate job on both.

I'm sure I'll be able to work out something. I just have to work it out.

I should note that in general I don't have a lot of energy. I know guys like Thom Hogan or John Camp AKA Sandford or Kirk Tuck have far more energy than I do, and I'm sure they work much harder than I do as an ordinary thing, and they must look askance at slackers like me when we whimper our woes. However, all of us humans have to work with what we're given. You know what they say, or used to say: if wishes were horses, beggars would ride, and if a frog could fly he wouldn't bump his ass so much. It's no good wanting to be what we're not—if you're a frog you're a frog. Five hours and 1,500 words in a day is all I'm good for, and it does no good to pretend I'm Anthony Trollope or Kathleen Mary Lindsay. Trollope, of whom you might've heard, strictly wrote 250 words every 15 minutes for three hours every day whether he felt like it or not, beginning at 5:30 every morning; and Kathleen Mary Lindsay, who you've probably never heard of unless you enjoy The Guinness Book of World Records, wrote 904 books under 11 pseudonyms. At my peak as a reader I read 60 books a year, meaning it would take me 15 years just to read all of Ms. Lindsay's books. I had never heard of her before now, so I don't know if I would want to. But then, our score so far is 904 to not yet one, so I shouldn't go casting shade.

Well now I'm coming up on 850 words, so I had better conserve my energy.

Mike

Product o' the Week:

The brand new 2021 Apple 10.2-inch iPad (Wi-Fi, 64GB) in Space Gray. My iPad is my least necessary but most-loved Apple device. I could get by with my phone and a desktop computer, but I use this constantly and I like it best. Check out that price.

The above is a link to Amazon from TOP—anything you buy while you're there benefits TOP. B&H Photo is closed for the rest of September for Succos.

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Thom Hogan: "1.) Figure out when you write best. 2.) Write during that time, block all other activity. 3.) Outside that time, jot ideas (notes, idea statement, etc.), but don't get deep into them. 4.) Prioritize jot ideas into writing time.

"That's basically how I do it. I'm usually writing by 8 a.m. and until at least 11 a.m. Outside of those hours I'm less efficient and it becomes 'work' (as opposed to natural).

"Having 'other things' to occupy your non-writing time is actually more useful than people think. I don't mean chores, like cooking, cleaning, etc. I mean something that engages you in a different way. For you, that's probably pool. I've learned the brain is really good at subconscious processing, as long as it's distracted with something else interesting.

"But, as prolific as I am, I have four unfinished books I need to find time to tend to. They're just not getting prioritized at the moment, so they stay simmering in the background. One is virtually done, but requires a full-on word-by-word edit, along with getting all illustrations in place. I'd tend to agree with King's statement, though, again, I'd say that those 2,000 words are going to come in one attentive session, not scattered through a 24-hour period. I tend to average more like 5,000 words/day, but I have days where I just can't get started."

Mrs. Proudie: "Thank you for mentioning Trollope, my favorite Victorian novelist! I've read just about everything he wrote, and I love his characters so much that I'm changing my screen name from Bandbox to Mrs. Proudie. Trollopians will know who I'm talking about. If Mrs. Proudie were here today as a contemporary photographer, she'd be taking you to task for worrying about the latest iPhone and your word-count instead of being out in the field using your perfectly serviceable Wista 4x5."

Mike replies: Trollope is the guilty pleasure of many famous writers, intellectuals, and discerning readers. Even if people don't read him, it's worthwhile to read about him.

Fred: "It all depends on your point of view. From where I am looking you seem to be very prolific.

"Since you mentioned them peripherally, I do love manual typewriters. I believe that in some (let me emphasize some) circumstances typewriters or writing by hand can be a better choice than a computer and word processing software. Having said that I think that word processing software and especially good spell checkers are way way more significant than the invention of sliced bread.

"Whew! That is the most I have written in the last three days."

Christopher Feola: "I made my money as a photojournalist for a couple of decades, and I always felt something similar: I have a certain amount of words per day, and when I'm out for the day I'm done. I could pound out articles for the paper daily, or I could work on a book...but not both."

Comments

[Patrick Murphy]

I'm sure you thought of this, and hopefully it is part of your plan, to reprint in your book some of your best blog posts such as the one about your brother. This is for a few reasons: They can be together in a collected, curated form -- not scattered through the online archives. They are YOUR picks -- a Baker's Dozen of blog posts if you will. They can illustrate points or topics in the book. And, perhaps best of all, you get to recycle them to reduce your total book-writing burden!

[Gary Merken]

Is this book on blogging in addition to the book you are writing on raising Xander? Gonna need more typewriter ribbon!

[Øyvind]

I wouldn't use wordcount as a measure of literary success. I've read short masterpieces and long masterpieces. Some of the greatest writers wrote very few books. And in fact I far prefer your writing to that of some of the "high-energy" writers you mention (except when the subject is pool and dieting that is).

[Gordon Buck]

Realistically, won't you write for the blog and copy/edit the blog entry for your book? Or copy the book entry to the blog as appropriate.

[Ben]

Guest blogger?

Have someone come for a five day stint once every six weeks, and that week dedicate yourself to book writing. Maybe 1 or 2 Mike posts on TOP?

On the other five weeks, give 2-3 days to the book project.

Just a thought…

[Kye Wood]

You are not all those writers listed above. You are Mike. You get 5 good writing hours daily? Lucky you!

Budget the time like money. Bang for buck. If the book takes ages to write then so what? Stick to your Sensible budget and be amazed.

[Bob G.]

Mike,
What I’ve found that works for me is to incorporate the stories or short essays that are written for the letter or blog into the larger volume of work as a chapter or highlight. Two birds with one stone. Just editing and sequencing is all that’s left to knit the essays together.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Yikes; at my peak as a reader I must have been reading several hundred books a year. I know in 8th grade I read over 5 a week during the school year, and that was the year I taught myself programming in first Fortran and then Assembler, up to professionally-employable levels, and started doing darkroom work and doing photography more seriously, and kept up with school (after missing the previous year by being out of the country; I was in school but not learning any of the same things).

Of course old SF books were pretty thin.

That's not energy, exactly. That was all stuff I loved doing, that doesn't take energy in the same way.

[Steve C]

Could you post raw pieces of the book to TOP 'n' times a week and kill two birds with one stone?

I know anecdotes of other writers doing this — writing "live" and using reader feedback to help inform their final edit.

There are writers who publish the whole book a piece at a time, with fans buying the thing they "already just read for free" because what they want is the physical object.

[Bear.]

Words. When I was in primary (elementary) school) - a "term assignment" might be 300 words - which took all term. In high school - the same but maybe 1500 words to 2000 words - also took all term. At university in my undergraduate degree, a semester subject might have a 5000 word essay - hmm, half way through the semester, better start. For my masters degree, each subject had a 10,000 word essay - hmm got a month left, better start. These days, I'm asked to deliver a seminal paper suitable for journal publication to a conference (albeit on topic about which I"m already expert), 30-40,000 words, hmm, it's now Tuesday morning and due COB this Friday, better start. But could I produce a blog at about 1000 to 1500 words per day, 5 or so days per week for most of the year, year in and year out for well over a decade? No chance. My hat is off to you, Mike.

[Sharon]

I won’t go into the details, but last winter we went through some extended traumatic events. My doctor gave me a couple of prescriptions this spring to deal with panic attacks and general anxiety. They raise my serotonin levels. I found out after taking them that I have needed them all my life. For the first time, my mind isn’t full of negative thoughts about myself. I can be around people without worrying about what they think about me. Instead, I am able to enjoy them! I am happy. I can’t believe I had to spend most of my life unhappy because of the torment my mind put me through. This is all a roundabout way of saying, talk to your doctor. What you are experiencing may not be a character trait but an underlying medical condition.

[Lars Jansen]

Reading this I would say the best option would be to alternate the days between the blog and the book (or is that The Blog and The Book?). As you say, you need to adjust your methods to what works best for you. Then you do not have to limit the one activity in order to have some energy for the other. That will only impact your flow.

[John Camp]

I'd say you need to work on the title, which is the first thing potential buyers see. I'd suggest "F**kin' Photography" or "Blogs Are My B*tch," but your taste may vary.

Before covid, I'd go to a thriller-writer convention in NYC every summer and talk to fellow writers, some very well-known, and the one constant is that when it comes to writing, there's no one constant. People are all over the place when it comes to technique -- some outline, some don't; I met one guy who outlines so much that his final outline, aside from a few needed fill-in words, are essentially the novel. Other guys don't outline anything. I don't outline anything until the last 10,000 words or so. So, like I said, all over the place. One thing about that, though (and about King): We pop writers need to produce, because we need the momentum. We need to keep the readers we have and hopefully expand, and to do that efficiently, it's best to have books that come out at predictable intervals. I come out each Spring and Autumn, and rarely skip. You don't have to do that. If I were you, I'd look for a solid 750 words a day, and then go on to the blog. 750 publishable words a day would get you a longish book in half a year...do the numbers.