I always have been, and I probably always will be. What is a binge writer you ask?
A binge writer is an author who indulges in writing for a brief period of time. Often followed by extended periods of an absence of writing.
For me, I can write 10,000-15,000 words a day typing at 25 words per minute. I know what you are thinking, and yes, I am a terrible typist. I am actively working to get my words per minute count higher. Mainly because I want to have more output during my writing binges.
This year I wrote a 70,000 word novel in about 70 hours. It was a fun experience for me, but once I finished I had to get back to reality. I didn’t write again for an entire month. I also entered 13 writing contests after taking a weeks vacation to write. I wrote a ton that week. After I entered the final contest, I didn’t write again for a month.
I would like to say that I do this on purpose, but I don’t. It’s my personality.
God wired me this way.
I have tried to write a 1,000 words a day and I last about three days. I am not wired to be that consistent. But I can sit down and write a ton of words in a short amount of time.
[bctt tweet=”A binge writer is an author who indulges in writing for a brief period of time. “]
Maybe you are like me, maybe not.
In my periods of non-writing, I study, I read, and I enjoy life. All of these things help make me a better writer. I use what I learn to improve my writing and to help increase my productivity when I do finally sit down and write.
So… This blog is dedicated to Binge Writers or to those of you who want to use some of my Binge Writing techniques to increase your own writing output.
I will discuss writing software, apps, websites, writing techniques, procrastination, writer’s block, and many more. Hopefully these posts will help you meet deadlines, increase word count, and become the best writer you can be.
Any ideas on post topics? Post them in the comments below.
[bctt tweet=”What is a binge writer you ask? #writer #binge #writing”]
I’m a firm believer in being efficient. Why waste time when a little planning can make such a positive impact? I’ve repeatedly seen how having an organized computer, workspace, or schedule frees people to be more productive and creative. There is, however, one area where I’m learning it pays to be inefficient—writing a novel.
For years, I thought of story ideas but never managed to complete a manuscript. I’d sit down to write and get frustrated. The words on the page didn’t match the beautiful story in my head. I’d write a few pages or paragraphs, then spend the rest of my time editing. In the end, I had some nice scenes but no completed novels. Sound familiar?
Some of you may have just finished NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Did you notice how freeing it was? The only way to write 50,000 words in one month without tearing your hair out is to let go of your internal editor. You have to write fast in a just-get-the-story-on-the-page kind of way. If you stop yourself by thinking that sentence isn’t right, you’ll never meet the goal.
When people finish NaNoWriMo, their stories generally aren’t ready to send to a publisher, but that’s not the point. They’re complete stories, and there’s a lot you can do with those.
When asked, many authors will tell you they make 3 to 4 editing passes once their manuscripts are drafted. For newer writers, it may take that many passes just get it readable. Our drafts may overflow with dialogue and need more description, or they may include too much telling and need dialogue to improve the pace. Then there are editing passes for grammar, point of view checks, and a host of other ways to improve our stories.
The point is this: Efficiency would tell us we need to create a system to handle these editing issues up front. Surely, if we just write better in the beginning, we’ll get more done. Right? Experience tells us differently. When we get bogged down in making our writing stellar from the beginning, we might never get past those first pages.
If you’re struggling to write a manuscript, give yourself a gift this season— write badly (at least on the first pass). Get the story down. It’s okay if it’s rough or fragmented. The point is, it’s written. Editing will make it pretty, but we can’t edit what we don’t have.
[bctt tweet=”Bad writing can be the start of a great manuscript. #AmWriting #WritersWrite”]
NaNoWriMo may have been in November, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start your own writing month right now. Don’t go into the new year with big dreams and the same unfruitful habits. Try something new. If you need to start a writing routine, check out my November #WorkSmarter Series Developing a Positive Routine at TheEfficiencyAddict.com. And if you’re looking for a way to write quickly and complete a full manuscript, see last month’s Almost An Author article—Writing A Novel in Three Steps.
Merry Christmas, and may the joy of the season inspire you with stories to bring hope to the world. —The Efficiency Addict.
The editor had me rework my first novel, changing it from the omniscient point of view to third-person limited. I’m so glad he did. I was no longer writing for talking vegetables and had many lessons to learn.
I used to write for VeggieTales, and if you’re familiar with the antics of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber, you know that these animated characters do a lot of hopping around. How else are vegetables going to move? They don’t have legs.
But when I made the switch from writing VeggieTales picture books to writing historical novels, I found myself doing a different kind of hopping. It’s called “head-hopping,” and the editor on my first novel quickly cured me of the habit. I’m so glad he did. In fact, this was the first lesson I learned when making the switch from picture books to novels.
My first historical novel, The Disappearing Man, tells the true story of Henry “Box” Brown, a slave who mailed himself to freedom in 1849. He escaped by shipping himself in a box from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia. But when I began writing that novel, I just happened to be reading Lonesome Dove, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Larry McMurtry. Many of McMurtry’s novels are written in the “third person omniscient” voice, in which the author can get into anyone’s thoughts at any time. So, driven by McMurtry’s example, I wrote my first draft from the omniscient point of view, hopping into Henry “Box” Brown’s mind in one paragraph and then hopping into another character’s mind in the next paragraph.
How could anyone argue with McMurtry’s approach? He’s a Pulitzer Prize-winner for crying out loud!
As much as I loved Lonesome Dove, I quickly saw my editor’s point. Head-hopping, as the omniscient point of view is sometimes called, has problems. But before I explain these problems, let me give you an example of head-hopping. Here is an excerpt from The Disappearing Man, where Henry Brown, as a child, stumbles across another boy (John) tied up to a tree. For the purposes of this example, I have changed the excerpt so it reads in the omniscient voice.
Henry had been taught not to interfere in the ways of white folk, but he couldn’t just leave John to die. On the other hand, if Mr. Allen found out he’d untied his son, the man might shoot him dead in the field.
Another flash of lightning, another explosion.
John hollered, then whimpered like a beaten dog. The boy was almost as terrified of the lightning as he was of his father. John looked around, wondering if his Pappy might appear from behind a tree at any moment.
This is the third-person omniscient voice because in the first paragraph we’re inside Henry’s mind, understanding his thoughts and feelings about getting shot by Mr. Allen (John’s father). In the third paragraph, we’re suddenly in John’s thoughts, hearing his fears. If you constantly move from one perspective to another, paragraph to paragraph, you lose focus on any one character.
I highly recommend the wonderful book, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne and Dave King, which my editor suggested to me back when I was writing my first novel. The third chapter of the book deals with the issue of point of view, so imagine my shock when I found that the chapter began with an excerpt from McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove. In the excerpt, we get into the thoughts of three different characters—Joe, July, and Elmira—in the span of three brief paragraphs.
That’s some serious head-hopping.
“Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove is a powerfully written book, yet some readers find it hard to get involved in the story,” Browne and King say in Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. They blame this problem on the omniscient point of view that McMurtry used.
The omniscient point of view gives a writer a lot of flexibility because you can reveal any character’s thoughts at any time. But by jumping from one person’s perspective to another to another, it’s more difficult to create intimacy between the reader and the characters. You’re not sticking with one character’s perspective long enough to become strongly connected with him or her.
When my editor looked at my first draft of The Disappearing Man, he sent me back to the drawing board, and I converted my omniscient voice to “third-person limited.” And I had only a few weeks to do it.
But what is third-person limited, and why did I choose it?
To answer this, I need to devote an entire blog to the question, so look for an explanation in my next installment. For now, I simply leave you with one piece of advice: If you want to create intimacy between readers and characters, don’t head-hop.
Leave the hopping to vegetables.
5 for Writing
Get writing. Find the time to write. Then do it.
Learn by listening—and doing. Solicit feedback, discern what helps you.
Finish your story. Edit and rewrite, but don’t tinker forever. Reach the finish line.
Thrive on rejection. Get your story out there. Be fearless. Accept rejection.
Become a juggler. After one story is finished, be ready to start another. Consider writing two at once.
I’ve been to many writers conferences and even serve on the planning committee of one event, and I always tell conference “newbies” about the main thing.
Most first-time conference attendees think the main thing is their work. Their manuscript. Their baby. I thought that, too. I was wrong.
Ten years ago I came to my first conference, Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, very “green.” I had my manuscript, my baby, in a big blue binder, and I expected to meet an editor, sign a contract at dinner, and return the next year with a shiny published book with my name on it and a gig as the keynote speaker.
Why not dream big?
One of the first people I met at the conference “Meet-and-Greet” was an editor with a MAJOR Christian publishing house. We chatted easily and found ourselves “bumping into each other” all weekend. We even got together at the hotel, and he met my family. At the end of the conference, he miraculously agreed to take my manuscript home!
My dream was coming true! An editor from a MAJOR house was willing to look at my work! Keynote, here I come!
A few months later, he got laid off from the MAJOR publishing house.
So much for my big dream.
However, through the years, a deep friendship developed as we exchanged emails, Facebook messages, and phone calls. We have shared the highs and lows of life, watched each other’s children grow up, commiserated over writing rejections, celebrated publications, and more.
Today, ten years after that first meeting at KCWC, this friend traveled many miles out of his way (over mountainous roads—I live in the middle of nowhere) to visit me. We had a great day touring the area, sharing a meal, and catching up after too many years. We even prayed for each other before he left.
He never published my book . . . but he became one of my dearest friends.
Relationship. That, my friends, is the main thing you’ll take away from a writers conference.
Do you want to write 30K-40K+ words in a weekend? Do you want to write faster?
You can. Become a binge writer.
Binge writing is an impassioned writing session during an elongated time period. It can last from five hours to fifty hours. A binge writing session is uninterrupted—apart from limited sleep.
[bctt tweet=”Do you want to write faster? #1K1H #writer #novelist”]
Many writers spend years attempting to finish their stories, but they never do. Not for lack of desire, but for lack of follow-through. I know from firsthand experience that if I tried to write 2,000 words every day I’d fail. I already have, multiple times. But, if I set aside time to binge write, I can complete project after project.
It’s time for you to become a binge writer.
[bctt tweet=”It’s time for you to become a binge writer. #writer #writing #writingtips”]
The results will astound you. I bet an extra 40K words might help you finish the final few chapters or your novel, or help you create an entire series of chapter books. The uses are endless.
But if you never embark on your binge writing journey, you may never accomplish your writing goals in a realistic timeframe, unless you learn to write faster.
Here are some binge writing tips:
Cram your brain.
Fill your mind with pictures, ideas, and research on the topic you are writing about. If you are writing a novel set in Paris, inundate yourself with French music in your car, watch French foreign movies or documentaries, and visualize the world around you as Paris itself.
If you are writing a non-fiction about training dogs, spend time with dogs. Train them, observe them, and watch movies with dogs as characters.
Let your mind absorb the images, actions, and ideas that you want to flow effortlessly out of you and into your story or book.
Schedule your binge session.
Pick your time and place. Don’t let anyone infringe upon your session and don’t make plans close to the start and finish of your time. You’ll only be able to binge write, if you hold fast and firm to your timetable. So when your brother-in-law calls to invite you to dinner and board games, you say NO even though you really want to go. You make a date with yourself.
Set the mood.
Before your session download music that will stimulate the proper mood for your writing. Epic soundtracks for fantasy, love songs for romance, etc. Have them preloaded and ready to go.
If you like the lighting low for romance or suspense. Get your candles ready.
If you are writing a story in a bakery, plan to have fresh bread baking in your house. Or, if your story is set in a field of flowers have scented candles or oils to help create the right aroma and atmosphere.
[bctt tweet=”It’s not called binge editing—It’s binge writing, so write. #write #writing #1K1H”]
