Counting words for fun

[hmpf]

Inspired by a remark in a discussion on writing, I just went and counted the words of all the fics I've written in the last three years. Result: I've written about 21,000 words' worth of fic in the last three years, i.e. my average word production per year is pretty much exactly 7,000 words. Sadly, much of that is in as-yet-unfinished fics...

ETA: That's slighly under 600 words per month. So... if I could actually work on only one fic at a time instead of flitting from one project to another like a frelling butterfly, I could actually - considering that my average fic is about 1,500 words or so - put out a new fic every two or three months. That would probably be hugely less frustrating to readers and to myself than my current practice of working in parallel on half a dozen things at any one time.

Of course, the reason I have adopted the many-fics-at-once strategy is that I run into blockages so often. Write 300 words on one fic; hit a block. Write 200 words on another; hit a block. Write 250 words on a third; hit a block. Return to the first for another 100 words; hit a block. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam.

I wonder if it's possible to just basically *force* myself through those blockages? Maybe I haven't been persistent enough so far, maybe I need to remove the option of 'taking a vacation' in another, less frustrating fic every time I don't know how to continue with the one I'm working on?

Comments

[elliejane.livejournal.com]

I totally hear you, regarding the many fics at once. At the moment I have 3 different fics on the go, and that doesn't count at least 2 things that only exist in snippit form that I am not actively working on at the moment.

I am trying to force through blockages on one idea at the moment. I don't know whether it will work or not, but it is kind of trying to have the word doc open whatever I am doing, and if I get urge, just write. Trying not to worry to much where a snippit would fit in, but hoping the whole thing can be sort of massaged into shape at some point! When you get blocked you could try a sort of "stream of consciousness" approach, where you basically write anything which comes to mind, regardless of quality or aptness, and then go back to it after a bit to see if it does make sense and edit. Might work, might not. This writer's block is a very personal pernickty thing!

Although, I will say, I am sometimes of the opinion that a story will "take as long as it takes". For example, I have dawdled and faffed around with various fics over the years, felt I have taken far too long, yet know that often the very shape of the story has evolved so much with ideas I had over time, that the same thing written quickly probably would look nothing like the finished article. So is it good to write quicker? Depends on the writer, I guess, but I have a terrible feeling that in my case, it's a case of "it's done when it's done and no sooner."

Mind you, this is original fic I am trying, at the moment - but I was similarly terrible for procrastination when I wrote fan fic. My Evil!John stuff took AGGGGGEEEES. And that was with periodic prodding by a friend! I am fairly sure I flitted around and wrote some short stuff when I should have been in the middle of the long stuff!

[loz]

I've written about 3 novels' worth in the last three years.

They all suck.

:D