Week 1

Today marks the first full 7 day week of writing 3 pages a day consecutively. It was pretty tough, but I managed through it. Writing on Saturdays and Sundays is going to be the most difficult thing about this regimen.  I’m just not used to writing on those days, but I did succeed this week, which gives me some hope.

In total, I was able to write 23 pages during this 7 day stretch. I might be able to bump that page count up one or two next week, and I’ll definitely try to do that, but I’m pretty pleased with 23 pages in a week.

The Start

Today is the start of my five-month-long pilgrimage. I’ve decided to keep my regular posts on writing tips going as normal, but every Sunday I plan to do a post on how I did over the past week with keeping on my “3 pages a day of writing” schedule. There I’ll report on if I made my quota, what challenges I came across, and how far along my book is. I’m already on page 13 since I started writing this book last week, so take that into account when I mention my total word count at the end of the week. Well. It’s morning, and I’m about to get started with my first day of writing every day for the next four months. Wish me luck!

The Schedule

The Schedule

I took some time out of my writing today to make up a calendar for my “write a book in 4 months” regimen. I’ll post the image of the calendar below which you can print out and fill in the days and months you plan to record; and, if you want, I can even send you send you the document if you let me know you want it. My email is paulwroteyoder(at)gmail(dot)com. As you can see, there are two documents there, one for the four Writing Months, and one for the subsequent Editing Month.

Writing a Book in 4 Months

Writing a Book in 4 Months

After I finished writing today, I had a revelation. I wrote four pages today. I didn’t have to push myself too hard for that number, and there’s not going to be a lot I’ll have to fix up or edit when going over my story later, so it’s pretty solid prose. And as I was rocking my four-month-old child to sleep, it hit me. If I could write even three pages a day, every day, for four months, I’d have 365 solid pages written in my book—that’s a whole book right there!

If that’s not an exciting prospect as a writer, I don’t know what is. Well I decided then  and there that that’s what I’m going to do. If I can keep to this regimen religiously for four months, then I should be able to pop out a book by late January!

I’m going to be starting this schedule next Monday and keep track of my progress, and I’m hoping that this schedule can help inspire anyone else out there who, if you’re like me, seems to put a lot of effort into writing, but doesn’t know where all your pages really go after you write them. I’ve got countless half-written stories logged away in the deep recesses of my hard drive that I took a break from and never got back to them. I’m hoping that if I’m writing at least three pages a day, I’ll see this book through.

I’ll be going into more detail on this “four months to publish” track in my next blog later this week, but it’s pretty straightforward. Write three pages a day and you’ll have 365 pages written in four months. I’d love to have others start this with me. Some encouragement goes a long way to keeping you on track with your goals. Hopefully if somebody else out there does do this, we can both have a book to show for our hard work at the end of the four months.

Leave a comment if you would like to do this. Like I mentioned, I’m planning on starting my three pages a day for four months next Monday (the 24^th), but you can start any time that is right for you.