I've recently come to realize that I am a sprinter--not a marathon runner--when it comes to writing books. When I write, my fingers fly: in a really good session, I can put down 2,000 words in an hour or two. But then I'm wiped out. I can't take a short break, then return to my computer to whip out the next chapter. I need a couple of hours, or even a day or two, to get my writing mojo back.
I actually like running this way, too. If I'm running a road race, I like picking someone ahead, sprinting to catch up, and then walking or slow-jogging until it feels like my lungs won't burst out of my chest. Then I sprint for my next "victim". I have tried the other way--running at a steady pace--but guess what? I achieve the same rate, almost always finishing those 5Ks in around 35 minutes (I never claimed to be a FAST sprinter...), no matter how I try to run it. But my legs are a lot happier if I do the sprint/rest thing.
Until I realized I was a writing "sprinter", I got angry with myself. How could I write a chapter so fast and then "laze around" after that? WHY couldn't I keep the pace up? Why? Why? This was particularly annoying to my librarian side, who enjoys setting little schedules and goals for how many chapters get done in a week or a month. Sprinters do not always cleave to the little schedules, but we always reach the finish line in time!
Now I understand that I write in bursts, and rest in bursts, and that's OK. Some people do it very differently: they put out two or three pages every day, without fail. Either way, I bet we reach the end of our project at about the same time.
Fellow sprinters, you might want to check out fun motivational things like NaNoWriMo (though this requires sustained sprinting over an entire month, so eat your Wheaties), the more gentle JoNoWriMo+1.5, or the take-as-much-punishment-as-you-like Write or Die online tool.
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