I’m working on typing a draft of my next book. It’s already written out, and I expect it to come
out between 55000 and 60000 words. How
long will it take to type it? Hey, that
sounds like a math problem. Let’s plug
in some numbers for an estimate.
If I type 60 words per minute (I don’t know, but I think
that’s reasonable.) and 3600 words in an hour, it should take about 16
hours. Even if I have no more than 4
hours a day to type, the draft should easily be finished in a week, right? It’s already been a week, and I’m not
finished. Let’s apply some life to those
numbers to find out why.
Reason #1 – My handwriting is awful.
Every few sentences, I need to pause to squint at the page
to figure out what a word is and ask myself why I wrote something that doesn’t
make any sense until I figure out that I guessed wrong the first time. Oh, that says snowy night, not swervy right.
Reason #2 – I edit as I type.
Sometimes I have to stop because I find a glaring continuity
error or a stilted conversation or something else that needs immediate
attention. There will be more editing
later, but if something is really bad it can’t wait. Or if a character says, “Come up with something
witty to say here when you type this.”
Yeah, I leave notes to myself in the draft when I’m really stuck.
Reason #3 – I can’t type fast enough.
I read what I’m typing, which should go without saying. Now and then, I come to a part that I don’t
remember very well. I’ll get impatient
and stop typing to read ahead because I need to see where it’s going. If there’s something I don’t like, see reason
number two. It’s easier to change
something as I go than to back up after I realize a conversation is confusing. And if I don’t find anything I want to fix, I
might look up and realize I’ve been reading for a half hour while not making progress
on the typing.
Reason #4 – I get distracted.
Yeah, this should probably go without saying, too. Who doesn’t get distracted? Sometimes I hear the washer shut off and get
up to put the clothes in the dryer. Sometimes
the phone rings. Sometimes I remember
that I’m sitting at a computer with internet access. Sometimes I look at the calendar and notice
it’s been a month since my last blog post.
Sometimes I grudgingly push the typing aside to work on that.
Reason #5 – My fingers get tired.
Have you ever typed for four hours straight? I don’t mean just sitting at a computer or
even composing as you type. I mean
trying to keep up a constant rate of words per minute. That math problem assumes I am a robot. If I manage 90 minutes or so with nothing getting
in the way, the tiny muscles in my fingers begin to protest by aching and slipping
onro the erong keya mote frequently.
When I sense a sharp increase in backspace use, it’s time for a break.
Break’s over now, back to work for me.