I spent the last several days mapping out the major blocks for the second book of the “Those Who Own the Words” trilogy. I’ve been thinking about this book for quite some time, so much of it was easy to put to paper. I had to work out a few kinks, not unusual for this stage of the novel-writing process.
With the major mapping in hand, I have started on my standard five-pages-per-day pace for the writing. This involves writing five pages every day, Monday through Friday. That brings me to 25 pages per week or about 100 pages per month. After three months at this pace, I’ll have a first draft!
A few rules I try to follow: If I fall short on any given weekday, I have to make up those pages on the weekend. This allows me to maintain 25 pages per week even if some days get away from me. If I run long at all, either because I write more than five pages or do some bonus writing on Saturday or Sunday, I don’t get to bank those pages. I still owe 25 pages the next week.
This pace works well for me. I knocked down my first five pages today, so I’m off and running!
Michael Robert Evans 