I'm often asked to describe my typical writing day. This used to be easy. At the beginning of my publishing career, I thought nothing of spending at least five hours a day at the keyboard. In those days, I churned out five books a year on average.
Now I'm older (though not necessarily wiser) I've slowed down considerably. My daily word goal used to be 4000-5000 words. These days, I'm happy to accomplish 1000. However, I like to think they are 1000 good words that won't need a lot of editing.
I am a list maker. Every day I use an Excel spreadsheet to schedule a list of tasks I want to accomplish. On even days I sort the list from A to Z, on odd days Z to A. So, my current Work In Progress doesn't always fall at the top of the list.
However, I have to confess I don't always complete the list in order. I tend to put off jobs I don't want to tackle. Since I enjoy writing, that task often works its way up the ladder!
When I sit down to write, I always read over the last chapter I wrote and tweak a few things. With some books, I've paused two or three times to edit what I've written so far. Other stories just seem to flow so I don't feel a need to edit until the end.
Some days, inspiration comes easily and it's nothing to write well over 1000 words. Certain scenes are easier to write than others. Descriptions of intimacy between partners who love each other take time. I want each hero/heroine to have their own unique experience.
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