Productivity as a writer over time

ChloeTzang said:

I am sooooo happy the Aussie thing did that for you

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Fair dinkum. Uh, cobber.

KeithD said:

Actually writing matters more than pretending you are.

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This truism carries over into other fields too. I'd cite governance, but then this would go political. ObTopic: The vast majority of LIT authors don't write for any marketplace. Why fret about productivity in an amateur activity?

When I decided to actually write and post something to Literotica, I wanted to get a bunch of stuff online as quickly as I could write it. I had no backlog of previously-written stories, so I rushed to get ideas down, edited, and posted so that I could see if anyone liked the stuff I wanted to write.

I figured if nobody like it, then I would know and I could do something else. Also, by trying my hand at a variety of short story ideas and styles of writing, I figured the feedback and ratings would give me an idea what I should write going forward.

I am probably borderline or undiagnosed bipolar, so I tend to write like mad for long stretches and then I struggle to write anything good for a while. So, from May to October, I put out 34 short stories / chapters. One short story in November and one new chapter this month. The chapter I just put out may be the most disliked thing I have yet written.

However, you can hardly compare my little 3-5 Lit page short stories or chapters with the novels other authors publish on this site. Also, if you have several hundred pages of stuff written that may end up being added to a story in the future, do you count it as "productive" writing before it ends up being used?

2011: 2 stories
2012: 1 story
2013: 0 stories
2014: 1 story
2015: 3 stories
2016: 0 stories
2017: 0 stories
2018: 1 story posted; 1 story that should post before year's end; 1 story first-drafted, but which needs significant editing and probably won't post before 2019
2019: aiming to complete stories for the Valentine's, Summer Lovin', Halloween, and Winter Holidays contests, to finish editing the aforementioned 2018 first draft, and to complete 2–5 other stories I have outlined and/or partially written

I'm not very prolific. How some authors are able to churn out stories at a rate of one (or more) per week is something I honestly can't fathom. In 2019, I'm going to try entering some contests, not because I expect to win, but because I'm hoping that having external deadlines will force me to work more efficiently. I can't seem to self-impose deadlines.

LexxRuthless said:

Also, if you have several hundred pages of stuff written that may end up being added to a story in the future, do you count it as "productive" writing before it ends up being used?

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I would count any writing you've done as productive (even if it isn't published yet) as well as some other things.

Example: I currently have 4 sagas (lol) ongoing in Lit...not on purpose, but just happened that way. I find it difficult to be fully devoted to one story because sometimes I get bored and want a change of pace.

If you look at my posting dates on Lit, I posted 7 parts of a story within one month in 2016, then nothing until July 2018. Since I started posting again, 40 stories/chapters. About half of that was written during my hiatus.

In combination with posting on Lit, I'm also working on several not yet published stories/novels (I'm scatter brained, so there's at least a dozen in the mix).

Any writing is productive, as long as it keeps you in the practice of it. I also spend a lot of time mentally hashing out plots, like when driving or working, so I consider that "writing" as well.

Viz the above, BIPOLAR comes in one flavor DISORGANIZED FUGGIN MES. Mess is the key word NOT production. I say youre undisciplined.

2005 - 19
2006 - 11
2007 - 29
2008 - 33
2009 - 20
2010 - 10
2011 - 09
2012 - 28 *
2013 - 16
2014 - 28 **
2015 - 12
2016 - 12
2017 - 07
2018 - 04
Total- 238

A Non-erotic story I wrote in February of 08 started my mainstream career in 09. Since then my writing here at Lit has been for fun. So I can add 6 novels and 18 young adult novels since 09. And those are just the ones published. I have a dozen or so backlogged or stockpiled shall we say.

My published stories on Lit has gone down but the word count has went up. Mainstream isn't all that much fun but I laugh all the way to the bank so it evens out.

* 2012 was the year I took off from Mainstream while i swapped over to Young adult novels.

** 20 stories in 2014 were chapters of an old book I finally got around to posting. So that actual total was 09.

We're doing numbers? I got numbers.

2013: 27
2014: 45
2015: 14
2016: 6
2017: 0
2018: 25 so far
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total: 117

avg: ~20/year overall, ~30/year when active -- I took a +2-year break. PS: About 42% are hot. There were more but I was heavily bombed, leading to that break in writing. </whine>

Also a few dozen poems/songs I since deleted. Songs are easy. I can churn out a dozen a day, in odd meters and schemes. I've finished successful 1-LIT-page stories in a couple of hours. Yes, I can be 'productive' if I desire -- just switch into writing-machine mode and proceed. As long as it's not 'work'.