Writing Sessions: How Short Is Too Short?

[ThatNewGuy]

What's your answer to this question: "I won't sit down for a writing session unless I have at least X minutes available?"

For clarification, we're talking about using a writing session to add brand new stuff to your draft, not edit or revise scenes you've already written.

Ten minutes? Maybe you don't mind jumping in cold and dashing off a couple paragraphs or a few lines of dialogue while you have a quick break.

An hour? Maybe you feel you can't be productive unless you have a nice block of time to really settle in and get back into the groove.

What's your threshold?

 

[Voboy]

Depends.

If I have a nagging idea I'm dying to get down, usually after I've been in the car, I'll sit down and rap it out in however long it takes... three minutes? Five?

Usually, I do want at least half an hour though.

 

[onehitwanda]

A word is enough.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

I take the time when I can get it, since even five minutes allows for a paragraph or three, particularly if getting ideas down is the goal. Cleanup and polishing can take place later when there’s more time.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I usually give myself an hour or so, knowing that if the words really start to flow, I'll want longer. Like now, for example, do I tit about on the forums, go start work, or go write five hundred words...?

 

[Voboy]

I usually give myself an hour or so, knowing that if the words really start to flow, I'll want longer. Like now, for example, do I tit about on the forums, go start work, or go write five hundred words...?

"Tit about" is a new one for me. I like it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

"Tit about" is a new one for me. I like it.

In the event, twenty-five minutes, and a brief few hundred words. Gotta go do some work now, that's a bummer.

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

Generally, if I don’t have at least 20 minutes, I will edit what I’ve written instead of writing new stuff. Editing can be quicker and takes less creative energy, so I can squeeze it in briefer time periods than writing.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Oh boy, okay, let's nerd out with my stats:

When it comes to handwriting, I'm at an average writing speed of 17.3 words per minute, and that's both in my native tongue (Spanish), and English. I'm basing this at the amount of words I've gotten so far when writing about the same thing for 365 days, since I counted my total bulk of words when I reached to Day 200, which is a total of 105974 words, averaging at 529.87 words per day. I rounded down to 520 words, and my sessions always lasted between 20 and 30 minutes, so I went for 30 minutes because that's how long they have been lately. 17.3 words per minute.

In my phone, however, I can write between 25 and 27.5 words per minute, because that's the average of my writing sessions there: 10 minutes, and the last times I've averaged 275 words instead of 250. On the computer however, I am at 37.5 words per minute; which means I can write 750 words in 20 minutes. Indeed I can push 1500 words in 40 minutes, and even a bit more. I think I've done 3000 words in 60 minutes at my best.

If I was writing in Spanish instead of English in my computer, the speed actually doubles. I've gone on the record of writing 6000 words in 60 minutes.

So... my answer to that question is the middle finger. My perfect burst writing session is 10 minutes, but if I can't spare 10 minutes, I'll spare 5 minutes. if I can't spare 5 minutes, I'll spare 1 minute. If I can't spare 1 minute, I'll spare 30 seconds. The only minimum I have is one word further. That's it. And I don't want more time to write, I want to have more words in the same amount of time that I have to write.

Fuck long hours of writing! Set up five seconds on the clock and I'll start writing like my life depends on it, because if there's no deadline for me, the amount of words will always be zero.

You might be interested in this article. It's what triggered me into writing a novel through 10-minute sessions.

https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/the-9-minute-novelist-how-to-write-a-novel-quickly

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

I do not know how you guys write on your phones. I was dumb and didn’t take my laptop on vacation and I got the bug and wanted to write and did some in notepad on my phone and by the time I got it transferred at home, I might as well have rewritten the entire thing because it was so full of typos and fat fingers that I couldn’t believe I’d actually written it that way and not noticed. I guess I can’t see anymore either, lol.

I do want to time my writing - see how many words an hour I produce, like Kitty knows. That’s pretty cool.

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I do not know how you guys write on your phones.

Yep. I've written on my phone a few times in a pinch, but I hate it. I need to be at a keyboard so there's less of a barrier between my brain and the page. Lord knows my brain needs all the help it can get.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I can type as quickly on my phone as on a keyboard. Comes with practice. Editing and formatting is a git, though - I save that for the PC as much as I can.

 

[ThatNewGuy]

A word is enough.

I'm dating myself, but this made me think of the game show "Name That Tune."

Contestant One: I can start that writing session in five minutes.

Contest Two: I can start that writing session in three minutes.

Wanda: One word.

(Audience gasps.)

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I do not know how you guys write on your phones. I was dumb and didn’t take my laptop on vacation and I got the bug and wanted to write and did some in notepad on my phone and by the time I got it transferred at home, I might as well have rewritten the entire thing because it was so full of typos and fat fingers that I couldn’t believe I’d actually written it that way and not noticed. I guess I can’t see anymore either, lol.

I do want to time my writing - see how many words an hour I produce, like Kitty knows. That’s pretty cool.

Yep. I've written on my phone a few times in a pinch, but I hate it. I need to be at a keyboard so there's less of a barrier between my brain and the page. Lord knows my brain needs all the help it can get.

The article I linked? That's what prompted me to give it a try. I just did ten minutes, and I got hooked. However, @SinclairGroupLLP I can see your point. One of the reasons I don't write faster is because I tend to get a lot of typos too, and autocorrect loves to do its thing from time to time, so I had to whip it into shape to the point where I wanted to send a text with the word "Colombia" on it, and it turned it into "coño," which is the Spanish word for cunt.

Still, I did it for so long... it was just a matter of practice. I do find more enjoyment handwriting however, even if I get tired from it after a while.

 

[Erozetta]

I do not know how you guys write on your phones. I was dumb and didn’t take my laptop on vacation and I got the bug and wanted to write and did some in notepad on my phone and by the time I got it transferred at home, I might as well have rewritten the entire thing because it was so full of typos and fat fingers that I couldn’t believe I’d actually written it that way and not noticed. I guess I can’t see anymore either, lol.

I do want to time my writing - see how many words an hour I produce, like Kitty knows. That’s pretty cool.

I have multiple keys on my keyboard not working properly. Typing things up on my phone lessens my typos at the moment, lol

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I can type as quickly on my phone as on a keyboard. Comes with practice.

Absolutely fair. I should work on getting more comfortable typing on a phone. It would open up more opportunities for writing.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

Phone typing for me is pure stream of consciousness when I’m on the move or away from home. It helps when an idea is ripe and needs to be noted asap before I forget it! Then I’ll clean up the mess when I get home.

I think for me, a solid hour is a good minimum for a writing sesh. If I only had ten minutes, I’d use it to clean up the small bits I’d already written.

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I have multiple keys on my keyboard not working properly.

Oh, man. How long have you been dealing with that? I'm pretty laid back about most things, but once a key on my keyboard decides it's only going to obey my fingers when it feels like it, then we have a problem.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I'm dating myself, but this made me think of the game show "Name That Tune."

Contestant One: I can start that writing session in five minutes.

Contest Two: I can start that writing session in three minutes.

Wanda: One word.

(Audience gasps)

onewordwanda

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I'm at a point in my life where I mostly really have time in the brief in between moments. So I write mostly with my phone... In 5-10 minute intervals or less.

Sometimes I can get a sentence in. Sometimes a paragraph.

I do wish I had that consistent space again in my life where I can sit for 2 hours at my laptop in a quiet place and let an entire scene come out. I have to think slowly to be creative (I'm a slow thinker). But I do what I can with the time I have available to me, and 5 minute increments do add up quickly...

 

[TheRedChamber]

I find that having an hour before starting work is exactpy enough time to knuckle down and make good progess on a story. Two is luxurious. On the occassions where I have all day, I rarely even get started.

 

[THBGato]

Usually, I do want at least half an hour though.

A word is enough.

Agree with both. I'd be happy if all I added to a story was a single word BUT if I'd had less than 30 mins, I'd feel annoyed because maybe I could have done more with more time.

On the occassions where I have all day, I rarely even get started.

So true. Fixed, limited slots are Best.

 

[iwatchus]

I find that having an hour before starting work is exactpy enough time to knuckle down and make good progess on a story. Two is luxurious. On the occassions where I have all day, I rarely even get started.

I like unbounded chunks of time when i am productive, especially in the morning. I am often up for three or four hours before my SO and that is most of my writing time. I have the luxury of time, since I am off for the summer. And only one more school year to teach before it is all my time (well mine and my SO's)