Four hour rule

[ShelbyDawn57]

I came across this article from Inc, and thought I’d share.

https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillma...s-its-the-secret-to-doing-great-work/91241021

 

[StillStunned]

I keep telling my wife about this, but she just says, "Shut up and keep thrusting! You're done when I say you're done!"

 

[TheRedChamber]

As a hobbyist writer, I try to grab what time I can to write. Four hours is luxury. Any more than that and I definitely slow down. As a planner I need time to think about what to write next and thats not often best done sitting at a keyboard.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I keep telling my wife about this, but she just says, "Shut up and keep thrusting! You're done when I say you're done!"

Kinda thinking this should be in Emily’s ‘multiple male orgasms’ thread.

 

[Yogma]

IMHO, there are swings and roundabouts to this approach.

Yes, limiting yourself to just four hours writing at a time is going to make sure those four hours are very focused, but does it hurt consistency over a longer story?

I only get to write part-time, between work and other activities, so as a result I always struggle and have to guard against character inconsistency, especially where a character's thoughts and motivations may be subtly evolving over multiple chapters. Therefore, whilst the four hour rule might be beneficial for maintaining focus whilst writing short stories or self help books, where every couple of pages can be its own topic, I do wonder if it is the best for long-form stories?

 

[PennameWombat]

I came across this article from Inc, and thought I’d share.

https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillma...s-its-the-secret-to-doing-great-work/91241021

Well, never seen this laid out so succinctly before. But, for my brain, much now makes sense.

For most of my working life, I was a software developer. I found that if I handled 'scut work' in the mornings (reports, meetings, etc.), if I could get a solid burst for the afternoon, that was my hard core coding time. During crunches, I'd do that, then a couple of hours of physical activity (soccer, ultimate, similar), dinner, then back to it.

More or less, two bursts of about four hours each, with a 'turn off brain palette cleanser' in between. I needed some down time after the 'two-a-day' bursts, but I was effective that way for a few weeks to two or three months.

But that also meant that for most of that time, any sort of effective creative writing was not in the cards. Just didn't have the brain power.

Only now that my work is cut to next to nothing, does my brain get the writing time (although I leave it to others to read my work here to decide if it's "effective" .)

 

[PennameWombat]

IMHO, there are swings and roundabouts to this approach.

Yes, limiting yourself to just four hours writing at a time is going to make sure those four hours are very focused, but does it hurt consistency over a longer story?

I only get to write part-time, between work and other activities, so as a result I always struggle and have to guard against character inconsistency, especially where a character's thoughts and motivations may be subtly evolving over multiple chapters. Therefore, whilst the four hour rule might be beneficial for maintaining focus whilst writing short stories or self help books, where every couple of pages can be its own topic, I do wonder if it is the best for long-form stories?

Most of my stories are long-form, if by that you mean multiple tens of thousands of words or multiple long(ish) chapters. These take me weeks regardless, so making sure I'm consistent across characters, timelines, etc., is its own exercise. There's no way I could knock out my usual 20,000+ stories in one or even two sessions. I do some of my shorter ones in less time, but those aren't the majority of what I post here.

But also, I often intend for character's to evolve or drift over those story times. So long as the changes are organic, or traced to specific story elements, all good.

 

[iwatchus]

The surface rule, for me, would be wrong. But I think I agree with the rationale for the rule, which I would describe as "work while you are productive, and no more".

In many ways, I write like a programmed for fifty years. For me, once I get productive, I want to ride the bull until it ends. The stuff I write like that is actually better. My best story is 27K and I wrote the draft in a day and half, walked away for most of a day, than finished editing in two more days. Five days from original concept striking me to submission. The stuff I grind out, a few hours a day, is not nearly as good.

My point is that we are all different and we will write differently. Don;t try to write like you read a bestselling author does, write the way that works for you. That doesn't mean don't try things that you read about, maybe they will work for you. But do something because it works for you not someone else

 

[Rob_Royale]

Monday through Friday I write for an hour a night. Sat/Sun I take four hours for myself, two in the morning and then two on the afternoon. It's been over a year since I've been able to write for longer periods. But, this schedule has been working pretty well for me.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I wish I had 4 straight hours to write per day. That said, you just need to follow your own flow.

 

[avabacchus]

I start work at 7:30 am and end it at 4:30. My drive to write waxes and wanes throughout the day. When it wanes I do other stuff, edit things, get stuff ready to post here, draft Patreon posts, etc. I don't make myself reach a specific word count or number of hours of just writing. Some days I write the whole time, other days I only write a little.

 

[Texienne]

I keep telling my wife about this, but she just says, "Shut up and keep thrusting! You're done when I say you're done!"

"If your erection lasts longer than four hours..."

 

[StillStunned]

"If your erection lasts longer than four hours..."

"...you're probably married to a redhead." Yep.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

"...you're probably married to a redhead." Yep.

I guess the question is, are they a prerequisite or an effect?

 

[Areala-chan]

I guess the question is, are they a prerequisite or an effect?

Yes.