How many words is 1000 words? When writers write, they tend to put a “quota”
of 1000 words per day on themselves, so as to be in the habit of “writing” 1000
words. How long does it take to write
1000 words? And if a writer does have
that self-imposed quota, is that just 1000 rough draft words that may end up
being total crap? Or does it include
editing, to write 1000 useful words each day, as a chapter start or scene or
whatever? I guess I’ll make this a blog
post, but started in Word rather than on blogger.com, because Word is counting
the words for me in the lower left corner of my screen, and it’s not very many
so far… so I’ll just keep “writing” to know.
Here is a non-story of a non-writer writing. Stephen is an actual writer, both of
screenplays and novels, and he has a partner that he works with to get their
stuff either published or produced. The partner
is still living and working in Los Angeles, where we will be by July, and at
that point, Stephen will be able to join him at networking events, readings and
book signings, and whatnot. In the
meantime, that’s all on the writing partner, and the writing still happens in
two places, to my knowledge.
I, on the other hand, am not a writer, as I’ve said. I started a blog in December of 2013, but I wasn’t
really sure why. More than likely, I needed
to supplement my sitting at the computer playing games and checking emails and
facebooks with something else at the
computer. I’d already started
shipping things Stephen had listed on Amazon, and I was having such a great
time participating in raising funds for our coffers that way, that I decided to
start selling other items on ebay. The ebay
store took off, and the Amazon store went to “simmer,” and I kept shipping
things out. I got better at taking
pictures of my items; I got better at finding the right categories to list
things in; I got better at writing
descriptions. A-HA! I guess I am a writer!
So it only makes sense, then, that I should also start a
blog. I didn’t need one more thing to do
at the computer. What I really needed,
and still do, is stuff to do away
from the computer. That will be taken
care of when we get back home to Los Angeles.
In the meantime, I still check emails.
I check bank accounts and pay bills.
I check Facebook. I check a few
film industry websites, looking for work.
I apply for film industry gigs. I
check ebay and maintain a decent inventory flow. I play Mahjong, Minesweeper, and
Solitaire. I blog about how weird
selling things online is. The only thing
I ever really do away from the
computer is ship sold items, check our physical mail, and drive into town for
weekly grocery shopping.
Stephen doesn’t need an excuse to step away. He’s got a four- or five- days per week JOB
that he has to drive into town for. When
he leaves for his job, he’ll kiss me goodbye and encourage me to step away from
the computer. It’s hard to find a reason
to step away that doesn’t involve getting in the car but does involve a trip beyond the sofa. Especially on a day like today, where of all
the locations whose weather I check (online, of course), we’ve got the
worst. It’s not that our weather is
particularly bad today – it’s
overcast or scattered rainy, and only 54 degrees. Everyone else has either warmer temperatures
or sunnier skies or both. I gotta get
home. Ain’t no place for me to go today.
So I sit at the computer.
This particular post is now at 645 words, up from 585, since I went back
and added some stuff to the first paragraph.
And normally, most of my blogging would end about here, if not sooner. It’s taken me fifteen minutes or up to half
an hour to let these words spill out of my brain through my fingertips, which
is “normal” for me, but then I like to “preview” my posts and make sure that
everything sounds right… that can
take another hour before I publish. Then
I hit that button, and go back in to “view” it so I can “share” it on
Facebook. Then off to another bookmarked
page or a game or something.
My jaunts at the desk aren’t boring, at least not for
me. I don’t stay too long on any one
page. If one of the games I’m playing
just can’t be won, I’ll close it and go back online. If everything I’ve needed to check online has
run out of updates, I’ll open a new game.
If both of those situations “peter out” then I’ll probably take some new
photos of a couple more dolls to list, which I can then tweak in Paint before
creating a new online (ebay) listing. Everything
is connected to the computer, and a good bit of it involves writing. But between blogging and ebay listings and
emails and Facebook stati and comments anywhere, I probably do not write 1000
words each day. I’m trying to get there
with JUST THIS POST but I’ve run out of commentary, and I’m still 100 words
shy. 100 words!
I can see folks who carry the label “writer” and who also
put the 1000 word quota on themselves being able to hit 1000 words easily in just an hour or two of
inspiration. Folks who write for their
living and do nothing else probably
put a much larger quota on themselves, like 5000 or 10,000 words. Because if you’ve got ALL DAY to let the
words spill out of your brain and onto the page, 1000 words will come
easily. 10,000 may not. I have just put 1000 words on this page for
you.
:)
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