April ‘24: I Do Some of My Best Writing in the Shower
My complicated relationship with word count goals, plus upcoming book releases and events I'm excited about
I love a measurable, quantifiable goal. It’s so satisfying and rewarding to set a target for something — whether it’s aiming for a new max weight on my deadlifts, or a number of top tier press coverage hits for a campaign at work, or a target amount in my savings account — and steadily chip away at it until the goal is achieved.
That’s why many goal-driven authors center their writing practice around word count targets, aiming to write a certain number of words per day, per week or per writing session. And it makes sense; publishers typically strive for a certain average word count for the books they publish, depending on their genre. For example, my contract with Penguin Random House stipulates that my second novel should contain approximately 85,000 words.
If this were any other aspect of my life, I would just take that total number of words, divide them by the number of months I have to write them, and divide that by the number of weeks per month to create a weekly word count goal. Simple, right?
Unfortunately, that’s not how the writing process works for me. For one thing, I’m a long-winded writer. At its longest, an earlier draft of my forthcoming novel, WE DON’T TALK ABOUT CAROL, was 125,000 words. I revised it down to 94,000 before it reached my editor’s desk for consideration. And we’ll see what its final word count is when it hits bookshelves next year.
Which means that aiming for 85,000 words probably won’t get me to the end of the story I’ve outlined for myself. Focusing on word count alone without keeping track of where I’m at in my outline would likely mean missing my deadline, which is something that this diligent rule follower can’t even fathom.
For me, just as the scale only provides one measure of the state of my health, word count only provides one measure of the state of my manuscript.
And just as I only step on the scale periodically to keep an eye on how that aspect of my health is tracking, I keep an eye on how many words I write per session, and how many total words I’ve written so far, just to gauge how that aspect of my second novel is coming along.
I use a modified version of the very handy writing log created by author Matt Bell (template and background in his Substack post, here). I just changed “Time Written Today” to minutes instead of hours, since I can’t often write for hours at a time. And I note the day of the week in addition to the date, to keep track of how much writing I’m able to fit into my work vs. weekend days.
I treat this information like I treat the fitness data collected by my Apple Watch; I don’t pore over it incessantly, but it’s helpful to take a look periodically to see if I spot any interesting trends.
In using this tracker for the past few months, I’ve found that the amount of time I spend writing doesn’t neatly correlate with the number of words I write in any given session. Because, at the risk of sounding like a diva, this isn’t data entry. Even though I’m working against the outline I created to map out the key moments in my story, I spend each writing session figuring out how to connect the dots between those moments — from drafting conversations between characters to figuring out how to weave in backstory to determining when to drop certain breadcrumbs about the mystery my characters are trying to solve. This requires a lot of thinking time.
Which is why some of my most successful “writing” days involve very little actual writing.
In fact, I often think of my biggest plot twists, character development milestones and crucial backstory details when I’m nowhere near my computer. There’s something so freeing about brainstorming while detangling my curls in the shower, or hiking a trail in Malibu, or taking an afternoon walk around the neighborhood. Without the pressure of a timer, tracking log or blinking cursor, I can just let my mind wander, and regularly come up with something that makes me eager for my next writing session.
If you, like me, are relentless about achieving your measurable goals, having a firm word count target per session can set you up to feel like a failure on the days when you add few words to your manuscript, even if you’ve spent valuable time thinking about your project. Plus, the quality of the words I write is more important to me than the quantity; I don’t want to get so attached to reaching a certain word count goal that I write filler scenes that I’d just have to cut later, or continue forcing myself down a path that isn’t working when a head-clearing walk would better serve me.
There are so many ways to approach this writing thing, and none of them are right or wrong. Whether it’s plotting vs. pantsing, setting word count goals vs. winging it, or soliciting feedback after your first chapter vs. your first full draft, it’s up to every writer to find the approach that works best for them, for each specific project. And I think “best” means whatever gets your project done to your satisfaction, while keeping your sanity intact and having a little fun along the way.
If you’re a writer, I’d love to hear about your relationship to word count goals in the comments! And let me know if you’d like me to share my approach to outlining my novel in a future post.
The Cemetery of Untold Stories | By Julia Alvarez | Algonquin | April 2
“Literary icon Julia Alvarez, bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies shares an inventive and emotional novel about storytelling and her homeland of the Dominican Republic…The Cemetery of Untold Stories asks: Whose stories get to be told, and whose buried?”
While We Were Burning | By Sara Koffi | Putnam | April 16
"Parasite meets Such a Fun Age in a scorching debut that is as heartbreaking as it is thrilling, examining the intersection of race, class, and female friendship, and the devastating consequences of everyday actions."
Funny Story | By Emily Henry | Berkley | April 23
“A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry. Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it...right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.”
Lisa Ko: Memory Piece w/ Melissa Rivero
In-Person: NYC (and streaming on YouTube Live!) | April 3 | 7 pm ET | Free / $10 / $28
“The award-winning author of The Leavers offers a visionary novel of friendship, art, and ambition that asks: What is the value of a meaningful life?” “Moving from the predigital 1980s to the art and tech subcultures of the 1990s to a strikingly imagined portrait of the 2040s, Memory Piece is an innovative and audacious story of three lifelong friends as they strive to build satisfying lives in a world that turns out to be radically different from the one they were promised.” Hosted by Books are Magic in Brooklyn.
Jennifer Croft discusses and signs "The Extinction of Irena Rey"
In-Person: L.A. | April 18 | 6:30 pm | Free (but purchasing a copy of the book secures a seat!)
“Join us on Thursday April 18th at 6:30 pm as we welcome Jennifer Croft to the store to discuss and sign The Extinction of Irena Rey. Joining her in conversation will be Sarah LaBrie. This event is free to attend and will be held in the courtyard at DIESEL, A Bookstore in Brentwood. From the International Booker Prize-winning translator and Women's Prize finalist, [The Extinction of Irena Rey is] an utterly beguiling novel about eight translators and their search for a world-renowned author who goes missing in a primeval Polish forest.”
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
In-Person: L.A. | April 20-21 PT | All Day | Free (except for certain panels/events)
"Find your spark at the 2024 L.A. Times Festival of Books, April 20-21 on the USC campus. It’s the country’s largest literary festival…General admission is free and the festival will also feature ticketed events with authors and celebrities.”
Book Launch! Sheila Yasmin Marikar's FRIENDS IN NAPA - in Conversation with Tinx!
In-Person: L.A. | April 22 | 6-7 pm PT | Free
“Six old friends descend on Napa Valley for a luxurious weekend of fine wine and good times…until old tensions simmer to the surface. So much can go wrong in this dark comedy by the author of The Goddess Effect.” Hosted by Chevalier's Books in Larchmont.
Emily Henry discusses FUNNY STORY with Yulin Kuang
Virtual | April 25 | 7 pm ET | $37.35 (Admission + Signed hardcover book + tax/shipping)
“Join Barnes & Noble as we welcome the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, Beach Read, and Happy Place, Emily Henry, for a live, virtual discussion to celebrate the release of FUNNY STORY, a shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common. Emily will be in conversation with Yulin Kuang, a screenwriter and director, whose credits include The CW’s I Ship It and Hulu’s Dollface, and author of How to End a Love Story (out 4/9/24).”
I bought this sweatshirt ahead of last year’s L.A. Times Book Festival, and I LOVE it.
You get to add up to seven book titles of your choosing, curating a wearable bookshelf of your favorites. It’s also one of the coziest sweatshirts I own. It comes in multiple colors, and is also available as a t-shirt!
Thank you so much for reading! Have a topic you’d like me to cover in a future post? Drop me a line here.