Less is more

I had a curious realization the other night: Sometimes I can write more by writing less.

Let me 'splain.

I was in the zone and had already achieved more than twice my goal word count for the day* and, though I felt myself winding down, I definitely could have gone on for a while longer. However, had I done that, I would have run out of steam in the middle of a scene that I didn't know much about--all I knew was how it started. That meant that following day I would be turning on my laptop to a plotting black hole. *shudders* Uh uh.

Instead, I stopped there. I had the start of the next scene crystal clear in my mind and was eager to jump into my writing time the next day. Much different than the dread I would've been feeling if I'd already written through that bit of clarity and left myself with a plot-less puzzle to figure out the next morning.

My plan worked. It was easy to dive into the next scene and I was able to keep the momentum of the little bit of idea I did have all the way through to the end of the scene. I guarantee my next day's word count would have been dismal (at least painful!) if I'd pushed through the night before.

See? Sometimes I can write more by writing less. :)


*don't clap, really. this book is demanding quality over quantity so my daily goals are small.