The Pace You Set is the Right Pace

The speed you do your work at is the pace that’s right for you.

For a long time, apart from regular blogs, my writing pace was nigh on glacial.

Granted, there were fits of intense writing where I went multiple days at a time creating my work. But then they’d be followed by days, weeks, even months of no fiction writing at all.

At the time, apart from my blogs, I was a hobbyist writer. Although I love the art and I was creating some cool stuff – but it was not my vocation.

During the height of the pandemic, the opportunity to put my writing front and center came into being. To go with that, I created a new set of goals and laid out an ambitious pace to write at.

My goal is to publish 6 novels throughout 2021. The intent is to have a book edited and published every other month – until the end of the year. February, April, Jun, August, October, and November.

So far, so good. The first book of my new sci-fi series, Forgotten Fodder, was published in February. The third book of The Void Incursion was published in April. Now, in June, the second Forgotten Fodder novel is about to be published.

This is part and parcel of the pace I have set for myself. To meet it, I have created a spreadsheet of daily goals that include editing at least 1 chapter of a finished work and writing a minimum of 1500 words of fiction (this includes plotting as well as the true writing of a book).

The pace I have set is not for everyone. But it’s important to have a pace set to get from point “A” to point “B” no matter what it is you are doing.

My pace is not for everyone

I feel that the pace I’ve set for myself for this year is perfectly reasonable. Nothing is stopping me from dramatically increase my offerings as much as I have set out to do.

But I have been told by some that they think I’m nuts for trying to keep this rate going. To my way of thinking, 6 novels – each under 60,000 words – is perfectly sound.

Sometimes I forget that for some people, writing 1 novel is a challenge. Writing 6? That’s approximately 300,000 words too many – let alone in a year.

Yet this is what I’m doing. Hell, as of this writing – in June, hence mid-year – all 6 books are complete. They are at one stage of editing or another but finished.

This pace works for me so well that I’m planning to repeat it in 2022. Four more books in Forgotten Fodder, the third Source Chronicles novel, and the fifth and final Void Incursion book. PLUS – I expect to start my new Savagespace sci-fi series.

This pace works for me. It cannot and will not work for everyone. Many people, even other full-time writers, are incapable of this speed. And that’s okay. My pace is not your pace.

As much as I’m a creative, I have a heavily analytical side I tend to ignore or disregard. But I do so at my own peril. This is why, undisciplined, I wrote in fits and starts for a long time.

Now, applying the analytical aspect of my brain and setting a pace – I find my creativity has expanded and exploded.

But that’s me. This is not for everyone.

No one true way – no one speed

There is no one true speed or pace to work at. But too many industries refuse to recognize or acknowledge this. Hence, we wind up talking about “falling behind,” look at analytics and metrics to be met to get shit done and make ourselves veritably schizophrenic trying to match these ideas and live up to those notions.

How many businesses have metrics that they strive to meet based on no reality whatsoever? Quotas, insane production goals, and a pace that doesn’t take individuality into account in the slightest? It is any wonder lots of offices are seen as beehives full of drones?

Productivity is all too often measured in corporate America via such metrics. The reality, however, tends to be a few people can meet and exceed them – while the rest cannot. Balance, thus, is created to match achievement.

But then, inequality gets created, emphasized, and exploited along the way.

If you don’t work in an office setting, this works differently. In some instances, the metrics and quotas are much more personalized – but still might not take into account the individual. Hence, people will work themselves literally to death to reach some insane set goal that’s not tailored to them in the slightest.

As an independent – whether you’re an artist, entrepreneur, or the like – you get to set the goals for yourself. Yet that can still be challenging – particularly when you need to make enough money to pay your bills. Finding the right pace to do your thing and make money doing it is fraught with a lot of different challenges (which is a separate article I shall consider writing in the future).

Reasons to choose a given pace

Since I write sci-fi and fantasy – rather than the “great American novel” trope – quantity matters. After looking at the models of other authors, I see how more is more. Offering a larger number of titles opens the way to becoming a known quantity.

Granted, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. But to put that piece in place I have set my current pace (look at that poetry!)

To show that I am a serious author – I need more published works. What’s more, I need a finished series (since both The Source Chronicles and The Vapor Rogues are unfinished and have been for some time.) By the end of 2021, Void Incursion will be one book from completion, and the first four Forgotten Fodder novels are a singular story arc from start to finish.

To be perfectly blunt – this pace is not for everyone. It’s a pace that would not have worked for me when I was writing as a pantser. But now, writing as a planner, it’s utterly attainable. And I am thoroughly enjoying this work.

I have followed my passion here. Though still a work in progress – it’s ongoing, and pleasant, and makes me happy. This is me following my joy.

There are other pieces of the puzzle I am working on in addition to the speed with which I finish said work. They, too, are done at a pace that works specifically for me.

This is the pace that’s right for me. The speed you do your work at is the pace that’s right for you. Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t “keeping up with the Joneses.” Be true to yourself, your craft, and the pace that feels more right along those lines.