Today is IWSG Day. IWSG stand for Insecure Writers Support Group and was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of IWSG is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! You can follow other IWSG members here or on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG. We also have a Facebook page.
Today our question is How do you find the time to write in your busy day?
We all know the answer to that: we just do it, because we all find time to do what we really want to do. Okay, I know you’re all expecting a better answer than that, aren’t you?
Being retired, I guess it’s pretty easy for me to find time to write, so let me tell you about a guy I met a few weeks ago at the Killer Nashville Conference.
Robert Randisi (standing beside KN founder Clay Stafford and dressed in the I’m a Big Deal tee) writes something like 25 books a year. He’s written close to 700 books with 15 pseudonyms. He was born with the ability to write fast and works on two books at a time. Specifically, twenty pages of a western during the morning and 20 pages of a mystery at night. Sounds insane, doesn’t it? I can’t imagine. Well, yes, I can imagine and it sounds mentally painful. Oh, how I wish I could do it!
Randisi says he has a “natural speed” and if he slows down he can’t get anything done. He doesn’t call it a talent. He says he has an ability. He can write 10 pages in one hour.
Quoting from my notes, he says character comes first and he never writes from an outline. Don’t ask him where he gets his ideas:
“If you can’t open your eyes each morning and see an idea, you shouldn’t be writing.”
Randisi believes in writing his stories all the way through. No revision as he writes but overall, very little rewriting. Someone asked what he did if he realized he made a mistake while writing the story—did he go back and change it?
No, he doesn’t. He explained that if he sends his cowboy out of the boarding house without his gun, instead of rewriting the scene, his character says, “Dang, I forgot my gun,” and goes back to get it. It works for him and adds to his word count.
He’s often invited to participate in anthologies. He told us that once he finishes the short story, he’ll write it as a novel. No, he doesn’t change names, plot or anything … he just makes it a bigger story.
Robert Randisi co-founded Mystery Scene Magazine around 1985. (I’ve been a subscriber off and on for years. Check it out.) He also co-founded American Crime Writers League, founded The Private Eye Writers of American and created the Shamus Award which is awarded by the PWA for the best detective fiction genre novels and short stories of the year.
As you’ve figured out by now, Randisi doesn’t waste his time. Most of us do. No, he doesn’t have little feet padding through the house, and yes, he’s been accused of being a hack. From his own lips:
“I view the word hack as a good thing.”
We should take a few pointers from Robert Randisi. Focus. Write. Don’t mess around with editing as we go. By his own admission he’s not a wordsmith—he’s a storyteller. What are you? Ever thought about it?
I can find nothing wrong with the Randisi writing method. I picked up one of his books in his Rat Pack series and it yanked me in and kept me reading. The guy knows what he’s doing.
And he’s a good guy. Granted, he was perplexing at the conference. An enigma. We stared at him as if he might, at any point, laugh and say “Gotcha! No one can write 40 pages a day!” He never did.
He answered our questions over and over again—the same questions put to him in several different ways. We didn’t understand him. We still don’t.
Doesn’t matter though, because while we write and revise and think awhile and run to the kitchen for a snack, blog and tweet and post on Facebook (he does none of those things) he’s pounding the keys. And he doesn’t understand us, either.
When asked how he wants to be remembered, Randisi said: “As someone who told a good story and usually did
the right thing for the right reason.”
Wow, Robert Randisi. He really is a big deal. I liked him a lot.
Take a look at his latest book, The Honkey Tonk Big Hoss Boogie. Set in Nashville, it’s gotta be a good read.
Great advice you are passing along. Randisi is fully utilizing his life, and I hope we do the same. He is definitely an excellent example.
All the best.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat Garcia
Pat, I wish I knew what my natural speed is. ? I find that fascinating.
Wow, he does sound amazing! I’m working on two different projects, in two different genres, at present and finding a bit challenging to jump between the two. It’s so impressive that he can alternate between a western and mystery and churn out so many pages in each one each day.
Sounds like you’re doing great, Ellen. Hang in there and it’ll become natural to you to have two projects going. We gals do it all the time in our lives but maybe when we stop to think about it, we get a little overwhelmed.
I can’t decide whether that’s inspiring or just terrifying. I definitely believe in a natural speed, but I’m positive mine isn’t anywhere near 40 pages a day. Maybe if I got to where I wasn’t working my day job, too…
Oh my, Karen! It would be terrifying if you had to write on two manuscripts AND keep your day job! 🙂 I think the trick for him is that his cowboy protagonist is pretty much the same guy as his detective… only different. Thanks for dropping in
I’m more of a wordsmith. And my natural speed is set at slug.
I find this pace thing fascinating. I can write the first draft fast but I’m a slug during revisions. I’m not sure fast is my natural pace though. When I start my next project I’m going to pay closer attention to my word/page counts. I’d love to train myself to write 10 pages a day. GOOD pages!
Fascinating. And so is Randisi.
You make some good points here. At the end of the day, we do what we want to do. Most of us, anyway. Lots of distractions, lots of planning, thinking. And all the while, Randisi is writing, publishing, telling his stories.
This makes me want to sit at the desk and let the magic happen…20 pages a day. Could we produce at that rate? Maybe not, but we could surely improve. I know I want to.
Did he say if he always wrote that much, or did he work up to it?
He meets his quota but if he doesn’t, he makes up for it the next day. Very structured man but … do I dare tell you he often writes in front of the TV? Yikes!
Oh, do you mean did he start out writing that much? No, he retired when he was about 30 so I think he set his quota then. I’m sure he trained himself to write that much … or maybe just let himself go.
I took a course once on writing fast. If you write five pages on Monday, then write six on Tuesday and keep increasing until you hit your target. I might have to revisit those notes.
That would be awesome.
Except I don’t work in terms of “pages.” Word count? About 300 words/page?
And yeah, what about writing a western? Oh, man. I already have my hero’s name…
My hands are over my ears, Heather. I can’t heeearrr yoooou.
I could NEVER write in front of the TV! I struggle with distractions. I can rarely write if there’s even someone else at home!
I tried writing in front of the TV once and could probably do that… Just writing not editing. But don’t put me in my office and let me hear my hubby walking around and in the kitchen! Now that’s a distraction! ?
My new idol! Stuck in fast forward with no rewind. Great post, Jessica.
Love the way you put it! Wish I was stuck on fast forward. ?