THE DAY
Okay, so here’s the thing. Let’s break this all down because this is important.
Here are the stats re: that very LONG short story I just shot off to the editor. (Yes, I made my deadline. I always make deadlines. In fact, if there is one piece of advice I can give any writer…make your deadline. There are no excuses, short of being on a ventilator–which actually happened to a writer I know. Yes, his editor forgave him. But editors are people who have jobs, and their jobs are predicated on picking the right people with the right product to slot their work into the right niche. Okay? Think of it this way: when I was in practice, you booked my time. If you didn’t show, I didn’t make any money. Forget the treatment issues. You were booking my time. If you’d bought tickets to the opera or something, you can bet you would’ve busted your butt to get there because those tickets are expensive. An editor deserves the same respect. You bought the ticket; so deliver already.)
Anyway, let’s think about this. Here are the stats, more or less.
WRITING OUT LOUD
SHORT STORY: CHIMERA
Day 1: 1000 Day 11: edit day/18,000
Day 2: 2200
Day 3: 2100
Day 4: 1200
Day 5: 3300
Day 6: 2000
Day 7: 3400
Day 8: 1250
Day 9: 5200
Day 10: 7400
So, you do the math. I ended up writing about 29,000/30K in about 10 days and, for a story that I will only be paid for up to 6500, I ended with 18,000 words.
Was this a good use of my time? Think about it. “Good” is predicted upon where your priorities are, right? If I’m trying to earn a living, this was definitely NOT an efficient use of my time. (In fact, go try to read folks from the pulp fiction era. Very hit or miss, but you can understand why. They were writing as fast as they could. It didn’t need to be Shakespeare or even very good. It just needed to be done.)
So I would NEVER make a living working this way. I worked way too many hours for way too little a reward. Could I have done better? Sure. I don’t ALWAYS write LONG short stories. If you give me an absolute word limit, I’ll honor that and I would have done so here, but the editor pretty much said, look, this is what I can pay you for, period. So I knew that going into this.
No matter. For me, the loss was worth it. A) I really wanted to finish something. B) Most importantly, I wanted to give the story its due.
Could I have told the story in less words? Sure–but then it wouldn’t be this story either.
I have a friend who once decided that his work was worth about $50/hour. Well, no way I’ll make that–but that’s okay.
Still, I’m a writer. I can’t operate at a loss forever. So it’s important for all writers to pay attention to this.
Writers are traditionally paid by the word. Dickens was and authors have been subsided like this from the dawn of time. So it really does behoove any author decide to how much her time is worth–and budget accordingly. That’s what the pulp fiction writers did. They probably knew that some of their stuff was crap. Did they care? Probably–but they probably cared more about not starving.
If you’re an accountant, I operated at a loss. I didn’t use my time efficiently, even though I worked very hard. For me, it wasn’t a loss–but I am lucky to have a husband who will feed me until I can pull my own weight.
Think about it.
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Blog Post: 645
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What I’m Reading:
Gosh, I haven’t found a blessed thing. HELP!!
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What I’m Watching:
Motive. Growing on me. Also caught up with The Americans (bet I posted that) and The Blacklist. Is it me, or are we missing Megan Boone? I love James Spader, but he needs someone to play against. Oh, and the series needs an arc now.
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What I’m Listening to:
Nothing. NOTHING!!!
