Do you set aside a time each day to write? Do you write five pages stream of consciousness then trim it down into something that makes sense? Are you a planner? Do you write in a notebook? Do you write once, edit once? write twice, edit once? Write once, edit thrice?
I don’t have a consistent process. I’ve been experimenting with writing in a basic markdown editor, maybe 500 words at a time, then stringing together multiple entries as best I can. What I find is I have lots of ideas and thoughts that are separate, and critical to my ability to form complex thought is correlating multiple seemingly unrelating things, which then creates a new more complicated and hybrid whole. I can’t sit down and write 5,000 words on one thing, but I can write 500 words on ten things, and then use that as the basis of a mosaic piece that (when edited well) comes together into a unique whole.
I am working through writing my first novel, and I started at 1600 words/day in an attempt to keep up with NaNoWriMo. Now, though, I do about 300 words/day. I bang out a scene or two each day, out of order, based on whichever part of the story I want to add to. When I meet my final word count goal, I will reorganize and rewrite the whole a few times so that the story makes sense.
Are there any pitfalls to the consistent 300 words/day? Do you find that on some days you just can’t output good work, or maybe that you consistently avoid certain parts of the story that you don’t know how to write?