{"id":48122,"date":"2019-06-03T00:34:22","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T07:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=48122"},"modified":"2019-06-03T00:34:22","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T07:34:22","slug":"writing-targets-word-count-time-spent-or-chunks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/writing-targets-word-count-time-spent-or-chunks\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing targets \u2013 word count, time spent, or chunks?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Many people swear by writing goals. Perhaps it\u2019s all about time. Timers allocate a given number of minutes for each writing session \u2013 say thirty minutes each morning, or a couple of hours two or three times a week. Or perhaps they are less motivated by time and more by the number of words written. Word counters set themselves a target for each and every writing session \u2013 five hundred words, a thousand, two thousand words. They don\u2019t stop till they\u2019ve churned out the required amount.<\/p>\n

I tend not to do either of these. I find time and word counts both interrupt my train of thought often at inappropriate moments. So instead I write in chunks. I\u2019m doing that right now as I\u2019m book writing under deadline pressure.<\/p>\n

I thought it might be of interest, particularly to thesis and other book writers, if I described chunking. Perhaps you do something similar too.<\/p>\n

To begin, I spend time writing an initial road map \u2013 a\u00a0tiny text<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 for the paper or chapter. I then amass the various bits and pieces that I think I\u2019m going to use \u2013 quotations, bits of data (my writing\u00a0mise-en-place)<\/a>. Chunks might also include pieces that have been written in thirty minute pomodoros, but in my case they generally don\u2019t. Sometimes I put these pieces in a separate document, organising the bits into the order of the tiny text. I often have various books and PDFs open on my desk top and on the floor.<\/p>\n

At this point I\u2019m ready to write chunks. I always start with the introductory chunk, as this sets the tone and argument thread for the whole piece. After I have the intro done I revisit my tiny text and make any adjustmentsI need to. I then work out how many steps there are in the argument to come. Each step is a section of the paper with heading. Each step is a chunk. I can then match the number of chunks I have to write to my available time.<\/p>\n

My current book is made up of chapters, each of which is about 7000 words. So after I\u2019ve finished each introduction draft I typically have three or four chunks left to do for every chapter.<\/p>\n

My preferred method is to write a chunk in one sitting. Occasionally it takes me two sittings to complete a chunk. But mostly it\u2019s a chunk every time I sit down to write. And almost always, at the end of completing a chunk, I spend some time thinking about the next one. I make a few notes about what comes next so I know, when I return to the writing which may not be the next day, what I was thinking.<\/p>\n

My chunk writing is always about assembling. Writing paragraphs is about placing the collected materials into surrounding text. It\u2019s much more analogous to making a mosaic where the outline is already traced out, and the pieces are standing by. The text needs to be composed, put together, glued with new words and sentences. But unlike a real mosaic, a written chunk can be deconstructed and re-assembled if it isn\u2019t pleasing.<\/p>\n

So writing in chunks is not the same as writing to a word count or writing to time. Chunk writing usually looks and feels a bit stop-and-startish while it\u2019s happening. I work consistently at the screen but swap between referencing, copying, or cutting and pasting. Sometimes it becomes obvious that I need something not at hand and I\u2019ll either stop and find it, or leave a marker that I can come back to at the end of the chunk-writing. I do a clean-up at the end.<\/p>\n

Chunk writing always seems quite creative, seeing the various elements come together. I like to keep the flow going so that, in reality, I spend more time on writing new text than in inserting or hunting and gathering. I also try not to edit what I\u2019ve done too much as I know that this is a first draft. I\u2019ll get another go. And another.<\/p>\n

Writing a chunk of text, of variable length, but usually between one and two thousand words \u2013 sometimes a bit shorter or longer \u2013 usually takes me the best part of a morning.<\/p>\n

And invariably in between chunk writing sittings I\u2018ll have a few thoughts about things that I have left out, or things that I need to do differently. I write these down on anything \u2013 back of an envelope, or notepad \u2013 and I begin the next chunking session attending to the forgotten and omitted. I find that beginning a chunking session adjusting the existing text sets me up for what I aim to do that day.<\/p>\n

I like chunking. I find it\u2019s a remarkably efficient way of writing. I can generally get a book chapter draft done in four or five sittings, sometimes even only three.<\/p>\n

For me, the magic trick in writing in chunks come from focusing on one step in the argument at a time. I keep the current step at the forefront of my mind. I don\u2019t worry about what\u2019s come before or what is to come next. I don\u2019t get distracted by the whole. I just focus on this bit. Here. Now. You write a whole, not a part. You stop when you\u2019re done. And it\u2019s very satisfying to make the last full stop knowing that you have advanced the chapter by taking that one more step.<\/p>\n

Perhaps chunking is something you might want to try too as an additional goal-setting strategy. It doesn\u2019t have to be all about word or time count. Or perhaps you have another strategy altogether?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many people swear by writing goals. Perhaps it\u2019s all about time. Timers allocate a given number of minutes for each writing session \u2013 say thirty minutes each morning, or a couple of hours two or three times a week. Or perhaps they are less motivated by time and more by the number of words written. […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":48123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[295276],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-48122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-writing-goals"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWriting targets \u2013 word count, time spent, or chunks? - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/writing-targets-word-count-time-spent-or-chunks\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writing targets \u2013 word count, time spent, or chunks? - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many people swear by writing goals. Perhaps it\u2019s all about time. Timers allocate a given number of minutes for each writing session \u2013 say thirty minutes each morning, or a couple of hours two or three times a week. Or perhaps they are less motivated by time and more by the number of words written. 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