Blitz Writing

Writer: Bryan Mitchell

Every November 1st, writers line up at a starting line with one plan in mind: write like crazy for the next 30 days. They call it NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

Did you know that at 5000 words a day you’d have 75,000 words written in just 15 days. That kind of progress is amazing and hard to sustain, at least for me. Sane people (yes, I said it) don’t have time to write like that. Most people average 500 words a day, which means they reach 75,000 words in 150 days (5 months). If you think about it, that’s not all that sane either. I’d rather finish it sooner. Tomorrow would be nice, but I’ll settle for three months.

What can a writer do to finish the rough draft and not feel like it took them a half year to do so? We need to have blitz days! My plan is to have one blitz day a week.

My current rough draft is sitting at 16,000 words. I’ll chip at it with 500 words here, maybe 400 or 600 words there. But when my blitz day comes, I’m going full blown loony toons on it! I’ll let the people in my life know what I’m up to, so they’ll know why I’m talking to myself and sporting an Albert Einstein hairdo. I’ll have my notebook on hand and my laptop to carry around with me. Though I usually do some revising before getting into new territory, I’ll make a point to only focus on the new territory.

Here’s the thing. I can sit in front of a keyboard and look at an empty Word document for hours. The Charlotte Readers’ Podcast has a good show that talks about procrastination and how it can actually help, but blitz day isn’t the day for that. I won’t procrastinate on a blitz day, and I’ll avoid the triggers that cause me to do so by preparing.

Each week, as I’m dialing up the story and revising along the way, writing 500 or so words each day, I’ll also make plans for the blitz day. I will have several scenes in mind, and I’ll write them as clearly as I can on the first sweep. When I finish them, I’ll see how I did on my word count and if it happens to be 1000 words, I will fill in some details. But if I reached 5000 words and there’s still time to do more, I may get a jump start on revising and editing. Then again, If I’m ready for the next scene, I may keep on going.

While the laptop will be essential, the notebook and pencil will be just as important. (Maybe a dictionary too), because new ideas pop up all the time. I use notebooks to keep records on my work, and if a new idea changes the story, I’ll use the notebook so I can make changes wherever its necessary. That won’t stop all logical errors, but it’ll help.

I won’t put a cap on my blitz day word count goal, but I hope that it’s astronomical. 1000 words won’t be enough. That’s just doubling my daily average. But 2000 words isn’t too bad. If I hit 5000 words, I’ll reward myself with a chocolate milkshake. My plan is to do this on Saturday. I’ll get up early and get going before the rest of my house does.

My long term goal is to complete my current rough draft by the end of National Novel Writing Month. I know it’s doable. Who knows, I may finish it this Saturday if my fingers don’t fall off. It’ll be a little difficult to type with my toes and I little too ridiculous to use my nose. Of course, I could use dictation software to get it done, but I prefer to type.

Good luck to you on your writing journeys.

Bryan Timothy Mitchell is a US Army Veteran, a husband, a father, a brother, and a writer. His first novel, Infernal Fall, is a Fantasy novel. It will debut on October 25th, 2022. He has a B.A. in English and an M.S. in Computer Science. Sometimes, he’ll pick up a guitar and go to town. He loves reading but not while horseback riding

Writer’s website: Bryan Mitchell