Wanting to be Prolific

It's been raining in the afternoon for several days and I haven't been able to get my daily walking exercise in. For once, it didn't rain this afternoon so I got into my walking shoes and stepped out for a brisk 30 minute walk. As my feet pounded the street, I reflected on what my future might be.

Writing was a new love and I'm still determined to have a go at it full time. Can I support my family with my writing? I don't know. I've read about a lot of authors who have to work full time and squeeze a little time into writing. Obviously, they are struggling. I guess it's important to focus what little time you have into doing what you want. For us, it's the only way.

I sometimes wonder how other authors do it. They entered into writing about the same time I did and they're churning out three, four, five, or more novels per year. That's astounding creativity! And what's more is that they're actually selling lots of books. Most of them, I found, are full time authors and they keep writing...non-stop.

How do they do it?

I've discovered two types of these prolific authors:

Type One - is organized; he/she prepares a storyline or outline of the story and uses that as a guide to keep typing.

Type Two - is a make-it-up-as-you-go type of author. A master of converting thoughts into typed words.

I happen to sort of lean toward Type Two though I'm hardly a master. If those other authors are making four or five novels a year, they've got to be typing non-stop for hours on end. Sometimes I envy their ability to think while typing.

Some time ago, I read about an author (who's name I can't remember) who rented out a hotel room, somewhere only his wife knew (with instructions that she was not to call him unless it was a matter of life or death), and brought along his typewriter. For the next week or so, he kept typing away, used up about  two reams of typing paper and produced a novel. That's quite a feat considering that he'd been using a manual typewriter. Evidently, he needed a quiet place where he could work in private, without any distractions and interruptions.

At this time, I'm probably not at that point. Besides, I'm still working and I don't want to use too much of my precious vacation time. Once I get my own computer though, I'm thinking of spending Saturdays somewhere else rather than home, just to get things done.