Practice is something I tend to go on about, but most of what I've learnt about writing comes back to this again and again. I recall when I wrote the first draft of my first novel. After reading Lawrence Block's Write That Novel I felt suddenly inspired, or perhaps his no nonsense style got through to me. It doesn't matter now. What does matter is that I finally planned to sit and get this novel down.

I figured I could handle 1000 words a day. Come hell or high water I'd get those words down. And I did. I warned the family this 1000 word goal was imperative. Nothing could stop me getting it done. This meant sometimes I had to write after dark and after dinner. For the first time hubby complained about my needing to get those words done at that time. I simply asked him to help me get them done earlier and I wouldn't need to do them later, when he wanted me sitting companionably by his side in front of the TV.

The novel took me three months to write. I don't recall writing on Sundays, but every other day I wrote the required 1000 words. The feeling of reaching THE END and knowing I'd done it - there's nothing like that mixture of relief and achievement. I felt like I'd read the best book ever and like I'd fallen off a cliff. I went in and told the family. They kind of glanced up at me and nodded. That deflated me a little, but not for long. I shared the news with my online friends and felt a whole lot better. I'd only achieved something many dream of yet never actually do. I'd written 100,000 words and called it a first draft of a novel.

I've achieved that several other times since, but wanted to get back to that practice word. Each time I sat down to write I achieved those 1000 words in a shorter and shorter time. I went from it taking me an hour and a half to tap out that many words to getting it done in around one hour. That was for my first attempt. Later I found I could write up a serious 1500 words or more in around forty minutes. In two forty minute sessions I could get roughly 3000 words written and sometimes more.

Practice.

The very act of sitting down and writing my stories had made me faster. Having a goal also helps. There's nothing harder, believe me I did it with my first draft, than sitting and not really knowing where you're going. I recall the times I sat there in despair. I'd written my characters into a corner and there was no way out. It took much craftiness and cunning on my part to get them out of those situations. I don't know how many times I had to back out and change the entire lead up, just so I could make things more credible or give my characters a way out.

But the rest of that can be for another entry. I don't want to waste potential blog entries by doubling up.