Hi Jonathan,

As an aspiring writer myself, i'm just wondering if you set yourself a target each day of how much you want to get down on the page - a daily routine, if you like, that you try to accomplish. Similarly, when you are working on a project as large as the Bart Trilogy, how much would you seek to do each day?

Thanks very much for taking the time to answer,

Mike

Hi Mike,

Sorry to be slow replying. Good question. Yes, the only way that I can manage to write something as big as one of the Bart books in a fairly short time (usually I'm trying to get the bulk of the writing done within a period of 5-6 months), is to give myself daily and weekly goals. At the moment I'm working on a new book, and I'm aiming for 5 pages a day, 5 days a week - 25 pages per week (I'm talking A4 typed sheets here). Some weeks I'll do it, other times I'm nowhere near, but it helps to keep me motivated without going mad at the scale of the task. You get dismal days when it's all you can do to type a couple of words - these are the times when you need the motivational goal. I don't think you have to do 5 pages - it could be any amount. But a regular aim will get you into a rhythm of writing regardless of what else is going on in your life, and that tends to be when you start writing most fluently (in my experience, anyhow!).

There's a bit more on my typical writing day on my website - www.jonathanstroud.com

Good luck with the writing....

Jonathan