Writing Faster + My 2020 Publishing Goals

If there's one thing that's plagued me recently, it's the reality that if I want to reach my publishing horizons, if I want to truly reach my goals as an author, I've got to start writing faster. I'm the kind of writer who types fast (above or at 103 WPM, usually) and drafts quickly, but I'm detail-oriented and self-critical to a devastating fault. Therefore, in retrospect, I suppose my issue isn't writing faster. It's publishing faster. The problem? The reason that I write in the first place is to enjoy the worlds I create, to truly live a life there, experience the full depth and breadth of it. While publishing faster is obviously a far better career move, publishing more slowly is better for my mental health. There are two types of writers in this world: those who write to publish, and those who write to WRITE, and I have always been the latter. While drafting, you've unlocked a door to another world, which you can walk into and through whenever you'd like — until you publish. Then that door closes FOREVER.

Such are the trials and tribulations of blending art with business, I suppose!

I've been grappling for a while over whether or not I should attempt traditional publication again for the fantasy series I've had brewing for nearly seven(!) years. It's a book *I know will sell* due to how commercially appealing and unique it is. But it's scary to think that once I've lined that up for traditional publication, I'll officially be working under contract. I'll have a very small window of time during which I'm allowed to explore each installment of this world, and then I'll have to lock that door behind me forever. That sounds like agony.

I try to reason with myself by acknowledging that as of now, I spend around two to three hours a day writing. That's it. Why? I'm a full-time editor. If I were to publish traditionally, I would basically be able to stop working my "day job" and start writing full-time for EIGHT or TEN hours a day the way I used to a few years ago. Wouldn't it all even out, then? Wouldn't I end up spending the same(ish) amount of time on each book, the only difference being the time being spread out as opposed to condensed?

I guess there's only one real way to find out — and that'll be to do it. I really do hope to submit the first installment of my fantasy series to Pitch Wars in November of this year. Honestly, there's not a lot Pitch Wars itself can teach me about publishing that I don't already know — it's the fact that I'll get to zip out of the slush-pile and stand in a spotlight before literary agents that catches my attention, so that's what I'll really be going for.

Now, to finish writing A Dark Sky Opens in order to polish that first installment! I'll have an insane amount of writing to do, but here's to hoping I'll be able to pull it off. <3