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Rob True's avatar

I agree. I never bothered with word count achievements. Hemingway did five hundred words a day. Some days, I might do two hundred words, others, I'll do two thousand. It don't matter. The only reason I know is, the number is at the bottom of the page. I don't aim for anything. I write what I write. I never had a schedule either. Never had a certain time to write, or an amount of time to write. I can write at the crack of dawn, or at midnight and beyond. I often find meself writing after midnight, in the Devil's hours, of the dreamtime. Afternoons, mornings, it's all the same to me. I reckon nighttime is special for me, but anytime'll do. I write when the fever is upon me.

I never get stuck. People say, "Don't wait for inspiration!" but I'm always inspired. To me, saying 99% hard work, 1% inspiration is like saying 99% shell, 1% pearl. But the flames from Heaven strike me daily. Maybe I'm lucky. I got no gate between my conscious and subconscious, so my Demon feeds all the time. But I ain't too fussed if I knock out fifty or a thousand words. The only structure I have is, I tend to write in twenty-minute to half-hour shifts, with a break between the next shift. Twenty-five minutes shift is my best performance. I recently found out that's a thing, can't remember what it's called, an Italian name for it. But for me, I got no choice. I can't work any longer. Half-hour's me lot, and then I malfunction. Need a five, ten-minute rest to go again. And the amount of shifts I do in a row varies. I don't care. As long as I make progress, I don't mind.

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