The Only Rule is Work

Now that we're a couple of chapters into our draft, Ms. Melissa and I decided to do some googling.

We googled word counts and discovered the following:

• The average word count for a romantasy novel is 80,000 to 120,000 words.

• The average word count for a mystery novel is 70,000 to 90,000 words.

After some deliberation, we agreed that 90,000 words seemed an appropriate target for an urban fantasy romance with a who-done-it plot.

Since Ms. Melissa and I both prefer shorter chapters to longer ones, we also decided to aim for a crisp 2,000 words a chapter.

So, last week, I busted out my calculator (yes, I still use a calculator) and did some math.

90,000 divided by 2,000 is 45. Our book will have 45 chapters. That’s a lot of chapters.

If we attempt to draft 2 chapters (or 4,000 words) a week, and we don’t want to write on Sundays, the math looks like this:

4,000 divided by 6 is 667 words a day. That’s a lot of words.

Right now, when we are at the just-beginning stages of our draft, the end of our novel seems very far away.

Motivation is important.

On my desk, where I sometimes do my writing, is a Bauer Pottery tile with the Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules. The pop artist, Corita Kent, developed the rules with her students in the 1960s.

Recently The Corita Art Center collaborated with Dublab to create brief one-to-two-minute audio clips featuring California artists and activists reflecting on each of the rules. It’s worth a listen.

Although there are ten rules, Rule 7 appears in a larger font and states: “The only rule is work.”

Text beneath it clarifies: “If you work, it will lead to something.”

Having faith in Rule 7 can be difficult, but I find it motivating.

It reminds me that writing is a practice. It is a discipline. If I wake up early in the morning, every day, and write 667 words, or 500 words, or 300, or only 50, bit by bit, the story will grow and the book will happen.

Because the only rule is work.