This is K.M. Island and you are listening to the four hundred ninth episode of the Helping

Writers Become Authors podcast. I've always said I don't like word count

goals and I really don't they put the emphasis on the word count rather than the word

quality plus they have the potential to add a kind of frenetic urgency to your

writing time which can be stressful and rob some of the fun.

My optimum way to write is when I'm in a flow where I'm getting good daily word counts,

which for me is usually around 1,200 words, but I'm not pushing for it.

But I go through cycles where I need word count goals.

For whatever reason, distraction seeps in,

and I just start lolly-gagging and procrastinating through writing sessions and getting nowhere.

And that's no fun either. When that happens, like it has lately, while I've been distracted and pressured

by finishing up some of my remodeling projects before the cold weather hits for good, I return to my standby system, which is typing like a madwoman aiming for 300 words every 15 minutes. This lets me have a

breather every 15 minutes when I check my progress but also keeps me rolling

along in this story. No obsessing over perfect word choice, no editing as I go. It's intense, but the results are very worth it.

And now I hope you enjoyed this week's podcast, five not so little additions to the great novel

writing checklist. Learning how to write a successful novel is largely a matter of memorizing and mentally tracking the vast number of parts that make a story run.

Honestly, this alone is sometimes the hardest part of the entire job. There's a lot to remember, which is why today

we're going to look at the second part of our great novel writing checklist.

Two weeks ago I started off the checklist with the five most important big or

foundational elements you need to make sure you're including an acing in your

writing. They were structure, character

arcs, theme, setting, and point of view. Without these beauties you either

...