In there with the elements of writing—alongside characters, actions, reactions, themes, plots, tension, climax, resolution, and setting scenes with more than stage flats so that readers see, hear, smell, taste and want to pack up and move there—there’s also math. If Millie writes a book of X number of words, how many words per day must Millie write to finish within Y days? Or, if Millie’s manuscript runs X pages, how many pages per day must Millie revise to finish in Y days? It’s not as creative as other elements, but I love the math of writing, too.
*I set myself a math problem with this short piece because I’m in the middle of living Millie’s revision problem. The problem I set: Can Molly write a piece about the math of writing in exactly 100 words? The above paragraph = 100 words. I love writing and the math of writing.
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| Molly and friend working on deadline |
Molly MacRae writes the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes for Annie’s Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter or Instagram.
The unofficial WWK math guy approves.
ReplyDeleteThen there are the addition and subtraction problems for character’s ages and what happened when. Lots to think about, right, Molly?
ReplyDeleteRight, it a character is 70 in 2021, what major incidents did they experience in childhood and college. And don't get me started on the Social Security list of top names for 1951.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jim. Knew I could count on you. :)
ReplyDeleteSusan and Margaret, calculating ages and finding age-appropriate names are definitely more challenges. This writing business keeps us on our toes, thinking caps on!
Ah, the challenge, especially for us those of us who are differently mathmatically enabled.
ReplyDeleteI love your helper.
Thanks, KM. He enjoyed the writing process. Not a natural when it came to spelling or math, but full of empathy (and kitty tuna).
ReplyDeleteI love your cat harness! One of my office muses is lolling on my desk calendar as I type. Yes, the math of words. I still use a NANO spreadsheet that I adapted for multiple projects to keep me on track for daily words and edits. There is something so satisfying about numbers.
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