3 hours per day

"In the days of the typewriter, a double-spaced page with 1-inch margins would hold an average of 250 words. So you could assume that since 4 pages = 1000 words, 240 pages = 60,000 words, which was the typical length for most mainstream and mystery novels." But then again I'm not writing a mystery novel. If anything fashion, money and world food are the overriding themes. And I'm working slow, about 2,000 words per week, but constantly, 3 hours per day, every day, feeling the rhythm under my fingertips, like a first time long distance runner, drinking water, checking my pulse often, erring on the side of caution. All my life I had written poetry, which was like running into a dark forest in the middle of the night until passing out and then checking if the images were good in the morning. I remember having to sleep for three days straight after a particularly taxing poem. You can't do that with the novel. Or you could, but then you would probably end up killing yourself in the act. Or you could end up burning out within a few days. The novel is a mature, slow, repetitive process. You need lots of light, a comfortable chair, naps, soup, a good sex life, snacks, and some wine on the weekends. If you feel yourself going too fast, you must check yourself, if you feel yourself giving into lyricism, you must check yourself. Checking yourself without stifling yourself -- that's the thing. Controlled freedom is the thing, for the resources are finite and there's a long, long way to go. The goal simply being, making it to the finish line.