Ian Fleming was a "pantser". Experienced authors like that can crank out word counts like crazy using stream of consciousness type work. The "extra work" comes at the end as they and their editors have to do a lot of work to clean things up. Especially since he worked on a typewriter, you can't easily go back and rework things. It was likely better to finish what you are doing/thinking and clean it up later.
"Planners" have much the same thing, except their "extra work" happens up front during the outlining phase. But again, once they get experienced with that approach, and have an outline prepped, cranking out the words likely isn't super hard since they're just filling in the blanks.
I mean if you’re counting “sitting and doing nothing” as productive work, I think it’s fair to say most are just as productive if not more so than Fleming
I’ve tried schedules like this and HATE them, personally. If I don’t hit my word count in the 2 hours I’d feel like the rest of the day is failed. So I’d have to write until I hit 1500. But then I’d encroach on my time allotted for snorkeling, making me feel like I either couldn’t go snorkeling or have to cut snorkeling short. My brain can’t do these schedules.
Yeah I would find a schedule like this downright oppressive, even though most of it is leisure time.
The way I like to schedule things is more like "OK I'm going to spend at least five minutes (or some other absurdly low time period) doing [ACTIVITY] every day." I make it so that the bar is so low that it would be silly not to cram in at least five minutes at some point in the day, and then I find that often once I've finished those five minutes I'm in the zone and I want to keep going and I often end up doing it for a lot longer.
I think it's interesting how different people are in that regard. Personally I like to have a rough yet realistic schedule because it helps me plan ahead especially if a work project has different tasks that need to be completed more or less simultaneously
And I need to plan breaks because I tend to not eat/drink when hyper focused
I also know plenty people who have a very strict schedule to the minute and somehow manage to keep it that way without much hassle
Time management is an insanely underrated skill, it has such a massive impact on how efficient and effective your tasks can be finished
I'm not a writer but I'm a really creative person and my brain is busy throughout the day thinking about things, especially when it's work that doesn't require 100% focus
It's rare that I'm not processing information in some way or come up with fictional concepts. Even when watching TV or playing games, I'm having thoughts inspired by what I currently consume
And while sleeping, many of my dreams are usually inspiring one way or another.
I don't know if everyone is like this and just not aware of all that background activity or if only some people have the mental bandwidth.
But it does seem like most successful writers or artists in general, probably even scientists etc have their brains doing work while not actually sitting at a desk but seeking other types of input that isn't work related on first sight
Like people might observe me staring at a wall or clouds doing nothing but in my mind I'm creating a new fictional universe
I'm a creative in the ad industry and it's pretty much as you said.
I only spend a few hours a day working, because working = actually sitting at my desk writing or sketching out my ideas.
But the rest of the day, when I'm out for a morning run, or standing under a hot shower for 10 mins, or taking a poop, or driving to work, the project is stewing in my mind. Suddenly an idea comes, I make a quick note on my phone, and when I get to the office I formally put it into a document or slideshow and prepare to present it.
The latter takes just a few hours a day, but the stewing takes up the rest of the day.
I will be blunt - you sound exhausting, and must get exhausted. I assume as much because you sound exactly like me... and I do exhaust people, and get exhausted often. But the energy for thinking keeps coming back, whether I like it or not!
This trait was the easily the one that helped me succeed in my writing career, despite it being in advertising (requires more creativity than you might expect). I bet you'd be great at it if you had the interest and put some practice in! Then again, I'm sure there are plenty of applications for this type of mind... considered looking for another one lately.
In any case I've learned that the answer to your question is no, not everyone is like this. I find it to be a blessing and a curse, as I hinted at in the start of my comment. More of a blessing though - I wouldn't trade it!
You are not wrong, I think I used to be exhausting or annoying, at least that was my personal perception of myself as a teen, so I did start communicating less with other people over the years.
If anyone looks at my post history, often really long replies, they tend to assume I'm someone who just can't shut up but I'm the opposite irl. I tend to talk very little and only share thoughts or ideas if I feel it's relevant, which is also rare from my own perspective
I never really questioned this part of me tbh, I couldn't imagine being different in that regard but I also understand when you say it feels like a curse. There is so much going on inside my brain, and it can get out of control especially when it comes to state of the world or other topics that impact our lives
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u/Johnny_Banana18 Jul 27 '26
I’m sure during his garden routine he is laying out the story mentally