1. Justin Rocket 2

    Justin Rocket 2 Contributor Contributor

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    Increasing daily word count

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Justin Rocket 2, Mar 28, 2015.

    How do you increase your daily word count? I'm averaging about 500 words per day. Once that's done, the well runs bone dry. I'd like to get up to 2000 words per day.
     
  2. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Do you think about your story at times when you're not writing?

    I find I get a lot more words written when I think about my book throughout the day. Rowing machine in the morning - exercise sucks, so think about the book. Imagine I'm one of the super-fit characters, working his muscles in preparation for battle (or whatever) - what ELSE am I/the character feeling and thinking about? In the shower, driving to work, in a boring meeting - I think about the book. Then when I sit down to write, I'm already excited and interested and have lots to say.

    ETA: Alternatively, you don't worry too much about only doing 500 words a day. If you can maintain that, it's two books a year, which is a lot more than a lot of writers manage.
     
  3. AASmith

    AASmith Senior Member

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    As what BayView said, I produce more words when I have a plan as to what I will write about next in my store, thus I spend a lot of time thinking about my book during the day. Do you carry a notebook with you? I do, so whenever an idea pops into my head I jot it down just in case I forget it later. I also found that writing down one idea gets the juices flowing and I end up writing down a lot more ideas. Also you have to assess the obstacles you reach at 500 words. Are you bored? Tired? Lazy? Writers block.
     
  4. Aled James Taylor

    Aled James Taylor Contributor Contributor

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    If you can average 500 words a day, that should be fine, don't worry about it. Just make a point of writing every day.
     
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  5. Christine Ralston

    Christine Ralston Active Member

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    I would worry about quality more than quantity. Some writers may write 2,000 words in a day, but then need to spend days revising it.
     
  6. Justin Rocket 2

    Justin Rocket 2 Contributor Contributor

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    Well, for me, revision isn't included in my time. I typically get 500 words for the scene I start today, revisit and edit the scene I worked on yesterday and maybe add another 100 words to it, then revisit and edit the scene I worked on the day before yesterday and maybe add 100 words to that. Of course, that's my goal for today. I'm usually closer to 500 words total per day.
     
  7. AASmith

    AASmith Senior Member

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    If I were a full time writer then righting more than 500 words a day would be a goal of mine but considering I have a full time job, a husband and kids, If i average that per day It would not bother me. I think the important thing is to write what you can as much as you can. Personally I dont focus on word count, rather time. I want to write for 1 hour a day during the week and maybe 2 hours a day during the weekend and other days I have off.
     
  8. DeadMoon

    DeadMoon The light side of the dark side Contributor

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    My goal would be to just write more and not focus on word count. It could be a story, blog, or a rant on my hatred for Katy Perry and Mily Cyrus.... As long as I am working on getting my writing tighter with less revisions, word count (at least for right now) is not a goal for me.
     
  9. kfmiller

    kfmiller Active Member

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    I'll bang out 2k or 3k words one day and then not write for a couple days after that. I'm finding it better to limit myself to 500 words each on both projects I'm working on and then writing my thoughts right underneath so the next day I remember where I'm going. I don't count doing some light editing on things I write previously in the 500 words. This seems to be helping me be more consistent.

    Edit: Like AASmith I have a husband, four kids, and other job so my time is pretty tight.
     
  10. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

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    500 every now and then is fine, but to limit yourself to that number at every passing day is just restricting and i don't think that's beneficial for any writer. Of course it might be the max some people can do due to life events and their jobs, but for people who have an excessive amount of free time should at least pump out 1,000-2,000 words a day.
     
  11. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    2 000 words a day is eight good-sized novels a year. That's what you think people should be producing?
     
  12. AASmith

    AASmith Senior Member

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    I don't think anyone is saying to limit themselves, rather that if 500 is all you can do, then that is okay.
     
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  13. Logik

    Logik Member

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    I find that by combining time and word count together I can write more. In other words, I set a time limit for, say, two hours, and in those two hours I set a word count of 1500 words. With both limits working together the rest of the world disappears and I have to write until its done. It's like taking a test.
     
  14. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

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    We're writers aren't we? It doesn't have to be every day, but that's what people should strive for if they can. They're not obligated to. I'm just saying that if you really want to be on top of your writing, you should make that a goal.
     
  15. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Why?
     
  16. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

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    Because we are writers. We don't have to, but if we want anything to come out of what we do, that would secure higher chances of getting somewhere. The more work you put in, the better.
     
  17. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I don't think writing eight books a year is going to improve your chances of getting somewhere worthwhile. We need to spend some time refining and reflecting and improving, not just churning out words.

    I mean, I'm a pretty prolific writer, but eight books a year? I think they'd just be gobbledygook.

    Do you produce eight quality books each year?
     
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  18. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

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    Practice makes perfect but whatever, many people on here love to bohoo. Reading will help as well, if that's what you're getting annoyed about. And i didn't say you had to publish everything you write either, most writers only publish one or two books per year.
     
  19. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Well, I think practice should be mindful and reflective, not just throwing words on a page. It's not about "boohoo", and I'm not getting annoyed. I just don't understand why you would think people "should" write that much.

    Again, do you write that much yourself? Do you find that it's improving your writing?
     
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  20. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

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    Yes, i write that amount most of the time. I find it has improved on consistency and many other noticeable things from my writing in the past. I'm nowhere close to the world's greatest writer though, and probably never will be. I'm only 17, (close to 18) so there's still plenty of time to grow and become more articulate in the writing world.
     
  21. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I'm in agreement. I would never discourage people from writing in whatever method works best for them, but just churning out 500 words a day isn't necessarily a 'goal.' I agree with what was said earlier, that THINKING about your story as much as you possibly can is equally important. I have found that my 'away' time is often more productive than my actual writing time. Sometimes it takes ages for a plot problem to solve itself, and writing constantly instead of thinking just compounds the problem. Churn it over in my mind long enough, though, and that 'eureka' moment will arrive. (Keep a notebook handy to scratch down ideas, bits of dialogue, etc.) Then I get down to business and write. I can churn out 12,000 words per day, when I'm inspired like that. I once wrote for 16 hours straight, not including bathroom breaks and the occasional screen break for a cup of coffee. Then other days I don't write at all. But I am ALWAYS thinking about my story. Every spare minute, really.
     
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  22. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

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    If you wrote that much for just one year, that's four million, three hundred and eighty thousand words. That's quite vast.
     
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  23. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Yeah, but that's not something I do every day. At all. Only when I'm inspired. That was a record for me, actually. 16 hours and around 12,000 words (one of my longest chapters.) I remember that my husband was away on a little trip at the time, and I had the house entirely to myself, and a few days off work as well. Bliss. Many many days go by and I don't write at all. However, I'm always thinking about my characters and my story. They are as deeply imbedded in me as anything else in my life, really.
     
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  24. domenic.p

    domenic.p Banned

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    If you spend time thinking out the story, you don't need to try and up the word count...you already know the story from the first word, to the last word. If you try and make up a story as you go along, you will keep running into a dead end. Yes some famous writer make it up as they write, but what they are not telling you, they have a plot from start to finish in their head...after thinking about it for a long time. I think, and makes notes for a year, or more before I start to write.
     
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  25. Jack Asher

    Jack Asher Banned Contributor

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    Chuck Palahniuk was half way through writing Fight Club when it occured to him that [Main Character] and Tyler Durton where the same person. Shamylan was 10 drafts deep in The Sixth Sense when he realized that his main character had been dead the whole time.
     
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