I'm at about 41000 words right now. I intend to follow this schedule religiously: -20/06: 45000 words -21/06: 50000 words -22/06: 55000 words -23/06: 60000 words -24/06: 65000 words -25/06: 70000 words -26/06: 75000 words -27/06: 80000 words -28/06: 85000 words -29/06: 90000 words -30/06: 95000 words -01/07: 100000 words -02/07: 105000 words -03/07: 110000 words -04/07: 115000 words -05/07: 120000 words -06/07: 125000 words -07/07: 130000 words I will then have finished my first novel.
You'll have finished the first draft of your first novel. Which is definitely an achievement worth celebrating. But there will be lots more work to do, especially if you're actually going to write it at that rate.
It's a bit over 5k per day. You can do that in about 2 1/2 hours if the words are flowing well. Some could get decent quality out of it, but I suspect most would require a lot of editing.
I can maybe manage 2000 tops in a day. I can only dream of 5000 words flowing each and every day. It will never happen, and I accept that. Best of luck @King Arthur.
I'm doing exactly the same thing! I'm up to 95,000 words and into my 3rd week. I can do 5,000 words if I work for 10 hours haha it's hell lol Although it's only analytical work on other stories. I'm figuring out why Togashi does literally everything he does writing Hunter x Hunter. I'm reading it backwards picking apart each action and piece of dialogue - explaining the immediate purpose of any information as well as the clever disguises and misdirection he uses to hide his twists and information intended for re-implementation. I totally support how hard you're working! I've finally met someone who's experienced the same nightmare as me
Why? What's the rush? Focus on the story. Write well, not fast. No one is waiting anxiously for your book.
Anyone can write that fast if they want to. 5k a day is pretty easy. It's not necessarily going to be good, or well thought out, or interesting to read, but if you're just going for word count it's not overly impressive. However, personally I'm annoyed that people still confuse typing with writing.
Well i'd still be impressed even it was drivel. I don't think I could come up with 5,000 words of drivel, day after day, even if I wanted to. Once, perhaps, but everyday - nah (though if you'd read my book you may think i've done exactly that
The most I ever did in a day was just over 10k. I'm trying to remember what section it was to see if it needed more editing than the rest, but I can't. I don't remember any part needing significantly more than others, so I guess it was up to my normal first draft standard. I did it in a friendly competition with another writer, and it was good to know I can, but I wouldn't do it again. 5-6k is about my limit for a weekend day, 3-4k on a work day. I don't want writing to start feeling like another full time job, because one of those is enough for me.
If that kind of schedule inspires you to get your work out there, more power to your arm. But, as others have said, that's not the end of the writing process. It's only the beginning. If you're a fast thinker, this is probably the best way for you to work. But THEN, once you're done, take some time to relax, get a new perspective, then start editing. It's editing where most of the real work gets done. The first draft is your inspiration made solid. The edit is where you hone your craftsmanship. As you get more experienced, the two will integrate more easily, I suspect. Anyway, good luck. And don't get depressed if you can't quite make that word count every day. The deadline is there to inspire you. It's not an absolute, and you have not 'failed' if you fall short on occasion. You're still moving forward and aren't stalled. That's the thing, really.
If I don't force myself to finish it I'll be stuck in a redraft loop. And I write quickly, my usual rate is 1000 words an hour while thinking about how the story and characters are progressing. 5000 words is just 5 hours +/- 1. This is just to finally finish the first draft. I hope to have a finished draft by mid-2017.
Out of curiosity when did you start this story as you are at 41k words now, how long did it take you to get there?
That's a very good point, in my opinion. This kind of frantic schedule will keep you from going over and over the same bit of territory, writing and rewriting, trying to achieve perfection before moving on. That search for premature perfection can stall you forever, and become a real trap—and a barrier to ever finishing. My only question regarding your method is this: how do you know ahead of time how many words your story will need to have? I can understand the intention to write 5000 words per day till the story is done ...but have you planned so thoroughly that you know exactly how long it's going to be? Just curious.
About 6 months ago, but I've been slow and haven't written much. I wrote the first 20K in about a week or so.
I've planned out how long I want things to be theoretically. I've worked out how long my specific scenes (like battles) usually are and got around 130K. If I'm happy at 110K-120K I'll end it there. If I'm not happy at 130K I'll continue. The subsequent drafts will probably change the wordcount signficantly though.
If everything is flowing as well as ever, I can get just over 2000 words I'm happy with in an hour. The most I've been able to sustain that for was around 8000 for the day. It's not common for me, though.
Two minutes to midnight. 44002 words, wrote for ~3 hours. http://www.noelshack.com/2016-25-1466460136-20160620-111129.jpg http://www.noelshack.com/2016-25-1466459898-20160620-235606.jpg
