how many words do you write per day?

How much do you write?

We talk about this all the time a bit everywhere in the forum, but I would like to hear people's updates if they have any or hear about their writing habits. Having a goal helps me to sit down and write. A number is an easy goal to keep in mind, and also has the appeal of tasting in advance the joy I will feel when I reach it, which is when I know I will feel I have accomplished something that matters to me for the day--a soothing and happy thought.

The poll asks how many words approximately you write per day (or per session if you prefer). It refers to your average writing capacity or goal, the optimal number that gets you to continue writing.
This is about writing you do during the periods that you write consistently--personally, I don't write all year, there are months I don't write a single word although I work on laying out ideas, planning of plots or chapter layouts, editing, etc.

I chose numbers that I have heard/read many authors refer to in interviews/articles. I think there is enough choice to allow you to round to a close number, but I can accommodate requests if needed.

 

I don't set number-of-word goals. I've had days when I wrote maybe 200 words and was happy with the effort, and days when I've written a 5,000 word story that turned out to be utter crap. I do make a point of writing (or editing) something every single day.

 

so, i finished a 105k novel in a month. i was writing between 3k-upwards of 5k almost every day.
I've never done that before (and cant seem to do it again), but my vote is "5000 and above" because i know i CAN do it.

right now, i'm struggling to do atleast 1k a day. what that tells me is that i might have burned myself out
while i dont have wordcount goals, it is kinda discouraging to writing so much in a day to going down to so little

 

I have a lot of constraints on my time and can't write every day, but when I do I try to get at least 1000 words, and I almost always can. I can get over 2000 on a good day, so I averaged those two and put 1500 as my answer.

 

Minimum 5k a day, 5 days a week. Once I'm really rolling, probably 7-8k average.

 

I can average about 3500 words I guess - I don't calculate by word but by page count and 3500 for me equals about five pages. The last two years I've had some upheavals in my personal life which has really derailed my output. I've been trying to get back on track by making minigoals.

 

wow. I am so impressed with people's writing rhythms. Not even in my wildest dreams I could dream to imagine myself writing a novel in a month

I write on average 1000 words per day, everyday. I set my goal to a minimum of 500--those 500 have to be there--which is relatively easy to achieve. And after that 1000 is easy to reach. If I am in a good mood I go on to whatever is that I feel writing. But I try not to push beyond that because I know that if I do, I lose the rhythm and it will mess up my ability to write the next day. If I can keep writing everyday at that rhythm I am happy, so that is really what is important for me

 

You know, I was thinking, is a daily word count really what counts? Sure, it might be a way to develop more discipline and keep you on track, but for me so much of writing is rewriting. I spend far more time in revision than I do the actual writing. I have found that in the revision stage is where the story really develops and reaches it's true potential. I guess it just takes me some time to get a story good.

Don't get me wrong. I'm always checking my word count and love a day when I can hit a high number.

Hey, I'm wondering how fast everyone writes. I think I'm on the slow side and average about 500 words an hour. Funny, I don't feel like I'm slow when I'm writing. I mean it's pretty easy for me to get in the zone and give writing my complete focus. I've been consistent at this speed for years, and not looking to change it at all. It works for me. But I'm amazed by really fast writer. I mean I can't even fathom writing at twice the speed I'm at, but I know some people can do it. So, where are you guys at when it comes to words per hour?

 

Average 2k an hour.

 

I don't set word count goals but I seem to average 1700-2000 words per day.

 

Right now zero.... so that's kind of a problem and why I'm here.

 

For my current piece, probably between 1,000 - 1,500 when I'm able to write.

I've never set myself a limit and can't write every day. Sometimes more than a week will pass without me touching the keyboard and sometimes when I do sit down, I do little more than revise a few paragraphs. Still, every little helps and I feel if I forced myself to a certain count every day I would burnout very quickly.

 

400 wds an hour average.

When I get those hours in is another matter. Ideally it would be one hour a day, but I'm just not there yet.

 

On the low side zero, on the high side around 800 if I'm lucky. At this point I consider anything I get on the page as a win.

 

i set a goal of 600 words per day, and as of right now i have upheld that goal for 239 days! as of late, however, I've been very prolific with my writing and usually surpass that goal by upwards of 300%. I'm quite happy with it, but i need to make sure I'm also writing scenes and not just random ideas and the like. Still, I'm just glad that the habit of writing daily has become so ingrained in my daily routine lol

 

It really depends. While I make it a goal to write each day, that seldom happens. Along with juggling life while taking care of my family, it doesn't always pan out. I tend to do large bursts at once when I can. Generally about 1,000 - 7,000 words in a sitting.

However, it doesn't mean I'm not constantly plotting ideas in my head while doing chores or sitting outside =P

It took me a bit over 10 years to write and publish my first book. I don't want to take that amount of time again, but the first time around I wasn't sure how to go about publishing, hadn't done all the research, but I hadn't yet finished the work and with all the drama, going to college, and stuff I didn't always have the time. I ignored it a few years because I had forgotten about it and then one day I thought, "You know what? I really wanted to finish and publish that...I am going to make it happen," and I made it happen eventually. Now that I'm more familiar about that process, I don't think I'll take half as long this time.

 

When you are consistently doing more than your goal, raise your goal and hold yourself accountable. Pushing yourself is the only way to improve.

 

I write slower than some here. Maybe 3k words on a good day when I was hard at it. Been off tempo lately (fancy way of saying mild case of writer's block.) 1-1.5k words on a good day. Never fewer than two to three hundred.

 

Just one. But it's a very big word.

 

I have a roughly outlined set of scenes that I try to get through each day.

 

I write only on the weekends. Last weekend I wrote 25,300 words.

 

It takes me two months to do what you do in a weekend.

 

Oh, it depends. I don't have a set goal because when I tried to write min 1500 words per day, I was pushing myself and was really stressed. So now I write when I feel like writing, and it can be 1000 words or 4000 words. Depends on motivation and inspiration. I just go with a flow

 

I write between 2,000 to 7,000 a day depending on what I'm writing, or if I'm on a roll. Usually it's around 3,000ish or a little more otherwise.