I'm curious to see the various paces people have when writing their first drafts. How long does it take you to write 1000 words? Do you type or write longhand?
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How long does it take you to write 1000 words?
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I type. And it depends. In college I had to write boring essays about things I didn't really care about (books I didn't like, or topics I just didn't care for) and I banged out 1.5-2K in an hour, easy, with breaks.
But with my novel, I tend to go back as I'm writing and delete/change things, which changes my word count constantly. So it's hard to say. Sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes it takes two or three. I remember one time sitting on my butt for six solid hours and writing 5K without a break, and I was so amazingly happy with what I'd written it was astounding.
But with my novel, I tend to go back as I'm writing and delete/change things, which changes my word count constantly. So it's hard to say. Sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes it takes two or three. I remember one time sitting on my butt for six solid hours and writing 5K without a break, and I was so amazingly happy with what I'd written it was astounding.
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Well, if I'm really inspired, probably about an hour. I don't usually just bang out words. I have to think about what go on paper/computer file. I don't write longhand.
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If the words are flowing I can have 1000 words in 15 minutes.
It's all a matter of how quickly the ideas are coming to me. Sometimes it's really fast and I'll have 1000 words in 15 minutes. And sometimes it'll take me an hour to write 1000 words.
It's all a matter of how quickly the ideas are coming to me. Sometimes it's really fast and I'll have 1000 words in 15 minutes. And sometimes it'll take me an hour to write 1000 words.
It can take a couple of hours. I want my word choice and sentence structure to, well, not be perfect, but to have a good start so I won't need as many revisions.
Don't throw rocks at me, but right now I write it longhand and type it in later (I type quickly). That will change as soon as I get my laptop. I just hate composing at my desk.
Don't throw rocks at me, but right now I write it longhand and type it in later (I type quickly). That will change as soon as I get my laptop. I just hate composing at my desk.
Why would anyone throw rocks at you? I've tried different processes and found that I do my best work when I write my first drafts longhand. I go through fewer revisions this way. I revise as I transcribe, so the first draft in the computer is essentially a second draft.
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i spent a whole evening on a 60-word paragraph in March -- that was a 'final' rewrite though, the toughest stage for me: the sentencing, the baptism, no turning back from this version -> THIS is what the editor will read and judge...
a first draft can come at 200/wph or 1000/wph -- there is no rule, it's all in the 'flow'.
a first draft can come at 200/wph or 1000/wph -- there is no rule, it's all in the 'flow'.
Depends a lot on how fired up I am by the idea or the prompt I chose. That is about 4 pages right? If the Muse is cooperating and the imagery is flowing, half an hour. I mostly type but my first love is long hand on yellow lined pads.
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Well, since it took me 2 years to write 68,000 words, I take that, divide by 730 and I come up with an average of 93 words a day, divide 1000 by that and I come up with approximately 10 days.
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This week it took me 3 days to add 1000 words to my WIP. It's a rewrite, though -- the last-draft-before-I-send-to-betas rewrite -- so I'm being pretty meticulous.
If I'm fast drafting, and the motivation and conflict for my scene is really clear in my head, I can do 1000 words in about 30 - 45 minutes.
If I'm fast drafting, and the motivation and conflict for my scene is really clear in my head, I can do 1000 words in about 30 - 45 minutes.
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Technically? Ten to fifteen minutes. (I type 90-100 wpm.)
Real answer: Depends.
If I'm in a good headspace for writing, about an hour. If it's a struggle but I need to get words down (because you can't fix a blank page), it can take days.
Real answer: Depends.
If I'm in a good headspace for writing, about an hour. If it's a struggle but I need to get words down (because you can't fix a blank page), it can take days.
When my brain's ready and I'm writing, I average about 1500 words an hour. So, about 40 minutes for 1000 words?
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Depends on whether the brain chemicals are flowing that day. If so, then I can put down 1000 words in under an hour (last Fall I wrote a 25,000 word play in 3 weeks). If the chemicals are flowing like maple sap in January in Maine, then it moves much slower (though my brain tends to "warm up" as I forge ahead, and eventually I'm in the groove if I keep at it and don't toss it aside and attack my tiVO queue...).
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1000 words takes me little more than an hour. I write about 800 words per hour.
I once times myself for an hour of freewriting: 1800 words.
I once times myself for an hour of freewriting: 1800 words.
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Two to three hours of typing on the computer after completing my initial research and outlining the book on paper with pad and pencil. However, my first draft is basically just "throwing up" on paper and rarely resembles the finished product.
A writing buddy (I forget who it was) of James Joyce walked in one day to find him slumped on the table, holding his head.
"How many words did you write today?" he asked.
An exhausted James Joyce looked up and whispered, "Seven."
"That's good, for you!"
"I'm still not sure which order to write them in," James Joyce said.
"How many words did you write today?" he asked.
An exhausted James Joyce looked up and whispered, "Seven."
"That's good, for you!"
"I'm still not sure which order to write them in," James Joyce said.
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I'm gonna have to say no time at all. I am an extremely fast typist and my mind is even faster than my fingers. When I am writing first draft it is almost as though I am not thinking. The words just appear on the screen before me. I know that's not the case. Somewhere inside I am forming my thoughts in some kind of sequential order... but I sometimes feel removed from that scaffolding. I could probably do 1000 words in 20-30 minutes. Second draft would be a totally different equation.
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