What's your record for number of words in a day, week, etc.?

Libbie · Sep 3, 2007

Holy cow! 1600+ words in 90 minutes.

Granted, I type really fast, but I've never written this much in 90 minutes before. I don't think, anyway. I sat down for a little while to work on my historical fiction novel and ended up with about seven pages! It was just pouring all out of me and all over the keyboard.

WOOHOO go me!

What's the most you've ever written in your "average"
writing time? Was there something different about the day, your habits, or any other influencing factors that may have caused a surge in creativity and flow for you?

I'm trying to figure out how I can make this happen again. I work about 12 hours a day at my "real" job so my daily writing time is fairly limited, and when I have those "duh" days where all I can do is sit and stare at the monitor, or where I hate what I wrote and have to keep revising it, it really stalls things.

CaroGirl · Sep 3, 2007

I think inspiration comes when it comes. I try to write every day, and am working on using the discipline of a schedule, but there's always that one day of inspired writing that just flows out like water, as you described. Those sessions are rare, but when they happen, I cherish them.

Congratulations on your productive session! I hope it happens again soon!

scarletpeaches · Sep 3, 2007

I've written the same on a number of occasions and the most I've managed in one day (about six or seven hours) was 6,000+.

Southern_girl29 · Sep 3, 2007

I write from 10 p.m. until midnight, and the most I've managed during that time is 3,000 words. I was really proud of that, too. Usually, I manage about 1,500 to 2,000.

scarletpeaches · Sep 3, 2007

I heard that Enid Blyton used to bang out 10k every day on a typewriter.

Libbie · Sep 3, 2007

scarletpeaches said:
I heard that Enid Blyton used to bang out 10k every day on a typewriter.

!!! How many hours a day was she writing? That is amazing!

scarletpeaches · Sep 3, 2007

Must have been a full day. But then again, it could have been something that only happened on occasions, as with my 6k personal best.

Just imagine, though. A typewriter. I used to get my fingers jammed between the keys. I type much faster on a computer, as the keyboard's flat.

I'll google Blyton, see what I can find out.

scarletpeaches · Sep 3, 2007

There's this link which contains this quote:

Blyton could write 10,000 words a day, which enabled her to keep up her prodigious output.

Also:

Why Blyton was another breed

and

How many books has Enid Blyton written?

JohnDavidPaxton · Sep 3, 2007

I'd say I write, on average, 2-3 thousand words a day. That usually takes about 2-3 hours
(where the first 10-15 minutes of it are spent looking at a blank page and closing my eyes and trying to envision it full). I listen to the same songs in the same order, over and over again, when I write. I find it keeps me focused (Is Apocalypse Now playing? I really should have started that first sentence by now).

The most I've ever written in a single day was a 97 page screenplay.

As far as inspiration goes, I was hoping someone had the answer for me. I just have to stare at something and think of first lines until I get something right. That is after writing a strict outline and having a clear intent of what I'm going to be writing today (in the shower I affirm what I wrote yesterday and think about what I'm going to do today).

Shady Lane · Sep 3, 2007

I once did 5,000 in about four hours. I think that was my best. And that was intense.

It was in the middle of the night in the Dominican Republic. And I already knew how everything was going, soo....

maestrowork · Sep 3, 2007

I did 800 words in an hour the other day. My best day of writing was about 4000 words.

Rhea L · Sep 3, 2007

Still best ever was ~10k in one night, from 7pm to 6am. But that was before I had a day job. Sniff. Beautiful times.

Usually, when I'm not stuck, I will write no less than 1.5k (which is the minimum I set for myself) - in reality, this means anything between 1.5 and 3k on a good night.

I wish I had more time to write.

Carrie in PA · Sep 3, 2007

My very best was when I was in the home stretch and it just flooooooowed. I did just shy of 11,000 words. It was an all day affair, and completely awesome. In general, I'm happy if I sit down and get pretty much anything worthwhile written.

IBleedWords · May 29, 2008

What's your personal record for largest number of words written in a day, week, month, etc? Not necessarily all quality words, but just sitting at the keyboard or with your nose in a notebook and writing like a mad person.

KTC · May 29, 2008

My one day record is 28,000.

loquax · May 29, 2008

My one second record is three words. I guess I was on a roll.

JamieFord · May 29, 2008

Around 10,000 in a day. And they were sucktastic. I'll take quality over quantity any day.

johnzakour · May 29, 2008

I once did 100K in three hours but they were all I and A and my agent didn't think it was marketable.

Jamie hit the nail on the head it's quality that matters. (Unless you're on deadline.)

tehuti88 · May 29, 2008

No clue as I don't tend to keep track of such things, and usually limit my writing amount per day...I do know however that I once wrote up a +15,000-word story in three days, sometimes typing for two hours at a stretch, which seemed like a lot at the time.

NicoleMD · May 29, 2008

I did 10k in a weekend, but I think I lost some serious brain cells. Don't think I'll do that again. Doesn't seem that impressive looking back at it though.

Nicole

GeorgieB · May 29, 2008

77,200 in 24 days. That was for last years NaNo.

I'm still editing that POS.

Cav Guy · May 29, 2008

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-8k (a short story). My typical output is about 1000 per day (but not every day...I'm lazy like that).

maestrowork · May 29, 2008

KTC said:
My one day record is 28,000.

Goodness. Did you sleep?

My best one-day record, I think, is 7000 words.

I did 5500 this week.

James81 · May 29, 2008

I pushed myself to 8000 words one day.

Phaeal · May 29, 2008

Over 3000 in a day during the NaNo rush last year. The real race was not this sprint but the endurance run of 1667 or more words a day for 30 days.

What's your record for number of words in a day, week, etc.?

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