A quick question (how long do you spend writing?) [Archive]

Fallen

05-22-2010, 03:09 PM

I tend to go for bursts. I can have two-three weeks of writing flat-out at every opportunity I get, leave it for a week, go back with a more objective head, then edit two-three times over a two-week period.

With WIP's, I try not to get too attached to my work so I let them go after a few weeks (poetry and short stories). Saying that, I have a favourite novel I can't seem to let go of and it's been WIPing for a few years. :o

Good to meet you, Rebecca. And welcome to the cooler!!!!

Wayne K

05-22-2010, 03:21 PM

Same here. Sometimes I'll sit here for 12 to 18 straight hours, and sometimes I'll take weeks off and do nothing. When I'm writing, I do two hours minimum every day

Lydia Sharp

05-22-2010, 04:54 PM

It varies so much from project to project that I can't even come up with an average off the top of my head.

For my current WIP, I started the first draft about four weeks ago, and I'm no more than two weeks away from finishing it. Then I'll take a break from it (at least a week) before starting revisions and editing... and I never know how long those are going to take until I start them.

I only have two other completed novels. The first one took me about three months to write the first draft, but is still under revision (after more than a year), or more appropriately, has been shelved in favor of more productive projects. The second novel only took me three weeks to write the first draft, and another six weeks after that to revise/edit/allow others to read/critique. It is currently being queried.

And short fiction is a whole other ball game. But I'm guessing you were just referring to novels, so I won't go there. ;)

Amount of time spent per day... quite a bit (I consider myself a full-time writer and work part-time--2 days per week--outside the home), but it's sporadic because I'm a wife and mother and Real Life tends to get in the way sometimes. There are rare occasions, however, where I am able to spend a solid stretch of two hours or more just writing and/or rewriting. But I gauge my productivity more on word count (for a first draft) and page count (for revisions and editing), rather than time.

DrZoidberg

05-22-2010, 05:59 PM

One to two hours a day. Not necessarily on my WP. But at least something. I need the regularity.

selestiele

05-22-2010, 06:07 PM

I write from 9 pm until I get too tired. Sometimes I go until 2 or 3 am, but most times I stop at 12-1 am. I edit earlier during the day occasionally, but I can't write anything new until nighttime and my kids are asleep.

I started writing a year ago, on Memorial Day weekend.

bearilou

05-22-2010, 06:14 PM

I grab my writing time when I can since I'm plowing through a course right now. I typically try to write ~1k words/day.

C.M.C.

05-22-2010, 06:32 PM

If I write for more than two hours or so a day, I feel like I'm going crazy.

seun

05-22-2010, 06:37 PM

About two hours on weekday evenings (other than Wednesdays and Fridays) and a good three hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

fredXgeorge

05-22-2010, 06:43 PM

At the moment it's whenever I have a spare moment. Then I'll probably go through a spurt where I don't write at all.

Pery Machado

05-22-2010, 08:24 PM

I don't time myself on how long I sit here. I try to write at least five pages a day once I have everything planned out and researched. Sometimes I managed to hit 20 pages a day (happened twice on my WIP). Been working on this one since late August and I've already sent out queries and got a positive response from one of them. Fingers crossed!

scarletpeaches

05-22-2010, 08:28 PM

If I'm at home and awake and not in the middle of a migraine, my laptop's on. I write in bursts until I get distracted, need a cuppa, have to visit the bathroom...

So...fits and starts throughout the day. I've never added it up to see how long I actually spend working, but I know it's not nearly long enough. Again, my problem is self-discipline.

jvc

05-22-2010, 09:45 PM

As much as I can find time to do. Sometimes it's only 30 minutes, other days it could be 10 hours. Once I managed to do 16 hours of writing. That was a good day. :)

Jamesaritchie

05-22-2010, 09:52 PM

Barring a looming deadline, I write five hours per day, broken into two sessions or two and a half hours. I have lunch, and then take a long walk between sessions. I usually work on novels during one session, and short stories or articles in the other.

How long have I been working on my current project? It's hard to say because I have a bunch of ongoing projects. I can say that I started the novel that's closest to completion about five weeks ago. It should be ready to go in another six weeks.

Margarita Skies

05-22-2010, 11:33 PM

Jamesaritchie

05-23-2010, 12:28 AM

johnnysannie

05-23-2010, 01:19 AM

If I remember correctly, I started my current WIP in Tuesday or Wednesday this week (I'd have to look it up in my posts in the Finish The Damn Book Challenge to give an exact date) and then my other WIP I started yesterday. I work on my stuff nearly from the time I get up from the time I go to bed. I take a few breaks here and then to watch a few TV shows one or two but I'm pretty much working on them all day.

Magali.

Nice if you have the stamina and freedom to do so.

I write about 5-6 hours per day, usually split between morning and afternoon. If I have a big deadline straight ahead or I'm really cooking, I may write more than that.

But I have a family, three kids and a husband (plus a widowed senior citizen mom) and so I have to balance that aspect of my life with the writing, just like working moms anywhere.

Shadow_Ferret

05-23-2010, 02:16 AM

I know this question has probably already been answered, but, how many hours per day do you approximately spend on writing and how long have you been working on your current WIP? Just wondering.

Hours? O_o

Maybe in a month all the time will add up to hours. 2 maybe.

And I have several different WIPs I'm working on. One is 3 years in the making. The one I'm subbing has taken probably 7 years. I'm thinking of breaking out another that I started back in 1980.

thethinker42

05-23-2010, 02:39 AM

Anywhere from 8-16 hours a day, 5-6 days a week.

ETA: I just started on my current WIP today. The last took about 2 months, which is longer than usual because I was traveling for 3 weeks and was ill for a while. A WIP usually takes me 2-3 weeks.

Libbie

05-23-2010, 02:48 AM

I spend about an hour and a half a day. More when I don't have anything going on. I write until I hit my wordcount goal for the day, and it typically takes about 90 minutes.

I've been working on my current WIP for a couple of weeks now.

Chasing the Horizon

05-23-2010, 03:30 AM

I write 3-6 hours a day most days. More than that just starts to burn me out.

I don't keep track of how many hours I spend on each project. A lot, lol.

DeleyanLee

05-23-2010, 03:46 AM

I'm not on a deadline, so I sit at the keyboard and type when I have words ready to be put down.

Mind you, I don't count that as the ONLY time I'm writing. Writing is so much more than just typing words into a file. It's all the time dedicated to figuring things out, to creation--all the brain work that has to happen before those words can be typed.

Honestly, I'd say about 60-70% of my waking time is spent doing something connected to my MIP, but I only spend maybe 2-4 hours a week typing words into a file.

mccardey

05-23-2010, 03:50 AM

Four hours a day, five days a week, more in the last hideous weeks of revision.

But right now I'm just in the immersion phase of a new novel, so those four hours are spent reading, hunting up stimuli, idling, tidying the desk, scribbling notes and what-if-ing. My favourite, favourite, favourite part of the job :)

Dot Hutchison

05-23-2010, 05:14 AM

I work full time, so when I have a WIP, I try to write for at least two hours scattered through the day, and when I get my two days off through the week, I sit and write for five to seven hours at a stretch, and if I'm not too burned out or if my hands don't hurt to badly, I'll keep going when I get home.

My last three projects took me four months, four months, and a month and a half; with that, I decided to take a break before starting my next project, so I've been catching up on editing and reading other things.

Ryan_Sullivan

05-23-2010, 05:39 AM

I'm a student, but I write for 1-3 hours a night, every night, once I've committed to a project. My latest novel took 4.5 months.

ebennet68

05-24-2010, 02:18 AM

I have a full time job. I can manage about 20 to 30 minutes in the morning each day and then an hour or so at night. On the weekends, usually 5 to 6 hours a day. I'm at my best in the morning so I wish I had more time to work then. My current WIP is only about a week old, a brand new baby so to speak and I've got approximately 6K words done so far. (Don't like word count goals for myself. I just tell the story until I'm done.) The one I'm revising at the moment was started at the end of January of this year.

shaldna

05-24-2010, 12:34 PM

I write in small bursts, ten minutes at teatime, another 10 or 20 at lunch, and maybe half and hour or an hour after the kiddies are in bed. So in total, on a good day, I gt maybe two hours.

In that time I write anywhere between 1000 and 2500 words. My novels typically take between one and two months to complte.

Margarita Skies

05-25-2010, 12:23 AM

You and Dean Koontz.

I have a burn out point, and if I go more than five hours per day for an extended period, I know I will eventually crash and burn.

:ROFL: The Dean Koontz thing made me laugh. I didn't know he was like that. Thanks for making my day. Five hours a day is pretty impressive, though.

Nice if you have the stamina and freedom to do so.

I write about 5-6 hours per day, usually split between morning and afternoon. If I have a big deadline straight ahead or I'm really cooking, I may write more than that.

But I have a family, three kids and a husband (plus a widowed senior citizen mom) and so I have to balance that aspect of my life with the writing, just like working moms anywhere.

5 - 6 hours a day is great. I wish you the best with your wonderful family. May God bless them and may God bless you more and more everyday so you can continue to keep caring for them.

I write in small bursts, ten minutes at teatime, another 10 or 20 at lunch, and maybe half and hour or an hour after the kiddies are in bed. So in total, on a good day, I gt maybe two hours.

In that time I write anywhere between 1000 and 2500 words. My novels typically take between one and two months to complte.

2500 words in one hour? You are amazing! It usually takes me nearly three hours to do that because I write only 30 wpm! Great job!

cooeedownunder

05-25-2010, 12:35 AM

I can write somedays prior to the sun coming up to well after I should be asleep. I've been working on my current WIP for almost 2 years. When I'm not writing I read, or do those things that must be done in the house.

IdiotsRUs

05-25-2010, 01:32 AM

About an hour and a half a day, six days a week. I try and get in 1500 words. Some days it's 3000, some days it's 300, depends on the story and where I am in it.

At one point(when I wasn't working) I wrote 8 hours a day. I'd do that again if I could give up work.

Phane Amenet

05-25-2010, 01:55 AM

About 12 hours for for an entire week. On average, I can hit like 5000 words in three hours depending on my enthusiasm.

stitchingirl

05-25-2010, 03:16 AM

If I find inspiration with something, then I've learned to write it down so I don't forget it. But, I'm also close to graduating from college, so my writing time has gotten interrupted by writing college essays and doing homework.

But that's not to say that I'm not working a story angle in my head at all times. Sometimes I find it easier for me to write just a couple of lines a day, as a needed break from algebra or another class.

There are times when I can write something in one day, while other times it takes me like three days to write something. It just depends on my level of inspiration at the moment. I usually have one story minimized on my toolbar, so that if I think of something, then I can add it or write notes about it.

Kitty27

05-25-2010, 03:23 AM

I write for four hours or so every day. But I do it in spurts. Two hours at work when I'm on break. One hour inWhen I'm off and my kids go to bed,I can go for eight hours or more. Once I sit down,I go crazy.

I started my WIP three weeks ago. It's finished and just ends editing. If my kids,job,and other things fall in sync,I can finish a project in 4-6 weeks.

Soothing Snow

05-25-2010, 12:00 PM

I have no idea; I don't keep track. Right now I'm just researching my current WIP and am almost ready to begin writing(hopefully).

Snow

shaldna

05-25-2010, 12:24 PM

2500 words in one hour? You are amazing! It usually takes me nearly three hours to do that because I write only 30 wpm! Great job!

I should point out that I write in T line, and have a digital pen which converts writing to text for me.

thethinker42

05-25-2010, 12:26 PM

I should point out that I write in T line, and have a digital pen which converts writing to text for me.

I've thought about doing that, but my handwriting is so bad, it would probably come back with "WTF is this @#$%?" :D

shaldna

05-25-2010, 12:34 PM

I've thought about doing that, but my handwriting is so bad, it would probably come back with "WTF is this @#$%?" :D

They are amazing things, you have to spend ages training them to read your handwriting, and it took even longer to train mine to read my shorthand, and I still get some pretty random results. But it saves me so much time.

thethinker42

05-25-2010, 12:44 PM

They are amazing things, you have to spend ages training them to read your handwriting, and it took even longer to train mine to read my shorthand, and I still get some pretty random results. But it saves me so much time.

*I* can't even read my own handwriting most of the time, so it would probably be more trouble than its worth. lol

Jamesaritchie

05-25-2010, 09:28 PM

:ROFL: The Dean Koontz thing made me laugh. I didn't know he was like that. Thanks for making my day. Five hours a day is pretty impressive, though.

!

Dean Koontz says he spends from sixty to seventy hours per week writing, and I get exhausted just thinking about it.

He has some wonderful podcats on his website. Many are funny, but offer an insider's look at Hollywood, writing, and publishing. Podcast eleven: Vacationing, is hilarious. So are several others. Well worth listening to. http://www.deankoontz.com/entertainment/podcasts

brainstorm77

05-25-2010, 10:11 PM

I know this question has probably already been answered, but, how many hours per day do you approximately spend on writing and how long have you been working on your current WIP? Just wondering.

Rebecca

It varies. I work fulltime, but I do try to get the most out of my days off. When RL kicks in, it can also impact my days off. I do the best I can. It could vary from a half hour to hours.

geekyMary

05-26-2010, 01:12 AM

Usually 30 minutes - 2 hours. Sometimes I take a vacation day from the day job to write, and then I can't do much more than 5 hours before my brain melts.

RedRose

05-26-2010, 03:23 AM

I know this question has probably already been answered, but, how many hours per day do you approximately spend on writing and how long have you been working on your current WIP? Just wondering.

Rebecca

I spend about 8 hours per day working on my WIP. I started writing my current one which is a paranormal romance about one month ago. I wake up at either 3 or 4 am and write, and I also do so when I get home of a late afternoon, then I write again at night. The 8 hours can also be taken up with research, edits etc.

I have to be sick for this routine to change. I'm not talking 'have a cold' sick, I mean incredibly ill. Or, an emergency crops up that day that has to be dealt with. Which is why I wake up early and get some writing in anyway.

I did think about my story for a couple of months before I even started writing. I do this to get an idea for the characters. I don't plot, but when I write, this time of reflection pays off because nearly everything fits.

thethinker42

05-26-2010, 03:50 AM

Dean Koontz says he spends from sixty to seventy hours per week writing, and I get exhausted just thinking about it.

I probably do close to that. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Usually at least 50-60 hours. It suits me. :)

scarletpeaches

05-26-2010, 03:54 AM

50-60 hours is pretty close to a normal full-time job's hours anyway so I don't see the big deal.

Rewriting each page up to 40 times as he goes? (Allegedly). Definitely not for me.

Margarita Skies

05-26-2010, 04:51 AM

I should point out that I write in T line, and have a digital pen which converts writing to text for me.

You're still amazing. :)

Margarita Skies

05-26-2010, 04:52 AM

Dean Koontz says he spends from sixty to seventy hours per week writing, and I get exhausted just thinking about it.

He has some wonderful podcats on his website. Many are funny, but offer an insider's look at Hollywood, writing, and publishing. Podcast eleven: Vacationing, is hilarious. So are several others. Well worth listening to. http://www.deankoontz.com/entertainment/podcasts

Thanks for the links!! I will look into that!! :)

Jamesaritchie

05-26-2010, 08:44 PM

50-60 hours is pretty close to a normal full-time job's hours anyway so I don't see the big deal.

Rewriting each page up to 40 times as he goes? (Allegedly). Definitely not for me.

That's not normal hours for any job I've ever worked. A full work week on most jobs is forty hours, and everything beyond this is overtime. That's a LOT of hours, no matter how you slice it.

Especially when you have millions and millions and millions in the bank, and don't have to work at all, unless you want to do so.

Lydia Sharp

05-26-2010, 08:52 PM

I've thought about doing that, but my handwriting is so bad, it would probably come back with "WTF is this @#$%?" :D

Re-quoting because it's just that awesome.

Hip-Hop-a-potamus

05-26-2010, 08:57 PM

Usually about 4 hours in the morning on weekdays. Sometimes more at night. Weekends vary. This has become my routine the last 7 horrific months. It's one of the few things that has kept me going while I've been utterly miserable here in hell (i.e. Alberta).

It will probably change when we get moved out of my in-laws' place. I'll be doing lots more cooking, some unpacking and organizing, and then developing a new routine. And if I'm lucky, working again. This one income thing kind of sucks, but I'm living to have our own space again. July 1st is the magic day.

scarletpeaches

05-26-2010, 09:46 PM

That's not normal hours for any job I've ever worked. A full work week on most jobs is forty hours, and everything beyond this is overtime. That's a LOT of hours, no matter how you slice it.

Especially when you have millions and millions and millions in the bank, and don't have to work at all, unless you want to do so.I said pretty close to normal working hours, not dead on.

And I don't give a damn if I've got millions in the bank or not. I'm still gonna write, because it's what I love to do.

Jamesaritchie

05-27-2010, 12:18 AM

I said pretty close to normal working hours, not dead on.

And I don't give a damn if I've got millions in the bank or not. I'm still gonna write, because it's what I love to do.

Well, I guess a job and a half is pretty close to normal, but it's still a huge workload, and I don't know any other successful writer who comes close.

Still gonna write is not the same thing as still gonna write fifty to sixty hours per week, and sometimes up to seventy, and not taking a vacation in ten years.

darkangel77

05-27-2010, 01:37 AM

Depends, when the writing bug hits me, it's usually however long it takes for me to get 1 chapter or 1/2 a chapter in (depending on how long it is). When I have a WIP I usually aim for 1 or 1/2 chapter/day, also depending on how busy I am that day =]

scarletpeaches

05-27-2010, 01:39 AM

JAR, I'll let you know how my schedule is when I'm a squillionaire.

CalynMorgan

05-27-2010, 05:49 PM

I work full time but I manage to average about 3 hours a day on my wips. I've been working on my current wip since January of this year. I'm only about half way done the first draft.

thethinker42

05-27-2010, 05:54 PM

That's not normal hours for any job I've ever worked. A full work week on most jobs is forty hours, and everything beyond this is overtime. That's a LOT of hours, no matter how you slice it.

My last non-writing job was 50-60 hours a week. And it wasn't considered overtime...I was salaried, and my required minimum was 50 hours.

Especially when you have millions and millions and millions in the bank, and don't have to work at all, unless you want to do so.

Something tells me, after spending the last two years working these long hours/long weeks, I'd still do it even if I was rich. I didn't have to and still don't have to...my husband makes enough, we don't have kids, we live on base, etc...but I do. Because I want to.

scarletpeaches

05-27-2010, 07:38 PM

And you're just dirty like that.

linfred4

05-27-2010, 09:19 PM

Well, I would say sometimes I would write for 5hrs a day. When I am feeling good and well something comes to me I could right all day.
Also if I am out and about sometimes something comes to me and I start to write it down, then I go home and right for hours.

ArcticFox

05-29-2010, 01:10 AM

Well, I guess a job and a half is pretty close to normal, but it's still a huge workload, and I don't know any other successful writer who comes close.

Stephen King

thethinker42

05-29-2010, 04:11 AM

Stephen King

Actually, if I remember correctly from On Writing, he doesn't spend that many hours writing. He does write every day, but only until he reaches his goal, which is usually only like 3 or 4 hours (I think). I could be wrong...my copy of OW isn't handy...but I seem to recall he doesn't spend umpteen hours a week writing.