words per day...

I'm not sure what would be average, but you should try to find whatever works and is reasonable for you. Try at 500, if you're making that and going beyond easily, try for 1000, and so on.

I try for 1000, but average mabye 700 over the course of a week.

I've found that trying too hard to do too much can stifle your creativity. How much is 'too much', only you know though.

Oh yay, I keep track of the average for occaisons just like these:

*ahem*

The average number of words I write a day is 714.8

The median, however, is 740.

*makes nerd face*

I actually laughed out loud at this

TrickyFiction said:

I'm not writing full time right now, so my words per day are pretty uh... low. But, I wonder what most novel writers usually put on paper/screen per day. I guess I'm just trying to get a range so I can set a reasonable goal for myself.

So, do any of you have a pattern you'd like to share?

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When you aren't writing full-time, I think setting a time goal is more realistic than setting a word goal. Make sure you get the approprioate time in each day, and let the word count take care of itself. This way, you'll write at a pace natural to you, rather than trying to force a given number of words.

Even as a full-time writer, I find burn out is a real possibility, if I push too hard. I write five hours each day, and aim at 2,500 words during these hours. If you aren't writing full-time, then I'd suggest carving out an hour, or two hours, per day, and just find your natural pace for using these hours.

I am coming around to what Jamesaritchie has shared. By writing on a time limit, I'd write with less errors. I've done it a few times, but I haven't employed it as a steady thing. I'd imagine I would only be able to get 500-750 words down a day with this method. Plus, the mental stress decreases from a gotta get it done to a time's almost up, I'll continue tomorrow.

I agree with the point above that says concentrate on a time frame rather than word count. Sit down, give yourself an hour or two (or whatever you want to delegate for writing) and go at it.

Writing leaves enough hanging over your head as it is.

I like to hit 1000 a day, but ive had days when I hit 6000. I think alot depends on how you write too. I write the basic scene, then go back and correct/flesh it out.

I wrote a good 1230 today! YAY! I skipped writing yesterday. Normally I don't write on Sat. or Sun., today was a good day!

The most writing I’ve done is on my present WIP I started in November. Right now, I have a little over 40,00o words down. This has gone faster than those novels I’ve written before.

I have no idea how many words I’ve written in one day.

When I’m on a role, I almost have to force myself to quit. If I’m reaching for story content, I may not put anything down, but a few ideas to build on.

The one thing I don’t want to do is write filler, just to add words. Don’t hurry unless you’re on a role, then you can’t type fast enough to suit you. Just get them down and correct them when you have the time later.

I think there are mystical numbers of words when you run out of ideas and have to think. Mine is at 40,000 every time.

I probably average about 1500 a day. I aim for 2000 but usually fall short.

GPatten said:

The one thing I don’t want to do is write filler, just to add words. Don’t hurry unless you’re on a role, then you can’t type fast enough to suit you. Just get them down and correct them when you have the time later.

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Absolutely. You write until the story is finished, not to appease the word count gods.

I suggest you ignore word counts, until you get to The End. Instead, design your goals in terms of story progression. Did you move your story along today? Who cares how many words. It's like agonizing about how many pounds you lifted in the gym today. Did you work to improve your fitness? Yes? Good enough.

This weekend, I added two quality chapters to my new story. How many words? I don't know.

Depending on what's going on in my life, my word count generally sits somewhere between 500 and 3000 words. There are those days, though, when I can barely put out a couple of lines.

I always try to make it at least to the 500 word limit, but I've figured out a long time ago that the best for me is to view any words added as good work. If I start fretting too much about precise word counts, I end up blocking up.

I write three hours a day. Usually, depending on work and the rest of the world, anyway. I find that on the days when the work comes hard, I'll split it up (do an hour when I get up, fiddle an hour in the afternoon, do an hour or two before bed).

I aim for 5,000 words a day, but it's the softest aim you can imagine, in that I don't actually fight to hit the magic 5,000 number. Sometimes, I go over and that's fine. Sometimes, I come out under, and that's fine too. If I've done something useful, I don't care.

I've been writing fiction for a year now, after about ten years of screenwriting/filmmaking. After Stephen King's On Writing and reading through these boards, I decided to set a daily word count, first 500, and then as I progressed, 1000. It ended up not working for me. If I didn't meet my goal I became discouraged and sometimes stopped writing the piece I was working on altogether. It wasn't fun anymore. Until I make enough money to earn a living, writing is a hobby, something I enjoy doing. If it's not fun I could spend more time playing video games, reading, watching movies, etc.

I thought back to when I used to write screenplays. It felt effortless. I realized it was because the only goal I had was to finish the screenplay. I never told myself I needed to write a certain number of pages or scenes everyday. So now the only goal I set is to spend some time with my novel everyday until it's complete. There's no word count or number of hours to shoot for. Some days I write over a thousand words, some a little over three hundred. Other days I accomplish only a few sentences.

The important thing is that I'm having fun writing, and now that I'm not concerned with reaching daily goals, I'm seeing much more progress.

I don't care about word count. I think many who do are writing the goal and not the story.

I don't write it to fill in areas or words for a day, I write because it's great practice. I don't just work on my novel a day. If I write 500 words on my short story and 500 on my novel, I'm good. If I do not write everyday or at least five days a week, I become less inspired and forget little details about the characters. I guess to each his own.

I never set a date or word total. I just write when I feel like it, and as it is not my daytime job, it isn't that important either. Of course I hope that one of my novels will make it, but when it doesn't happen I won't mind too much, either. I write because I like writing, plain simple. I like to weave stories and hope to share them with others.


Nickie

Averaged 4,500 a day, Sat. and Sun. this week. I go on time. 2 hours minimum a day, more when time permits.

BIC/ butt in chair. If you take the pledge to do your 2 hours a night, you must sit in the chair in front of your writing apparatus whether you write zero words, or ten thousand.

Find out what works best for you, and then do it. I've tried time and word counts. Usually I end up sticking with time, and then run a count when I feel like it. On good days I end up with about 1,000 words after an hour of strong writing. But it all comes down to what WORKS for YOU. Play around with some techniques until you find one that works for YOU. Then stick with it.

On my writing days (Sunday and Wednesday) I try to work from nine to four, and then if it's a good day I might go back in the evening for a couple of hours. On office-work days I come in (usually by five), feed my cats, eat, shower/bath, and try to get on the laptop by about seven, working until around 10:30. I run a wordcount as soon as I finish and add the day's total and the running total with the date to the count-page at the back of my project notebook. My count ranges from about 800 words to 8,000 words (on a dream day).

Some days I come home, take one look at my laptop and think 'f**k it - bunny slippers and Ben and Jerry's tonight'. Sometimes I come in, take one look at my laptop and burst into tears (but we won't go into that). I just know that if I manage to put a couple of productive hours in, the next day I'll walk around with a huge smile on my face, feeling like I'm on top of the world. I also know that beating myself up about being too tired or too upset to write will only make me LESS likely to write the next day, so I try (try) not to do that.

That casual sort of 'do what feels write' method has worked for me on three books so far. I'd love to be able to stick to a word target, but I've never been able to do that - I can't MAKE myself write 2000 words anymore than I can MAKE myself know the square root of 765. I'd go completely looby-loo within a week.

Zolah said:

That casual sort of 'do what feels write' method has worked for me on three books so far. I'd love to be able to stick to a word target, but I've never been able to do that - I can't MAKE myself write 2000 words anymore than I can MAKE myself know the square root of 765. I'd go completely looby-loo within a week.

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I think this is true, but I also think there is some number of wrods you can make yourself write each day, if that's the way you choose to go, just as you can make yourself know the square root of sixteen, or even sixty-four, without any undue effort.

The number might be 100 words, five hundreds words, or whatever, but it's there. When going the word count route, the trick is to find your own magic number, usually one that's high enough to take some time, but low enough to be reachable day in and day out for who you are as a writer.

I've found my own magic number is 2,500 words. I can write 12,000 words per day, but I can't make myself do this day in and day out. But 2,500 words? Yes, this I can make myself do day in and day out almost forever without burning out.

For some writers, daily word count goals work very well, especially if they find the magic number they can make themselves reach each day without going bonkers. I think the best way to find this number is to just write for a couple of months without worrying about it, and then looking back at what you've done.

At any rate, time per day works best for some writers, words per day works best for others. And then you have the writers who don't worry about either because every last spare minute they have is spent sitting at the keyboard writing. From my experience, these writers do extraodinarily well, and often succeed quickly. They don't have to be told about time or word counts because they can't wait to get to the keyboard, and you have to drag them away so they can eat and sleep.