How fast do you write?

ShannonC_77 · Dec 10, 2006

This is kind of an odd question but something I've been wondering.

I've only ever written non-fiction (articles and now I'm working on a non-fiction book) and I can write them very fast (after research is done or provided I know what I'm talking about).

I've started writing my first attempt at a novel though and I find that my pace is much slower, it just doesn't naturally flow out of me like non-fiction does.

Is this normal? Maybe it's just because I'm new to it and it will get faster as I get experience?

TwentyFour · Dec 10, 2006

Maybe since Non-Fiction gives you all the details, you don't have as much to add. With Fiction, you use your imagination, nothing is a given...

It takes me awhile to work on my book. I have to get in the writing mood, sometimes just writing notes, other times working only on dialog...then writing chapters simultanously. I write short stories quickly when I have an idea, but only when I have ideas!

ShannonC_77 · Dec 10, 2006

It seems like right now I am forcing it. When I first started this novel (back in June... kind of got sidetracked with freelance work) it flowed so easily, almost like the words were there on the page before I could think it. But now I just can't seem to get into it. I'm not sure if it's the plot itself, maybe I've lost interest or if I'm just at a stage that I need to work through.

UrsusMinor · Dec 10, 2006

A polished page an hour is average for me in fiction, though sometimes I fall short of that rate. When I'm really ripping along, I might get three pages in an hour, but that's unusual.

I know people who whip out 15 pages an hour (though their stuff tends to be what I would call 'typical first draft quality'.) I know another guy, a fine writer, who is lucky to manage 50 words an hour.

When I write non-fiction, I can easily manage 6-10 pages an hour of finished prose. So, to answer the original question--I don't know how typical your experience is, but it mirrors my own: Non-fiction is many times faster than fiction.

Scarlett_156 · Dec 10, 2006

Whether I write "fast" or not depends on what chemical I'm soaking my brain with at that particular moment. When I'm on a roll I can write ten or more pages in a sitting (about 15,000 words) but then there's always the inevitable slowdown/complete stoppage when I don't write anything for days.

It's probably not really good to compare your productivity with others', however, especially if you're in unfamiliar territory. Try to write SOMETHING every day, though, even if it's only a few paragraphs. (As per the "learn writing with Uncle Jim" thingy, which has some really great advice in it.)

I hope this was helpful!

WildScribe · Dec 10, 2006

I also write non-fiction MUCH faster. No more than 1/2 hour for 400-600 words including research. Without research, I can do one of those in 10 minutes.

TwentyFour · Dec 10, 2006

I try to get 1000 words a day, tonight I got in a very graphic, dreadful death scene that I had been worried over...and got in 1042. I do not compare my writing time to others since it makes me feel I am either not writing enough or writing too "first draft"-y. I am on the third draft of my book, although I hated the first two and felt they needed rewrote.

ShannonC_77 · Dec 10, 2006

Thanks for your posts. UrsusMinor it's good to know I'm not the only one who finds this than.

I'll definitely just try and write something every day with my fiction, that was kind of what I was planning. I think I just need to be in a different frame of mind maybe with that type of writing and shouldn't try and force it.

ChaosTitan · Dec 10, 2006

I've never timed myself, so I have no idea.

At my fastest, I think I personally churned out about 8000 words in five hours. I was nearing the end of a novel, writing all the important, exciting scenes, and just chugging along.

One day it took me about six hours to write a 2500 word short.

So many variables...

johnzakour · Dec 10, 2006

There are way too many variables. Some of my more productive days are days when I write 0 words but figure out where the plot should go.

J.S Greer · Dec 10, 2006

How fast do you write?

Not as fast as I'd like.

PeeDee · Dec 10, 2006

If the ideas are comfortably there (or rather, I'm comfortable with the moment of fiction that I'm starting with) then I generally do about 3,000 words over the course of an hour or to. Sometimes more.

Otherwise, if the ideas are sitting a little more sluggish, I try to do a minimum of a thousand words.

But I really haven't timed myself properly. So I have no idea.

John61480 · Dec 10, 2006

For me, it takes far longer than I'd like. I can spend two hours and get either 500 words or I could bang out 2000. Usually when I reach 2000, I begin to peter out and that is when I really begin to struggle. Between the two numbers, it can vary because I work by chapters. I sometimes find 1000 words is not enough for my chapter (more often than not) and so I really have to push myself to think more about what I want to say. I hate ending mid-way thru a chapter. It has happened to me in my previous work and the idea that I have to re-read and then type kinda takes the momentum away.

But I carry a secret. If I really decide that word count is what I need per day...pshh, no problem. What do I do? I blab. I make sure I know what I want in that particular scene or chapter and run off with it. Descriptions, details, more descriptions,dialogue, you name it. I would literally sit and stew on one topic rather than hurry and "progress" thru the story. A real motormouth I can be in my head.

But I don't do that, I take sensible care in my thoughts and I find my descriptions and other "fluff" added with otherwise prudent management. In other words, I make myself struggle...

for not enough words. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not a very fast writer.

NeuroFizz · Dec 11, 2006

As fast as it takes. This is not a race. Write to the best of your abilities and ignore the clock and the calendar. And, ignore what others state as their writing rate. Each person is an individual with different personal responsibilities and energy levels (with respect to writing). Just get into the story and make each writing session count, even if it is only a single paragraph.

WildScribe · Dec 11, 2006

SouthernWriter1978 said:
I try to get 1000 words a day, tonight I got in a very graphic, dreadful death scene that I had been worried over...and got in 1042. I do not compare my writing time to others since it makes me feel I am either not writing enough or writing too "first draft"-y. I am on the third draft of my book, although I hated the first two and felt they needed rewrote.

TO BE REWRITTEN. Pet peeve. Sorry.

:Soapbox:

aadams73 · Dec 11, 2006

WildScribe said:
TO BE REWRITTEN. Pet peve. Sorry.

PEEVE. Sorry.

There are a zillion different variables that control how many words I bang out over time. Could be one of those days when my dog is being a pesty-poo-head. Or it could be one of those days where I can bang out over a thousand words in an hour.

JimmyB27 · Dec 11, 2006

Well, let me put it this way - continents have been known to move faster than my writing.

tanzy · Dec 11, 2006

My two cents

I would not worry about speed, I would worry more about quality. When you are first starting to work your brain at "making up" material to write about it it will come slowly. At the stage you are at, I think it is more important to practice the imagination part of writing. Once you get better you will flow more freely. Also, DO NOT WORRY about speed. It varies so much that you would be constantly worried through out the whole ordeal. Personaly, I find it is very easy for me to crank out a descriptive scene or object/event. (about 2-3 pages in 1 hour if im lucky) but then I hit other parts of the story and I will be stumped and write a page in a week, or even worse put the thing down for a month while I try to think of whats next. It is just how my mind works. If i get into that mindset of describing a scene or object, my hand cant even keep up with the string of words I am pulling out of my mind.

All you have to do is focus more on what you want to write, the whole idea/creative process that your mind wants to go for, and less on "oh no, that guy is writing faster than me..."

Doctor Shifty · Dec 11, 2006

I can write little words faster than big ones. And with bigger spaces between them it's even faster.

I once had an academic supervisor who I was paying to read my work, then we would sit and talk while I recorded our conversations. I paid him an hourly rate for reading/talking. When we were setting up the arrangement I asked him if he was a fast reader. He grinned and said, "I read about average, but I won't charge you for the spaces between the words."

I find I can write faster than agents and publishers pick up my work. That is what I would like to change.

KTC · Dec 11, 2006

I am the fastest writer I know. I can type so fast you can almost see the smoke tendrils rising from my fingers. But my fingers are still way slower than my mind. (it's very aggrevating, really.)

gp101 · Dec 11, 2006

Slothiness is not the sign of a good writer, nor is hyper-speed. I've turned out as many as 20 pages in one sitting and as few as 2 or 3 in the next, depends on my mood, where I'm in the story, how tired I am, how much free time I have. Regardless, even if I whip up 20 pages, maybe just five will survive the final rewrite. That's where you really write your novel, is in the revision where you hack off all the hack writing. Even if I know for sure a particular sentence, paragraph, or idea is extraneous or will need to meet the ax, I'll just plow through it anyway and worry about the buzz saw later.

I finished the first draft of my current novel in four months, about 110,000 words. I've since worked on it another year, made it much better, and trimmed it to 83,000 words. You'll have your fast days and your slow, just keep writing. And don't skimp on the revisions.

Mark Lazer · Dec 11, 2006

I write around 200-250 (good) words a day.

Jamesaritchie · Dec 11, 2006

Fast

How fast can I write is certainly not the same question as how fast do I write. I think slower is faster. Slower gets me to page last of a final draft much faster than speed gets me there. Slower means far fewer mistakes, no gaps in plot or theme, better dialogue, etc.

So I really don't like to go much over 500 words per hour, five hours per day.

You could say the idea is to get it right, not to get it rapid, but this is actually very fast in the sense that I get to the final draft much quicker, and with a heck of a lot less rewriting, editing, and polishing.

For me, speed is NOT how many words per hour I write, but how long it takes to get from page one of the first draft to page last of the final draft. The last thing I want to do is spend a year or two trying to rewrite, edit, revise, and polish.

About 500 words per hour, 700 tops, when things are really flowing smoothly, usually gets me a polished, final draft in four months or so.

RG570 · Dec 11, 2006

I've never timed myself, so I'm not sure what I'd get done in an hour. I think it probably varies. But when I'm doing a novel, I write 2000 words a day. I end up spending somewhere between three and five hours for that.

It doesn't seem all that much, but it maked it easier later on to be a little more discerning on the first draft. Even then, I've plowed through three novels this year sticking to that arbitrary number, so it seems a reasonable pace.

Carrie in PA · Dec 11, 2006

Not a clue.

I do know that I seem to be able to write my non-fiction much faster. I suspect it's partly because with my NF, I don't have to switch gears in my brain and get into a different world.

How fast do you write?

practical experience, FTW

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