Fastest time you ever clocked a short story draft?

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Anjasa

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My partner and I have gotten quite quick. Even though we're both sick, we started writing yesterday and have 20k in on our newest story. It was only supposed to be a short throwaway but we started to really enjoy the characters and setting, so it's been a pleasant distraction.

We can do about 1-2k an hour, I think.
 

Gaia Revane

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I often don't write massive amounts unless I get a sudden surge of inspiration (my usual habit is 1000 words a day -- any more than that and I get burned out), but a few months ago, I had to turn in a 3000 word short story for one of my classes. I hadn't done it, and I'd forgotten about it until someone asked me if I'd done it only 2 hours before class began.

Freaking out, I ran to the campus library, got on a computer, and to my surprise, I actually had a 3000 word story completed and ready for workshopping within 2 hours. It's the fastest I've ever written anything.
 

Sochitelya

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2 hours to handwrite a 1500-word story, in between answering messages, haha. I sent it out in hand-made booklet form as a Christmas gift for 2011, and self-pubbed it (free, since it was a gift story) in April 2012.
 

MumblingSage

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I think my quickest turnaround was the time I had an idea for a flash fiction while at work, sat down and wrote it in about 25 minutes once I went off-shift, submitted it and recieved an acceptance the next afternoon. That one stood out for the rapid response as much as the writing. Otherwise, I rarely sit down and write a story in a solid block of time, so it's hard to tell how long I'm at it. I can write about 5,000 words in a day when the Muse calls me.
 

JustSarah

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If there were a slowest time clocked for a short story draft, I might win the award for fifteen minutes. For a 210 word flash fiction.:p
 

blacbird

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Turns out I lied in my initial post, saying something like 5-6 hours for a 5,000 word rough draft. A few days ago I posted a 2,000 word short in SYW for which I cranked out the rough draft in about two hours. So I guess my math, with some things, is about 1,000 words per hour.

By no means am I always this fast.

caw
 

areteus

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It can take months for me... but that is often because I start and then stall and lose impetus so it never gets done.

However, my one successful short (Gods of the Sea) was written in a few hours spread over a number of days.

It depends on the story and how keen you are on it. It is possible to do it in a few hours if you just sit and write. Hell 2K is nothing, I used to do that on university assignments in one night... a more common short length is up to 5K and even 10K (though that strays somewhat into novella territory depending on which version of the word count table you look at).

It might help you, by the way, to structure your novel as either a series of shorts (an event per chapter with some linking material) or as a number of novellas when it comes to writing it. Breaking the work into short sections can make it seem less of a chore when writing it.
 

Nick12

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I wrote a 900-word story in about 90 minutes once, but there was a 750-word limit so I'm not sure that even counts as a draft :)
 

Acarophobia

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I don't really know the fastest I've ever finished a short story, but I know that my usual rate is anywhere from a few hours to a few days. I think the fastest time it actually took for one of my stories was about two and a half hours. Of course, that was just the draft! I read it all after I was finished, and shook my head in disapproval.
 

janfinson

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I usually write 2000 word short stories in 2-3 hours. But I spend several days editing.
 

MissyLaRae

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In all honesty I write like a demented dervish on helium. I can pound out a rough draft of 2-3K words in about 90 minutes. I do not edit or revise at all while I'm writing a draft. I only write. I save the revisions for later.

Try just writing, no revisions what so ever. You'll be amazed at what you can get accomplished.
 

Jamesaritchie

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In all honesty I write like a demented dervish on helium. I can pound out a rough draft of 2-3K words in about 90 minutes. I do not edit or revise at all while I'm writing a draft. I only write. I save the revisions for later.

Try just writing, no revisions what so ever. You'll be amazed at what you can get accomplished.

That works for some, but not for me. I write pretty fast, but I want to get it right on the first pass. I've found revisions later are more trouble than they're worth. I'd rather take five hours to write a story that sells, rather than writing it in one hour and having to beat it into shape later.
 

ShadowFox

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At the rate that I had been going, it was impossible to imagine how someone could finish and submit a short story each and every week, as I hear some of the more prolific writers have done.

I write and submit at least one story a week.

At first it is a struggle and it takes a lot of time to write that fast. Over time it gets easier.
 
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