How many words do you normally write a day?

katiemac · Oct 29, 2008

The idea of writing a novel in a month sounds kind of insane. But then I broke it down. By Nano's 50,000 mark, that's 1667 words a day.

When I was writing at my best, I averaged between 1500-2000 a day. 1500 was my daily goal, and even if I was on a roll I made myself stop around that number. It never took more than an hour and a half out of my day.

167 extra words on top of my normal words-a-day isn't even a full page in manuscript format. Doesn't sound so scary. My biggest problems are getting started, but once I get rolling it works out okay--that one day I don't have to write is what kills my whole process, because it's that much harder to go back the next day.

So what about you? What's the daily word count difference you have to make up from your normal average to be a Nano winner?

Enzo · Oct 29, 2008

I also write up to 2,000 words on a good day.

Last year was my first NaNo, so I really tried hard and reached an average of 2,400 a day. This year I'm going for at least 3,000 a day but I'll be concentrating on writing as much as I can during weekends so I don't slip up during the week.
Whatever happens, my word average in December is certain to drop steeply. Post-NaNo depression, I think it's called.

GeorgieB · Oct 29, 2008

Somewhere between 1500-2500 words per day, and sometimes more.

I'm like Enzo, doing more during NaNo than my average.

Soccer Mom · Oct 29, 2008

I start out all excited and blister 5,000 words a day early on. Then I slow to a trickle by the third week and I'm glad of the early padding. I catch my second wind at the end and push through the last couple thousand.

DamaNegra · Oct 29, 2008

Depending on the day, I usually write between 1.5k and 6k words a day. On average, though, I write 3k words a day.

katiemac · Oct 29, 2008

So far this whole word count thing sounds like old hat to AWers. We got nothin' to worry about.

burgy61 · Oct 29, 2008

katiemac said:
So far this whole word count thing sounds like old hat to AWers. We got nothin' to worry about.

I don't know about that, right now I'm struggling to hit 600 words a day. I'm hoping NaNo will help get me back into writing everyday. It's been about 6 months since I've done any writing.

katiemac · Oct 29, 2008

burgy61 said:
I don't know about that, right now I'm struggling to hit 600 words a day. I'm hoping NaNo will help get me back into writing everyday. It's been about 6 months since I've done any writing.

I got you beat on that six months.

Yeshanu · Oct 29, 2008

With me, once I sit down and actually force myself to write, I can write 1999 words easily. It's only one word that's difficult--the first one. Once that one's down on paper the other 1999 tumble out.

For me, the hardest part of NaNo isn't the daily word count so much as forcing myself to actually sit down daily at the computer and write, and to continue writing even when every word seems like crap because things aren't flowing the way I want them to flow.

Kalyke · Oct 29, 2008

I can do the words if I have the ideas. I am keeping my novel for NaNo pretty close to the belt-- in other words it will have a lot of semi-autobiographical stuff in it so I don't have to sit around thinking up new experiences for my mains. I figure I just need to know the first incedent, at least 3 big incedents, and lastly the major climex, on 3 levels. That would be 15 plot points.

JustJess · Oct 30, 2008

The last time I did NaNo, I hadn't written a single fictional word in about a decade and was able to hit the 1667 per day. In the past six months I've written either 1000 words per day or none at all. I'm hoping NaNo will help me establish a solid writing habit. I tend to be an all or nothing kind of gal.

sheadakota · Oct 30, 2008

I try to write at least 2K a day. I work every friday and the weekend 12 hour shifts- so no writing gets done three days a week- I need a buffer.

Deccydiva · Oct 30, 2008

I want to end up with around 80,000 so I can start editing it into a "real" novel and polish that into something worth - to my mind - querying. That could take a long time but the more raw material I have to start with, the more motivated I will feel. I hope.

Alpha Echo · Oct 30, 2008

Depends on the day, but since I'm usually able to get quite a bit written at work, I can get anywhere from 500 on a bad day to several thousand on a good day.

Come on good days!!!

Mr Flibble · Oct 30, 2008

I normally aim for 1k, five days a week. Of course if I stick with 5 days a week it's going to have to be about 2.5k each time. EEEP!

Luckily this one has been hanging around my brain for a while so it's pretty much plot sorted ( which is what normally holds me up) so fingers crossed.

astonwest · Oct 30, 2008

Anywhere from 100-500 on a bad day, and 1000+ on a good day...
With a fresh idea and a clean slate, I'm hoping for 30 good days.

Sassee · Oct 30, 2008

I write anywhere from 500 to 4500 words a day, depending on what I'm writing, what part it's at, and what day of the week it is (weekends give me more time, obviously). I'm just all over the place!

During last year's NaNo I found out I can easily do 1500-2000 an hour when I'm in the zone. Here's hopin' I can do that again this year!

Fresie · Oct 30, 2008

I've discovered I can write 1667 words a day easily, and that's what I did the first two times. Big mistake! Twice I was left with a half-finished book and no amount of motivation could force me to finish the draft. let alone edit it.

So this time I aim to finish the whole thing in 30 days which means 3000-plus words a day. Two sessions every day, a finished scene each.

The horror of it is, I've got two other books to write (non-fiction), already commissioned! My poor husband....

Rose English · Oct 30, 2008

I normally only manage about 500 words in any one session, and I don't write daily. I have no idea how long it'll take me to meet the 1667 (my minimum) and the 2000 I'd like to write. Oh my gosh, I just can't think about it

Fresie · Oct 31, 2008

Rose English said:
I normally only manage about 500 words in any one session, and I don't write daily. I have no idea how long it'll take me to meet the 1667 (my minimum) and the 2000 I'd like to write. Oh my gosh, I just can't think about it

Just allow yourself to write down anything that's relevant, anything that hits your head. You will edit it to perfection later, but the main thing is to have something to edit, so don't worry about its quality at the moment, just write down every little detail you can think of. Then you'll have a lot of raw material to work with and to choose from when you start to edit.

Kryianna · Nov 1, 2008

Deccydiva said:
I want to end up with around 80,000 so I can start editing it into a "real" novel and polish that into something worth - to my mind - querying. That could take a long time but the more raw material I have to start with, the more motivated I will feel. I hope.

I'm trying to do the same thing. Here's hoping we can both do it!

When I'm writing, I can do between 1,500 and 4k words a day, depending on the day. I can generally get a lot done on weekends, and make up for any days off I took during the week. I can go months without writing a thing, though.

Cranky · Nov 1, 2008

I write in fits and starts, so I don't really have a "regular" average. When I'm working, though, 3k sounds about right. I just plow on through. Other days, it's closer to 4/5k, then others I'll be lucky to get 100 words.

Clearly, I am a spaz.

cdoctor13 · Nov 1, 2008

Normally, about 1,000 words a day because I am easily distracted by geeky computer stuff and work. During NaNoWriMo, usually about 2k a day. Last year I finished three days early.

General Scorch · Nov 1, 2008

Hmm, it all depends on the day. I typically write 5K per day after finishing any schoolwork that's due the next day. On weekends or day offs, (believe it or not) I can push up to 10K (this is me sitting in front of the computer all day)

Judg · Nov 1, 2008

Normally, I do 500-1000 words a day. For Nano, I'm trying to do between 1000 and 2000.

I know what they say about silencing the inner editor and all, but if I am unhappy with what I'm producing, I freeze up. I really do write more and better if I try to write tight and clean.

So if I make 30K, I'll be happy, even if my not-so-secret dream goal is to actually do the 50K.

How many words do you normally write a day?

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