Flowery writing and rapid typing? I've been thinking...

NoirSuede said:

Off-topic but please tell me your secret to fast writing, I'm a chronically slow writer (150 words/hour) and thus I keep fearing that i'm underwriting my prose.

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There is a secret to fast writing. I can clear 7k per day (understanding that I work from home!) without breaking a sweat. But that's a technique of writing that works best with my process.

The issue is...is your writing process conducive to fast writing.

In the end, Old Hack has the right of it.

Old Hack said:

It sounds to me like you're allowing your editorial side to interrupt your creative side, and stop you writing.

Try not to worry about having too many of anything, or about your word-count. Just let your words flow. Every time you find yourself thinking, "That's the wrong word," or, "I need to write more," or anything else, write or type a great big X and then just carry on. Focus on getting words down. Give yourself permission to write the wrong words if the wrong words are what present themselves, and to include as many -ings as you want. Just focus on keeping your pen moving, or your fingers typing. Get those words down. You can revise them later.

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That's really all there is to it.

The critical thing to consider is...how best are you served by getting your words down fast vs not stymieing up your creative process. Each process is individual and unique to the writer and​ the project.

If I'm on a deadline, I can produce 13,000 words of copy in a day. If I'm very lucky I might be able to produce 3,000 words of fiction in a day and most days I count 1,000 words of fiction as good. For what it's worth, I produce fairly clean prose so I can focus most of my revision on story factors rather than polishing words, which cuts down on that effort.

The key is finding a process that works for you and understanding that as long as you get the work done it doesn't matter what that process is. You can overwrite, underwrite, write a messy first pass and revise like crazy afterwards, or polish each sentence as you write. It really doesn't matter so long as the process works for you.

I do the same thing in my first drafts, I doubt it has anything to do with the speed your write with (it might). I, for example, simply get loose and write whatever is coming to me, led by a fact that it's easier to remove a word once you know who your character is and what the story is about, than to add to a bony and bare manuscript.