If you are a writer, how many words do you write per day as an exercise? Some writers suggest 250 words. What about you?
Words per day is a bit regimented but it does produce results.
If you think of an average page as containing 300 words +/- then you can create a formula of production.
Lets say you want to research and write a book about the “whatevers” and your goal is a 30,000 word short story, then the formula would indicate that you should plan on at least a writing period of 100 days.
If that time frame is too long or too short merely adjust the formula accordingly. You may even want to consider the 300 words as a “per session” amount of production. Somedays you may write 600 or 900 words at a sitting. So then you would just mark off 3 of the sessions required to reach your goal. (Only 97 to go!)
On the other hand when writing poetry you might write 1 poem over several days or sessions depending on your attitude toward the poem being constructed.
And if you are writing a novel of some sort then many times you will write for hours and complete generous portions of the book in one session.
It all really depends on what your goals are, the amount of time you have available and your desire to complete the project.
I hope this helps
Peace
Bob
As an exercise? I used to do exercises every week or so, just flash fiction. Since I’ve sold and have Big 6 contracts, I don’t have time for exercises. I have to write for my deadlines. I do 5K-10K a day.
I know that sounds like a lot, but 1K in an hour is about average and I work 10-12 hours a day.
I hope this helps.
Writing is a personal experience. If you truly are a writer (and not a student working on becoming a writer), you are past exercises and you simply can’t put a number on what/how you write – but you can set aside a time. It’s all about disclipline.
For instance, when I participate in NaNoWriMo, I write no less than 1,667 words per session in order to make the 50K goal by the end of the month. This is understanding that it’s a fun endeavor that in no way is intended to actually be good writing. I set aside an hour or two, write (often twice as many words as needed, but enjoying the process), and then get to my real work.
I then do all the other writing as part of my job(s): blogging, magazine articles, a few chapters in my current book (not the novel), speeches, marketing copy, emails, tweets, etc. All told, much like Ms. Lunsford, I write several thousand words per day – if I were to count them – but who has time to count words when you’re getting things done?
If you want to be a successful writer, don’t count words so much as the time you discipline yourself to write and learn about your craft. You may find that you sit down and write several thousand words one day, but the next day you had to do some research, editing, or rearranging, so you didn’t write as many words, but you got a lot of work done.
As a professional editor, my experience with writers more interesteed in pounding out a certain number of words without taking the time to hone the craft means bad copy. Some so bad that no amount of editing could fix it. Focus more on quality, rather than quantity.
As our friend Bob said, if you’re writing poetry, you may devote a significant amount of time to one poem, which may be fewer than 500 words total. Is taking several days over a few hundred words worth it? If you win a contest, a grant, or a book deal, YES!
I hate to give you a non-answer, but the truth is that you’ve got to do what works best for you. The absolute most important thing, however, is to DO IT. Every day, no excuses.
Now, get to work! 🙂
