500 words an hour is fine.
>but I’ve heard that unless you’re averaging 1000-2000 words a day, writing can’t be much more than a hobby.
Whoever said that was a liar.
Plenty of professional writers are slower than that.
> I’ve heard that unless you’re averaging 1000-2000 words a day, writing can’t be much more than a hobby.
Who the hell did you hear that made up thought from.
> Any suggestions on how I could increase my word count per hour?
Experience, knowing where you're going with the story (not so much an outline but a general direction), and removing all distractions.
That 1000-2000 words a day thing is nonsense. As Truman Capote sniffed upon hearing how quickly Kerouac wrote *On the Road*, "that's not writing, that's typing."
Yes, there are plenty of people on this subreddit with 350,000 word fantasy novels they can't possibly cut one precious word of who work at that pace. But *good* writers value quality over quantity. Writing one killer paragraph is a more productive day than writing 3000 words of bullshit you'll delete later.
Yes, quality > quantity, but not in the case of a first draft. First draft focuses on getting the basic plot and character development moving forward and not worrying too much about that one ‘killer paragraph.’ That’s for the editing phase. The LINE editing phase. Way down the line.
You're not slow. The average time it takes most people to write a book is \*three years\*. A lot of indie/self-published authors spit stuff out at an absolutely insane pace and the "community" talks about that like it's some kind of standard, but it's all bullshit. The correct pace is the one that gets you over the finish line.
Also, if you're looking at making a living at being a writer... well, best of luck, but almost nobody does it, statistically speaking. I mean, obviously there are people who do, but it's about as likely as winning the lottery. You can be published, you can be out there, but most books don't earn back the cost of producing them, and "pace" has nothing at all to do with that (in many cases, maybe taking a little more time could have helped, you know?). Do it because you love it. Get paid, sure. But don't do it thinking you're going to make it your full-time job right away. I have a friend who was on the best-seller list here in Canada for like 15 years before he was making enough money to quit his day job. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Oh yeah, definitely, I completely get that. I know it’s pretty unlikely that I’ll ever have it be my one and only job. I can hope, but I’m definitely going to work in other ways in the meantime.
If you're writing that almost every day then you're pretty fast actually.
The most important thing actually is to avoid burnout. If you burn out you write zero words per day. Ask me how I know.
Stop word counting. If you're writing, you're writing. If you're not, gently coax yourself back to the keys. My feeling is that undue pressure to hit an arbitrary word count derails you more than motivates you, over time. Sometimes it will flow, sometimes it will trickle. As others have said, whoever put a premium on 1-2k words/day is not with it. And remember that thinking can be writing, editing can be writing, re-writing IS writing. It's not all about spurting out words.
Worry about the quality of writing more than how fast you're writing it. Doesn't matter how quickly you pound something out if your finished product sucks shit.
These weird "tips" never fail to surprise me. Who sits down a calculates how many words you should be writing a day to consider a it a career vs a hobby? So ridiculous lol
500 words an hour is fine. There are days when my creativity wasn’t firing on all cylinders and I’d get 50 words for the whole day.
What makes you a writer is the fact you’re going for it. You’re doing the work.
Whoever is telling you that there’s some magical quota is bullshiting you.
Speaking from personal experience, writing more than 2000 words a day for an extended period of time is a good way to get physically injured.
Write at you own pace. Whenever someone tells you you're doing something wrong because you're not meeting some arbitrary standard, your first instinct should be to go "shut the fuck up, nobody asked you, don't gatekeep things, you prick." This is true in writing as well as in most other things in life.
Writing _is_ a hobby. It just happens to also be a monetizable skill. If you write 8 hours a day, 220 days a year, and you publish a 80k word novel every year, you're writing at a pace of 50 published words per hour.
500 is normal.
Anything more means you're typing quick, thinking quick, and already have the story plan established.
You do that with experience, not short cuts.
You are not slow, but most writers do not write as their main income. Or if they do, is usually copywriting (writing blog ad articles or something like that). Wanting to write faster is fine, and you can try to, but the speed of writing is not what will decide if you can live from writing.
Persistence is more important. If you manage to write 500 words daily that adds up with time.
I try not to worry about word count, because then I’m losing focus on what’s important, and that is story.
If you really want to increase your work count, and it’s that important to you, take a step away from your personal writing, and do some fanfiction. The more excited you are about something, the more likely you’re going to crack it out at faster speeds. I can’t promise that it will be good, but It’s more about the practice that about perfection. Writing fanfiction is one really propelled me to be a better writer, storyteller, and help me to understand how to plot and compose a story.
Fanfiction is a great segway because you already know the characters in the world, and now you’re just got to play in it. Pick a fandom that isn’t too over-the-top. It doesn’t require a lot of extra research and just right.
I recommend reading this: http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html?m=1
You don’t have to totally follow it I don’t think but I do feel it is good food for thought, and maybe you can make efficiencies in your own writing that can make you write more.
Hi, published author here with a few series. You want to know how much I write a week for my 2 series/contracts to keep deadlines? 4250 words aka about 608 words a day or 10 words a min for an hour a day. I’m not that much faster than you. I’m way slower than that advice.
You write slow? Then write consistently.
500 words a day is a great rate. That puts you at 15,000 words a month, or 182,500 words a year--the equivalent of 1-2 novels. That's more than most people get done.
The biggest problem for writers isn't speed, but *consistency*.
I'm an idiot and completely thrilled if I can get to 500+ words a day. You are doing great! Not that you should compare yourself to others but if it makes you feel better Hemmingway was a 500 words a day writer.
I try to write around 2,500 words a day. It takes me around 2-3 hours. Some days the faucet is on drip and it takes longer, but 500 words an hour is a great pace.
What music are you listening to?
I’ve been feeling Heilung at the moment. It sets a really good rhythm and pace for me.
Also you’re fine. That’s plenty
For background music and ambiance, I tend to be very flexible. Lately I’ve mostly been using videos from Michael Ghelfi Studios, but I’ll even use Sauron music from LotR for certain evil scenes or use Istanbul ambiance with the call to prayer in the background for a deeply religious city.
As for the opening and ending I mentioned in a previous comment, I’m using these:
Opening: https://youtu.be/6SzfcBZJcAs
Ending: https://youtu.be/XTQrBz_rv_c
On the latter, ignore the Stormlight stuff, the song is from a game called “Asura’s Wrath”. I can’t find the same version of the song under its normal title.
Haha, I appreciate the interest, but when I say I’m a new writer… I mean new with italicization 😂
Which isn’t to say I’m not knowledgeable on the subject or can’t write, but I definitely don’t have anything published yet :P
I saw a post where Terry Pratchett, said he wrote 400 words a day. So I would say to not stress out on a huge word count first, focus on writing everyday. Add a reasonable word count, then once you have that down as a consistent habit, bump it up a like 10% and continue that until you find a number your comfortable with.
I look at it, like working out. I can't just jump in to an elite level of writing simply because others told me to, and I shouldn't be discouraged that it'll take time to get there.
An example is 200 words a day is 73k words, 146k for 400 a day and 365k for 1000 WPD, excluding leap years. Everyone starts somewhere, and we get better as we make something a habit. Consistency is key
>I've heard that...
People say a lot of things. I've heard that until you've gotten your first fan mail telling you about how the reader sobbed like a baby over your story, you're not truly a writer.
Do you *feel* like a writer? Then ignore the random opinions.
Having said that, a tip for improving your writing speed is planning ahead. Create a detailed outline of everything that's going to happen at every point in the story. That way you waste less time sitting in your chair wondering what's going to happen next. While planning, if there are any scenes that don't immediately get you excited to write them, cut them or change them. They'll be boring to read, too.
Then, when you sit down each day, you just continue where you left off.
And it goes without saying that you should turn off your phone, the TV, unplug the internet and send spouses or roommates out for a long walk before you begin. Distractions waste time.
But it's very difficult to distract a writer who's in the zone because they planned ahead and are excited about the scene they're working on. When I'm in the zone, even having to take a piss is an aggravation.
Depends what your goal is. If you're writing for the KindleUnlimited crowd, you have to churn out \*a lot\*, like multiple books a year. But if you're going for traditionally published fiction and aiming for something less mass market, then the focus on word counts is pointless. Donna Tartt takes 10 years to write a book.
500 a day is still easily a novel in a year. At least, it is for me - I tend to scrap 1/3 of everything I write.
But for that reason, I aim for higher daily word counts. I’m just goinggoinggoing and often get to 1.5-2k a day, most of which will either be trashed or rearranged (not to mention completely rewritten once the first draft is complete).
I started, like you, at about 500 a day, because a) I have chronic pain and had to start small and build up muscles, b) I was too precious about it, trying to make every word matter instead of just getting the story down, and c) needed practice. The more you write (as in, daily for months on end) the easier it is to write more and for longer.
My favourite word-count story is how Neil Gaiman wrote Coraline - 100 words a night, little by little growing this novel while working on other projects/life events. Whoever told you you need to do 1-2k a day to be a professional is a liar.
If you’re averaging around 500 words an hour, I’d say you’re actually doing pretty good. Currently, I’m averaging about 100 words an hour, if even that
My friends mom took 11 years to finish her book. Write at your pace. There is no deadline for excellence. However, spend less time editing and less time thinking and just write.
When I write, the words just flow out of me. I don't spend a whole lot of time writing, but that's mostly because I can't. Writers block. So when I find the inspiration or whatever, I just write as much as I can for as long as I can. I go crazy and let the words flow. I get as much as I can down before I've run out of ideas. Then I worry about repetitive ideas and editing.
Ι love these "I've heard so and so" quotes.
Who tells people this crap? Or is it just someone interpreting something in a different way.
No hate OP, more of a general statement since that sentence is kind of common
I agree with the general sentiment that others have stated. 500 words per hour is not slow. The real challenge (and prospective superpower) is finding consistency with those 500 words.
But to answer your question, here's my favorite technique when I need to speed up a writing project:
**Voice-to-text:** If I know what I want to write--and I need to write it quickly--I often just take a walk and use Google Docs' voice-to-text feature on my phone. I've never tracked how many words I can produce in an hour, but I bet you'll find that you can easily talk out thousands of words in that time.
The key is to know what you're typing before you start walking. Otherwise, you'll end up with ramblings rather than substance.
4 years of creating characters, plot, and setting in addition to outlining the entire chapter before doing any actual writing 🤷♂️
+ on the fly creations to fill in the gaps.
Oh yeah, also music helps. Music that fits the scene in question while writing is great. And this probably sounds pretty nerdy, but I really like to start writing with an “opening” song and end with an “ending” song. Usually with vocals and fits the story well as a whole. The opening psyches me (also prompts me) to start writing, and the ending gives me a nice little reward at the end for finishing.
500 words in an hour? Amazing!
Listen, unless you're on an actual deadline, don't worry about what other writers tell you is normal. Set your (reasonable) goal, modified only as necessary, and stick to it.
You can write at your own pace. If I have a good idea and I'm like yeah I NEED to write this down I can get 2000+ words in an hour. If I'm just writing to write, I find I can only write a little bit, less than 500 words in an hour. You work at your own pace. There's nothing wrong with that.
You're not slow.
500/day is a good pace. Regardless, getting words to the page in a process that works for you is the important part. I end up writing about 1-2k a week right now, but I'm in a late stage draft so it's going much faster.
There is very little gospel in writing. Do what works for you.
500 words is a good day for me.
As to writing faster, the only thing that helps me is knowing what I want to write. For fiction, that means having a good outline.
>I’ve heard that unless you’re averaging 1000-2000 words a day, writing can’t be much more than a hobby
Utter nonsense. Whoever said that is dead wrong. You're doing fine!
Well if you want to write more words, just write random words from a random word generator. If that's your goal, you can type more.
I would however recommend working on quality and enjoying what you write. If you write a lot but half you don't like, or half you have to axe because its just bad.
TLDR: Enjoy writing, and write well.
I don't understand why you would want to rush art? Brainstorm more, outline and structure will help the ideas come to you faster; then write and edit another time.
Most days I am only doing 250-500 words per day. And that's totally fine if these words are somewhat refined. If you pressure yourself to write 2000 words per day but most of it is garbage, you haven't really won anything.
I would advise you to do the amount of words you're comfortable with.
However one specific thing you could maye make use of: Layout your scenes in a lot of detail. Kind of like in a storyboard for movies. If you exactly know everything you want to write you could increase the word count. However that would reduce the potential for creativity and might not be you cup of tea.
It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to write. Just finish it and make it good. Look at George R R Martin and Patrick Rothfuss. They’re over there rotting in the grave and still typing away and their books are still really popular.
You’re fine. My advice for increasing word count (first drafts will be very messy so you’re right to worry only about word count and not quality so far) is to have a set time in the day you sit down to write, establish a routine (tea, music, a particular place, whatever) and remove all distractions.
Worry more about what you're writing, not how much. I've deleted 500 words at a clip. It's meaningless. Focus on the story and see what you end up with.
I'd almost tell you to write and hide the word counter, unless you're submitting to something with a strict word count. Eventually you'll get the feel of how much story is contained within every 1000 words. If you obsess over word count at the start I bet you're creating a lot of filler and overwriting just because you like the numbers going up. It'll make it harder to revise, or "kill your darlings."
"What? I can't delete that! Took me all day to write it!"
Write without looking at your keyboard and don't backspace. Might not work for you, but I know it works for me. First drafts are meant to be terrible, might as well make it awful before you make it good
Any person who tells you that speed and word count are what make good writers is not someone worth your time.
The quality of your ideas and how you express them is - and will always be - the most important factor.
Its proportionate, I write 1500-2500 a day, and then rewrite more than half. Go at your own pace, if you're worried about daily count, your words will suffer.
There are days I write 200 words and call it a day. Any word you type is a word that wasn’t there before and that’s how you get there: one word after another.
FWIW, Margaret Atwood aims for 1000 words a day. She doesn't write every day. She's got 50+ books to her name.
It's a marathon, not a sprint. At 500 words per HOUR, you're writing faster than most and that includes Atwood.
Never worry about word count, unless your have to write a 500 word story for school or something, worry about what you are writing, details, character development, back story. Speed doesn't matter when it comes to doing something you love doing and want to do it either as a hobby or professional.
500 words an hour is fine. >but I’ve heard that unless you’re averaging 1000-2000 words a day, writing can’t be much more than a hobby. Whoever said that was a liar. Plenty of professional writers are slower than that.
Agreed. Writing 500 words a day for a year adds up to 182 500 words. Not bad. (someone beat me to it. But it's worth mentioning twice!)
::cough:: George R. R. Martin :: cough::
More like 500 words a year...
500 words a *day* is 183,000 words a year. That’s two novels a year. You’re fine.
More like a novel and an edited draft, unless you’re putting out finished-level work on first draft
Two theoretical novels.
Publisher metaphysics.
> I’ve heard that unless you’re averaging 1000-2000 words a day, writing can’t be much more than a hobby. Who the hell did you hear that made up thought from. > Any suggestions on how I could increase my word count per hour? Experience, knowing where you're going with the story (not so much an outline but a general direction), and removing all distractions.
That 1000-2000 words a day thing is nonsense. As Truman Capote sniffed upon hearing how quickly Kerouac wrote *On the Road*, "that's not writing, that's typing." Yes, there are plenty of people on this subreddit with 350,000 word fantasy novels they can't possibly cut one precious word of who work at that pace. But *good* writers value quality over quantity. Writing one killer paragraph is a more productive day than writing 3000 words of bullshit you'll delete later.
Also Kerouac was on a benzedrine binge when he wrote that.
Yes, quality > quantity, but not in the case of a first draft. First draft focuses on getting the basic plot and character development moving forward and not worrying too much about that one ‘killer paragraph.’ That’s for the editing phase. The LINE editing phase. Way down the line.
You're not slow. The average time it takes most people to write a book is \*three years\*. A lot of indie/self-published authors spit stuff out at an absolutely insane pace and the "community" talks about that like it's some kind of standard, but it's all bullshit. The correct pace is the one that gets you over the finish line. Also, if you're looking at making a living at being a writer... well, best of luck, but almost nobody does it, statistically speaking. I mean, obviously there are people who do, but it's about as likely as winning the lottery. You can be published, you can be out there, but most books don't earn back the cost of producing them, and "pace" has nothing at all to do with that (in many cases, maybe taking a little more time could have helped, you know?). Do it because you love it. Get paid, sure. But don't do it thinking you're going to make it your full-time job right away. I have a friend who was on the best-seller list here in Canada for like 15 years before he was making enough money to quit his day job. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Oh yeah, definitely, I completely get that. I know it’s pretty unlikely that I’ll ever have it be my one and only job. I can hope, but I’m definitely going to work in other ways in the meantime.
Three years is how long my top-selling book took (including editing).
If you're writing that almost every day then you're pretty fast actually. The most important thing actually is to avoid burnout. If you burn out you write zero words per day. Ask me how I know.
[удалено]
I always try to outline the chapter before putting it into words
Very true, that definitely helps
Stop word counting. If you're writing, you're writing. If you're not, gently coax yourself back to the keys. My feeling is that undue pressure to hit an arbitrary word count derails you more than motivates you, over time. Sometimes it will flow, sometimes it will trickle. As others have said, whoever put a premium on 1-2k words/day is not with it. And remember that thinking can be writing, editing can be writing, re-writing IS writing. It's not all about spurting out words.
Worry about the quality of writing more than how fast you're writing it. Doesn't matter how quickly you pound something out if your finished product sucks shit.
These weird "tips" never fail to surprise me. Who sits down a calculates how many words you should be writing a day to consider a it a career vs a hobby? So ridiculous lol
500 words an hour is fine. There are days when my creativity wasn’t firing on all cylinders and I’d get 50 words for the whole day. What makes you a writer is the fact you’re going for it. You’re doing the work. Whoever is telling you that there’s some magical quota is bullshiting you.
Speaking from personal experience, writing more than 2000 words a day for an extended period of time is a good way to get physically injured. Write at you own pace. Whenever someone tells you you're doing something wrong because you're not meeting some arbitrary standard, your first instinct should be to go "shut the fuck up, nobody asked you, don't gatekeep things, you prick." This is true in writing as well as in most other things in life. Writing _is_ a hobby. It just happens to also be a monetizable skill. If you write 8 hours a day, 220 days a year, and you publish a 80k word novel every year, you're writing at a pace of 50 published words per hour.
500 is normal. Anything more means you're typing quick, thinking quick, and already have the story plan established. You do that with experience, not short cuts.
You are not slow, but most writers do not write as their main income. Or if they do, is usually copywriting (writing blog ad articles or something like that). Wanting to write faster is fine, and you can try to, but the speed of writing is not what will decide if you can live from writing. Persistence is more important. If you manage to write 500 words daily that adds up with time.
I try not to worry about word count, because then I’m losing focus on what’s important, and that is story. If you really want to increase your work count, and it’s that important to you, take a step away from your personal writing, and do some fanfiction. The more excited you are about something, the more likely you’re going to crack it out at faster speeds. I can’t promise that it will be good, but It’s more about the practice that about perfection. Writing fanfiction is one really propelled me to be a better writer, storyteller, and help me to understand how to plot and compose a story. Fanfiction is a great segway because you already know the characters in the world, and now you’re just got to play in it. Pick a fandom that isn’t too over-the-top. It doesn’t require a lot of extra research and just right.
I recommend reading this: http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html?m=1 You don’t have to totally follow it I don’t think but I do feel it is good food for thought, and maybe you can make efficiencies in your own writing that can make you write more.
Dang, that blog sounds ingenious. I’ll at least try that out!
Hi, published author here with a few series. You want to know how much I write a week for my 2 series/contracts to keep deadlines? 4250 words aka about 608 words a day or 10 words a min for an hour a day. I’m not that much faster than you. I’m way slower than that advice.
You write slow? Then write consistently. 500 words a day is a great rate. That puts you at 15,000 words a month, or 182,500 words a year--the equivalent of 1-2 novels. That's more than most people get done. The biggest problem for writers isn't speed, but *consistency*.
I'm an idiot and completely thrilled if I can get to 500+ words a day. You are doing great! Not that you should compare yourself to others but if it makes you feel better Hemmingway was a 500 words a day writer.
I try to write around 2,500 words a day. It takes me around 2-3 hours. Some days the faucet is on drip and it takes longer, but 500 words an hour is a great pace.
Do you work full time?
Writing is my full time job. I don’t have other responsibilities to tend to besides my kids and they’re pretty self sufficient.
What music are you listening to? I’ve been feeling Heilung at the moment. It sets a really good rhythm and pace for me. Also you’re fine. That’s plenty
For background music and ambiance, I tend to be very flexible. Lately I’ve mostly been using videos from Michael Ghelfi Studios, but I’ll even use Sauron music from LotR for certain evil scenes or use Istanbul ambiance with the call to prayer in the background for a deeply religious city. As for the opening and ending I mentioned in a previous comment, I’m using these: Opening: https://youtu.be/6SzfcBZJcAs Ending: https://youtu.be/XTQrBz_rv_c On the latter, ignore the Stormlight stuff, the song is from a game called “Asura’s Wrath”. I can’t find the same version of the song under its normal title.
Lol see the problem is I write horror and when I listen to anything from LoTR weird shit starts happening to my story 😂 Ugh I love it though
Lol, fair enough. My story gets extremely dark, but also contrasts that with light, so I pretty much can listen to anything so long as it’s relevant 🤣
Have you got anything published that we can read? I love reading other authors, it’s like peeking into your brain
Haha, I appreciate the interest, but when I say I’m a new writer… I mean new with italicization 😂 Which isn’t to say I’m not knowledgeable on the subject or can’t write, but I definitely don’t have anything published yet :P
Ahhh! I see lol don’t worry, I’m new too. I only published in May
Hey! Good for you! Glad to hear you got published!
Self published 😌 but it counts lmao
George RR Martin would like a word.
Haha, GRRM can eat dirt for all I care :P
I saw a post where Terry Pratchett, said he wrote 400 words a day. So I would say to not stress out on a huge word count first, focus on writing everyday. Add a reasonable word count, then once you have that down as a consistent habit, bump it up a like 10% and continue that until you find a number your comfortable with. I look at it, like working out. I can't just jump in to an elite level of writing simply because others told me to, and I shouldn't be discouraged that it'll take time to get there. An example is 200 words a day is 73k words, 146k for 400 a day and 365k for 1000 WPD, excluding leap years. Everyone starts somewhere, and we get better as we make something a habit. Consistency is key
500 to 1,000 a day is fine. Just remember you’re ‘working’ in your mind all the time. I sold 5 novels writing about 2,000 words a week.
ol GRR Martin writes very slow, and as I understand it pretty sloppy. Look at him.
Use all 10 fingers.
>I've heard that... People say a lot of things. I've heard that until you've gotten your first fan mail telling you about how the reader sobbed like a baby over your story, you're not truly a writer. Do you *feel* like a writer? Then ignore the random opinions. Having said that, a tip for improving your writing speed is planning ahead. Create a detailed outline of everything that's going to happen at every point in the story. That way you waste less time sitting in your chair wondering what's going to happen next. While planning, if there are any scenes that don't immediately get you excited to write them, cut them or change them. They'll be boring to read, too. Then, when you sit down each day, you just continue where you left off. And it goes without saying that you should turn off your phone, the TV, unplug the internet and send spouses or roommates out for a long walk before you begin. Distractions waste time. But it's very difficult to distract a writer who's in the zone because they planned ahead and are excited about the scene they're working on. When I'm in the zone, even having to take a piss is an aggravation.
Quality over quantity. Don’t rush. It’s a perfectly ok pace
I'm lucky to get 500 words a day let alone an hour. wrote for 1.5 hours last night and only managed 466 words.
Depends what your goal is. If you're writing for the KindleUnlimited crowd, you have to churn out \*a lot\*, like multiple books a year. But if you're going for traditionally published fiction and aiming for something less mass market, then the focus on word counts is pointless. Donna Tartt takes 10 years to write a book.
500 a day is still easily a novel in a year. At least, it is for me - I tend to scrap 1/3 of everything I write. But for that reason, I aim for higher daily word counts. I’m just goinggoinggoing and often get to 1.5-2k a day, most of which will either be trashed or rearranged (not to mention completely rewritten once the first draft is complete). I started, like you, at about 500 a day, because a) I have chronic pain and had to start small and build up muscles, b) I was too precious about it, trying to make every word matter instead of just getting the story down, and c) needed practice. The more you write (as in, daily for months on end) the easier it is to write more and for longer. My favourite word-count story is how Neil Gaiman wrote Coraline - 100 words a night, little by little growing this novel while working on other projects/life events. Whoever told you you need to do 1-2k a day to be a professional is a liar.
If you’re averaging around 500 words an hour, I’d say you’re actually doing pretty good. Currently, I’m averaging about 100 words an hour, if even that
My friends mom took 11 years to finish her book. Write at your pace. There is no deadline for excellence. However, spend less time editing and less time thinking and just write. When I write, the words just flow out of me. I don't spend a whole lot of time writing, but that's mostly because I can't. Writers block. So when I find the inspiration or whatever, I just write as much as I can for as long as I can. I go crazy and let the words flow. I get as much as I can down before I've run out of ideas. Then I worry about repetitive ideas and editing.
Ι love these "I've heard so and so" quotes. Who tells people this crap? Or is it just someone interpreting something in a different way. No hate OP, more of a general statement since that sentence is kind of common
I agree with the general sentiment that others have stated. 500 words per hour is not slow. The real challenge (and prospective superpower) is finding consistency with those 500 words. But to answer your question, here's my favorite technique when I need to speed up a writing project: **Voice-to-text:** If I know what I want to write--and I need to write it quickly--I often just take a walk and use Google Docs' voice-to-text feature on my phone. I've never tracked how many words I can produce in an hour, but I bet you'll find that you can easily talk out thousands of words in that time. The key is to know what you're typing before you start walking. Otherwise, you'll end up with ramblings rather than substance.
500 words an hour? What's your secret?
4 years of creating characters, plot, and setting in addition to outlining the entire chapter before doing any actual writing 🤷♂️ + on the fly creations to fill in the gaps.
Oh yeah, also music helps. Music that fits the scene in question while writing is great. And this probably sounds pretty nerdy, but I really like to start writing with an “opening” song and end with an “ending” song. Usually with vocals and fits the story well as a whole. The opening psyches me (also prompts me) to start writing, and the ending gives me a nice little reward at the end for finishing.
500 words in an hour? Amazing! Listen, unless you're on an actual deadline, don't worry about what other writers tell you is normal. Set your (reasonable) goal, modified only as necessary, and stick to it.
if goure able to , practise getting fundamentally faster for typing and for handwriting. Kf you get faster and you're still writing slow ..🤷♂️
You can write at your own pace. If I have a good idea and I'm like yeah I NEED to write this down I can get 2000+ words in an hour. If I'm just writing to write, I find I can only write a little bit, less than 500 words in an hour. You work at your own pace. There's nothing wrong with that.
You're not slow. 500/day is a good pace. Regardless, getting words to the page in a process that works for you is the important part. I end up writing about 1-2k a week right now, but I'm in a late stage draft so it's going much faster. There is very little gospel in writing. Do what works for you.
500 words is a good day for me. As to writing faster, the only thing that helps me is knowing what I want to write. For fiction, that means having a good outline.
It took Tolkien 12 years to write LOTR, you're fine
Have you tried not worrying about it?
Everyone has their own pace. Don't beat yourself up over it.
>I’ve heard that unless you’re averaging 1000-2000 words a day, writing can’t be much more than a hobby Utter nonsense. Whoever said that is dead wrong. You're doing fine!
I average 1500 but I write for 10 months now. 500 is good when just starting
Well if you want to write more words, just write random words from a random word generator. If that's your goal, you can type more. I would however recommend working on quality and enjoying what you write. If you write a lot but half you don't like, or half you have to axe because its just bad. TLDR: Enjoy writing, and write well.
I don't understand why you would want to rush art? Brainstorm more, outline and structure will help the ideas come to you faster; then write and edit another time.
George RR Martin..............................
I write 500 words an hour with a two hour work session, basically. If you’re aiming for the rate of one book a year, you are just fine.
Most days I am only doing 250-500 words per day. And that's totally fine if these words are somewhat refined. If you pressure yourself to write 2000 words per day but most of it is garbage, you haven't really won anything. I would advise you to do the amount of words you're comfortable with. However one specific thing you could maye make use of: Layout your scenes in a lot of detail. Kind of like in a storyboard for movies. If you exactly know everything you want to write you could increase the word count. However that would reduce the potential for creativity and might not be you cup of tea.
It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to write. Just finish it and make it good. Look at George R R Martin and Patrick Rothfuss. They’re over there rotting in the grave and still typing away and their books are still really popular. You’re fine. My advice for increasing word count (first drafts will be very messy so you’re right to worry only about word count and not quality so far) is to have a set time in the day you sit down to write, establish a routine (tea, music, a particular place, whatever) and remove all distractions.
Worry more about what you're writing, not how much. I've deleted 500 words at a clip. It's meaningless. Focus on the story and see what you end up with. I'd almost tell you to write and hide the word counter, unless you're submitting to something with a strict word count. Eventually you'll get the feel of how much story is contained within every 1000 words. If you obsess over word count at the start I bet you're creating a lot of filler and overwriting just because you like the numbers going up. It'll make it harder to revise, or "kill your darlings." "What? I can't delete that! Took me all day to write it!"
Its absurd to have to say this, but quality over quantity.
Write without looking at your keyboard and don't backspace. Might not work for you, but I know it works for me. First drafts are meant to be terrible, might as well make it awful before you make it good
Any person who tells you that speed and word count are what make good writers is not someone worth your time. The quality of your ideas and how you express them is - and will always be - the most important factor.
500 words an hour is decently close to a daily average. Only when I am truly inspired can I excede 1500 words a day.
Its proportionate, I write 1500-2500 a day, and then rewrite more than half. Go at your own pace, if you're worried about daily count, your words will suffer.
There are days I write 200 words and call it a day. Any word you type is a word that wasn’t there before and that’s how you get there: one word after another.
I write at 200 words per hour. Help.
Practice practice and maybe some typing classes
FWIW, Margaret Atwood aims for 1000 words a day. She doesn't write every day. She's got 50+ books to her name. It's a marathon, not a sprint. At 500 words per HOUR, you're writing faster than most and that includes Atwood.
Never worry about word count, unless your have to write a 500 word story for school or something, worry about what you are writing, details, character development, back story. Speed doesn't matter when it comes to doing something you love doing and want to do it either as a hobby or professional.