So I've kind of started writing a book...

G-Money

As the title suggests, I've kind of started to write a book. I got the idea for a story about a week ago and fleshed it out a little bit the other night. I'd been meaning to make a start on it earlier this week but because of procrastination and a few other things, I only made a start on it tonight.

I have a job at the moment (mercifully) so I have to fit any writing around that and other activities so I had set myself a goal of writing 1000 words per day.

I made a start on it this evening and I have to say it wasn't as easy as I was expecting it to be, but at the same time it wasn't massively difficult. I wrote the first paragraph or two and wasn't really sure where to go after that but then got the thousand words down relatively quickly after that, within about 30-40 minutes. Not sure if that is quick or not.

My aim is to write 1000 words per day but that may turn into "write 1000 words anytime you sit down to write".

I've no idea if this will ever lead anywhere. I could run out of stuff to write about within a week or whatever, but I think it's a nice thing to attempt. Plus it's so cheap to do. All you need is some time and a pen and piece of paper. Or in my case, some time and a computer. I can't stand writing by hand.

I guess I am wondering what other people's experiences are of writing books? How many words would you write per day?

Dublin141

G-Money wrote: »

I guess I am wondering what other people's experiences are of writing books? How many words would you write per day?

Everyone is different. I know some people who refuse to write every day and others who write for 8-12 hours a day. I write about 3k an hour (when I'm on a first draft), but I'm used to it now, so it's a bit easier than it might have been a few years ago. Words a day depends on where I am in the WIP and also what kind of madness is going on in my life. The most was maybe 18k, but I needed to sleep for about two days afterward, so it's not something I recommend.

I think it's great you're giving it a go, and it sounds like it's going really well for you so far. Don't worry about being quick or slow, just find your own pace. In my experience, the more you write, the less likely you are to run out of ideas. It can be hard to fit it in at first, but totally worth it. Best of luck with your story.

EileenG

I write a minimum of 1000 words a day, but try for more. For some reason, on this book, it's taking me a lot longer to get the words down than it did in previous books, but because I've got into the habit of writing every day, it's still getting there.

CD.

the most i have ever written in a day was 10,000 words.
I would get home from school at about 4, start writing and not stop until about 8ish. I did this for about 4/5 days and finished off the novel I was writing at the time. I'm not sure if this was during 5th or 6th year, i think 5th but i'm not sure. that novel still needs to be edited.
other than that it was usually the 2000-5000 mark, but i only hit that due to a deadline that i had (told an agent it was finished, she was interested, que OH FUCKL moment so i wrote it in about a month and edited it in about two weeks. that one was painful. reached 40,000 words and pretty much scrapped everything after 10,000 and started again because i had followed a meadering path that ended in a dead end wall.

so far, lately, i havnt been writing at all in the two novels i have started, though i have turned one into a short story/novella and managed about 4000 words today so happy with that.

I have to write short stories (slightly different) 3 times a week, and they range between 1-2000 words or so.
If you find yourself struggling to reach a thousand words a day, start off smaller, what do you find easy to consistantly write, then every day increase it by something like 20 or 50 words until you're at a thousand a day/what ever number you want.

Generally for a novel, the word count is around 75,000 so it would take 75 days, 2 1/2 months or so to write a novel at that rate, which isn't too shabby if you ask me.

bigsmokewriting

Remember as well that there'll be an editing and revising process once you've finished the first draft - so don't obsess too much over the quality of what you're writing each day. Try to write well, of course, but writing a book takes a long time and just keeping going with it is one of the hardest parts!

IsMiseLisa

I started writing my current book when I was about 17. That's to say that's when the first seed of the idea began. 3 revisions, a couple of rejections, much editing, many hours of writing, and two years later, I'm completely finished.

It's currently in several agents' offices. I'm hopeful that someone will take me on. I've had some interest, and three full requests, so hopeful is the word.

I wrote the very first draft in February 2010 in two weeks - 58,000 words in fourteen days. The final 64,000 word draft is significantly different, though I probably spent three times as long editing it as I did actually writing it.

Everyone has a different system. I tend to break a lot of the rules. I don't believe in setting goals, especially re: word counts. Write if wanna write.

Good luck with it.

The only rule I go by is to write until it stops being fun!

G-Money

I've kind of written a little over the last couple of days, but mostly when I felt like it. I wasn't doing much earlier on today but I was feeling tired and really didn't want to do anything, so I didn't do anything.

Then this evening I started writing something else, then turned to the book and cracked out about 1000 words or just under. I kind of just wrote until I felt I had this particular element of the story finished. I wanted to go as far as point A for this evening and then stop. So that's what I did.

It felt good and I was quite content after completing it. I haven't really set myself a deadline as such, but the ultimate wordcount I'm aiming at before editing is at least 50,000.

I'm just going to write when I feel like it and write as much or as little as I want. I've one core plot in it that was the original idea that I have no clue how to resolve but I'm sure it will work itself out

I've no idea if this will ultimately go anywhere, but it will be interesting to try and see what happens.

ThePinkCage

It's not always about churning out thousands of words.

As picarooney says, everyone is different. 1,000 is an achievable target, but you have a job as well, so it may be more realistic to think about your goal in terms of time.

Aim to write every day, even if you only have 10 minutes. In 10 minutes, you can write about,150 words. Then on the days when you have more time, you can write your 1,000.

When I was busy with other things, I aimed for a 50-word target. Then I felt that at least I was doing some writing, rather than letting gaps go by because I didn't have time.

EileenG

Agree, writing is like training a muscle. It's more important to do it regularly and keep improving than to hit a particular number.