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how much do you write per day?

N

nelka35

New Member
How much do you write per day? How many pages, for how long?
How old were you when you started to write?
Did you always write, or did you think that you wanted to write and didn't?
As you can surmise from my question, that is my plight, and I am trying to figure out how normal this is. And whether my wish to write is no more than a wish...
 
I go months at a time without doing any writing at all. Sometimes I write so little that I have to defend my self-imposed description as a writer. But I think that being a writer is not just the output but also a way of looking at the world.

To be a successful writer, I'm told you have to write something everyday, but I've never heard someone list a page count. Obviously, I am not up to this discipline yet.

I think I've always been writing in my head, but my writing on paper didn't start until I was in high school at least.
 
Probably 150 words per hour, i.e. 1000 words per day, on average, but I rarely have a full day. Real life interferes.

The same characters have been clowning about inside my head for most of my adult life (replacing a childhood imaginary herd of horses :) ) - I decided it was time they knuckled down to produce something constructive on the written page.

I don’t expect to get my inner ramblings published, but I have lived, and breathed, and loved with (!) these guys, for so long, that I am now attempting to chronicle their ‘existence’.

At my plodding rate, I reckon it will take ten years, but that’s fine: I only have one story to tell. :eek:

Third Man Girl

“In the end, writing is like a prison, an island from which you will never be released but which is a kind of paradise: the solitude, the thoughts, the incredible joy of putting into words the essence of what you for the moment understand and with your whole heart want to believe.” – James Salter
 
Originally posted by nelka35
How much do you write per day? How many pages, for how long?
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Not enough and I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing as I've mostly been writing technical FAQs. When I do write -and I'm referring to short stories - I usually have to finish the story there and then. No giving up the day and continuing the next. After it's written I'm free to edit and expand it but the first draft - no matter the length - must be written in one sitting.

How old were you when you started to write?
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I was 10. I have written on and off as the interests I've gathered have moulded me over that time - short fiction, poetry, essays, and technical articles.

Did you always write, or did you think that you wanted to write and didn't?
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I was encouraged by my teacher at school and further encouraged at high school, and was further encouraged again at college - maybe the repetition was intentional - in my sentence or thier sentiments, however, I don't know.
 
Recently, I'm lucky to write a paragraph a day. But a few months back I was writing about a 1,000 words a sitting. After that I usually get angry at how bad it is turning out and just stop. If the story grabs me then I have written up to 5,000 words in one sitting, but more often than not its about 500 words of total kack.

I only started writing about 8 months ago, which would make me......17 at the time.

I never thought I would want to write, but then one day I just thought about this story in my head and had to write it down. And it all grew from there...
 
I wrote my first "book" in the 6th grade. It was about a clam. I've been writing ever since, but not about clams. I wrote before that, but just little things like poetry and short stories.

I can write as little as a sentence a day, to well over 2500 words. It all depends on the strength of the story, my level of fatigue, other committments, etc. But mostly the first one. If I'm not truly excited about a project, it can be hard to write. I've done it, but it's not as easy as being super excited.

I have written around 30 full and complete novels, about a dozen picture books, I have dozens of bits and pieces, half novels, etc. I just need to get back to work on it. But lately, I've been bored and uninspired. :( I need to figure out how to get excited again.

I don't even bother with submitting to NY. I don't like the games they play. Most won't take simul subs, which means a manuscript is locked up for months, sometimes years, while they think it over. That's a long time to have something then returned. And if it doesn't sell back the advance in 4-6 months, it's remaindered. No thank you.
 
I write about 6 or 7 pages a day of any given project I'm working on, about 5 days per week. (My word-count per 'page' is about 250-300 words) Out of those 6 or 7 pages, I generally whittle down closer to 2 or 3 pages that are actually ‘first draft’ presentable.

I've written since I first learned how to read. I complained of being bored with the 'see Jane run' type of stuff in my earliest classes, and was challenged by a teacher to write my own works that were more rousing. I immediately set about to do just that- dictating my first efforts to my mother who typed them for me. It's been a life long love affair with writing ever since. There are just few things I love more than sitting down with a story in mind, and hammering it out.

There's no requirement that you need to have started writing before you were out of diapers- just that you need to get started sometime before the final ‘lights out’.

I think once you begin writing, you'll know pretty quickly if it's 'just a wish' or a true passion. If it becomes something that despite the challenge and difficulty you enjoy as much as any other great life experience- then you'll know for sure.
 
I find my everyday job, because it's so cognitive and ordered and...black and white sullies the creativity out of me a little.

However, on weekends and late nights I can go into my fantasy world and let my dreams take flight.

I got alot of writing and plans done when I was on vacation at the end of last year. That in turn got my motivation going, and I know where everything should fit in my novel now- so that spurs me on.
 
Originally posted by Marquis Rex
I find my everyday job, because it's so cognitive and ordered and...black and white sullies the creativity out of me a little.
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I can understand that completely. A couple of years ago I used to work at sea and write quite a lot but since I changed careers and started working in an office doing reports and database programming I find that too much is logical, practical, and detrimental to me.
 
Thanks for all the replies! Now I have to find time to process them, as well as do everything else.... Again, thanks!
 
I keep a small journal in which I scribble things down throughout the day. Evenings, I elaborate on those on my computer. I don't have a set amount for each day, just whatever comes. My job forces me to constantly be creative, but in a visual way, rather than a literary way, which is perfect. If I ever had to do anything mundane and uncreative on an everyday basis... oooo.... the thought makes me shiver. :eek:
 
How much do you write per day? How many pages, for how long?

I try and write something each day, but life gets in the way and I end up writing usually about three or four times a week for between an hour and an hour and a half each session.

How old were you when you started to write?

Ummm, quite young!


Did you always write, or did you think that you wanted to write and didn't?

I've always enjoyed escaping into my own little world, and by writing it down meant that I could elabourate on it ...
 
Not nearly enough. I might scratch out a page in a day, but I have so little time because of my work schedule, that sometimes weeks will go by without a single word going down for posterity. Makes me quite sad, really, but I'm not good enough a writer to do it for a living.
 
What a great topic, especially for a newbie like me.


How much do you write per day? How many pages, for how long?
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It depends on how close I am to a deadline. :) If it's close I can write a lot and spend 12-14 hours a day. Most of the time, however, I can usually sustain a pace of 10 pages a day. BUT, this is how I make my living. Being able to pay the mortgage is a BIG motivater.


How old were you when you started to write?
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Eighth or ninth grade -- whatever age that is.


Did you always write, or did you think that you wanted to write and didn't?
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I wrote off and on, not seriously, for years. I always knew I wanted to write, but I just didn't do it. Then in the late 80s I got serious about it. SInce then, I've written 13 books and published 11.


As you can surmise from my question, that is my plight, and I am trying to figure out how normal this is. And whether my wish to write is no more than a wish...
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I would suggest you just do it and find out. If you HATE the process, it's not for you. Because nothing about writing -- the craft or the business -- is easy.
 
I do everything but...

Maybe someone can help me with this...

I read about writing. I talk about writing. I think about writing. I like reading what other people say about writing...I do everything about writing except, write. Does this make sense to anyone? In fact, when I do force myself to sit down...I get up and walk around after every sentence. I check the fridge, check the mail, check the fridge again...as if I am rewarding myself for writing one sentence. I tried writing fiction, and I have accepted the fact that I cannot...

My theory is that I am so afraid of not writing "perfectly," I paralyze myself before I even get started...

Anyone else have this problem?
 
Not at all, I write crap all the time and I don't mind one bit. :D

Not that anyone, ever, will get to read it.

Cheers
 
With virgin fiction, I aim for 1000 words per day. With revision, the wordcount doesn't matter, but pages do. I try to write for 4 hours a day.

With interviews, profiles, and essays I write all day because it's typically a contract job. I used to do that all day every day, but now I write fiction.

I have to say, I think being a writer IS about output. Thinking about it is fine, but unless those words hit paper, it's hot air. It's one of those things everyone thinks they can do, but it's the doing that counts.

I've been writing professionallly since 1987 and, IMO, if you don't produce, you're not a writer. I mean, in theory you can say I think I could be a writer if I actually sat down and wrote, but unless you do it, you don't have anything except what's in your head, which is thinking, not writing.

Frankly, it's all about the work--the first draft, second draft, all the big revisions and little revisions, the criticism, the flexibility to rethink things, the willingness to spend all that time alone working the craft. Everyone writer has had the experience of being in flow and having a magical first draft, but to write as an avocation takes some elbow grease and a malleable ego.

Novella
 
valboyz2000 said:
Maybe someone can help me with this...

I read about writing. I talk about writing. I think about writing. I like reading what other people say about writing...I do everything about writing except, write. Does this make sense to anyone? In fact, when I do force myself to sit down...I get up and walk around after every sentence. I check the fridge, check the mail, check the fridge again...as if I am rewarding myself for writing one sentence. I tried writing fiction, and I have accepted the fact that I cannot...

My theory is that I am so afraid of not writing "perfectly," I paralyze myself before I even get started...

Anyone else have this problem?
Click to expand...

Yep, I have this problem, too. As I'm approaching 30, I am trying to work on this as I think of myself as a writer, I have a degree in creative writing, my outlook is that of a writer, and yet I do not write. I do research, I plan plots, I craft sentences and scenes in my head, but do not manage to put anything significant on paper.

Do you want to start a support group? :eek:
 
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