How many words per day?

KeithD said:

I consider 3,000 words a day as a full writing day, but sometimes I go up to 9,000 words and occasionally I do zero. I try to do at least 1,000 words. And all that said, that's just a general feeling of being productive or not. I don't have any set needs or requirements on wordage written. And, like any regularly producing author, it isn't all about generating wordage. Some time is spent in researching a different story than the one I'm writing or reviewing already-written stories to go to the publisher or cleaning up edits when they come back. I can have a highly productive day without doing any writing at all.

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I find this whole tread mighty encouraging.

I'm an idiot who dream about writing smut in language I don't speak, and when the objective need to write overcome the rational futility to try, the added technicalities mean I can barely produce 1000 (English) words of highly questionable value in one exhausting sitting of about 3-4 hours. Obviously, I can't get even that with any regularity either. Still if that's anywhere comparable with daily goals of true writers then my frets about my inability to write may not be truly based in reality at least in the most technical sense of it.

Jessicathe69 said:

Thanks! Looks like it's kinda' what I figured, do what you can when you can, and when you feel productive.

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I write in fits and starts. I work and go to school, so time is often a problem. But I do most of my writing in my head before I ever sit down at the keyboard, so sometimes a day that I don't actually sit and write is more productive than one when I sit at the computer for hours.

TxRad said:

Don't get hung up on numbers. Just write. When someone starts paying for your stuff is time to worry about numbers. Make sure you have good habits down pat when that time comes.

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This.

Honestly, I have never understood the necessity to count words in a story, I just write, but then again I write for me and for fun, as a way to relieve stress and in place of normal forms of entertainment like television or having friends

So, for the very first time, I checked my writing to add my two cents in. Some days, I get caught up in my creations; about a month back I got an image in my head so I sat down and wrote. 28,000 words later I saved the story and haven't looked at it since.

Last night I opened up one that I am trying to finish and forced myself to type; I didn't even reach 2,000.

But if you weigh in how often I spend mentally plotting a story, then a vast majority of my day is occupied by writing even if I am at either of my jobs, driving, or whatever. I've always found writing to be more productive when I have the desire to produce something and I have a clear vision in my head of what I want to get out; that is why, when I write, I skip around a lot...if a story goes ABCDE, I will write A, think about E and write D to get there, eventually going back to fill in the fluff bits.

In my opinion, don't force it; don't get hung up on pounding out meaningless words but let it flow naturally from you when you have a desire to produce and I think it will be more rewarding in the end.

FEELINGLUCKYPUNK said:

I'M seriously influenced by John O'Hara's porn; almost all of it is brief, often a sentence or two, and rarely more than 1000 words.

Whole scenes and and stories pop into my head. One came today. I wrote it up. 500 words of filth.

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O’Hara is good but he wasn’t writing stroke stories either. It’s all relative to your audience and there’s a place for everything. And as Tex said, you only need to thing about story length when you’re dealing with a publisher. That’s when you need to structure your writing to the target they set you.

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I'm right there with most of you in that the count doesn't matter. For instance, the first day my count was 1,700 or so. The next day around 1,400. And yesterday 0, I just didn't feel the desire to sit down and write but I did go through the story in my head and realized this may evolve into a continuous tale with just as much romance as erotica.

What about when you plan to sit down and write a single story but it develops, in your head at least, into something much larger as in a continuing series?

Jessicathe69 said:

What about when you plan to sit down and write a single story but it develops, in your head at least, into something much larger as in a continuing series?

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That happened to me with a little "side project" earlier this year, which I thought was going to be a short piece for the Geek Anthology. What set out to be seven or eight thousand words ended up 33,000, because ideas kept coming as I wrote, and it just got longer. It's also set up for a sequel. Happens to me a lot, so my stories are now the perfect length - just as long as they need to be .

electricblue66 said:

That happened to me with a little "side project" earlier this year, which I thought was going to be a short piece for the Geek Anthology. What set out to be seven or eight thousand words ended up 33,000, because ideas kept coming as I wrote, and it just got longer. It's also set up for a sequel. Happens to me a lot, so my stories are now the perfect length - just as long as they need to be .

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Story of my writing life.

Jessicathe69 said:

What about when you plan to sit down and write a single story but it develops, in your head at least, into something much larger as in a continuing series?

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Since I put mine in the marketplace after writing and, most often, months before posting them here, when I unexpectedly am hitting 12,000 in words, I start thinking in terms of a standalone chaptered work, not just a short story (which I would put in an anthology). That gets to be a profit prospect question.

I don't think in terms of a continuing series, only standalones. Sometimes I do follow ups but they are separate, related stories/works, not continuing, rambling, everything and the kitchen sink, never bring the issue to a resolution series. I don't publish or submit works that haven't been finished.

Jessicathe69 said:

What about when you plan to sit down and write a single story but it develops, in your head at least, into something much larger as in a continuing series?

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Never be afraid to dream big! I always do, which is probably why I have a million half started stories eating up space on my computer. A story I had intended on being a one off as a gift to a reader friend (this one) has ended up with a minor following calling for a continuation. Of course I imagined the universe much bigger and figured out potential future plot points as I was writing it, but never had any intention of continuing further because I already have 4 in depth stories I'm trying to crank out to a finish as it is...but perhaps it is a sign that I've written something good, that people want more of it.

I think if you can picture your imagined world being bigger than just a short story, it gives it a more complete and well thought out feel that lends a sort of truth and well roundedness to it.

Boota said:

I write in scenes with a goal of what I want to accomplish. It's usually over 2,000 words for the day, but maybe not. Depends on what the scene needed to feel done to me at the time. Sometimes it's well over 3,000. I'd go more if I felt like it was needed, but what usually happens is that it feels like I should be moving on by that point. I don't get to write every day, though. I work long overnight hours four days a week, so I try to do the best I can with my three day weekends.

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BOOTA!

Damn, haven't seen you on here in years! Hope all is well. I very rarely post anymore--just lurk once in a while, but it's good to see you. Teach

Hey Teach! Good to see you. I check in every so often. All is well. Hope it is with you too.