Connecting Readers and Writers discussion

As a full time writer I write about 3,000-5,000 words a day, but I was wondering what's normal? I write short stories, not novels, so I was wondering how long it takes people to write a full length(rough draft) novel?

I wrote the one I'm editing right now in four weeks over a six week period. That was with writing about 3k a day. I can do more, but generally I don't.

I'm amazed by that number--3-5K per day! My novels average around 110,000 words, but I sometimes manage to write only a paragraph per day.

It depends on the plot-circumstances. Straight narrative is easiest. Intrigue and sex scenes are the slowest.

At this point I feel I should point out I'm currently unemployed so I have more disposable time than most :) As long as you write, that's the important thing, I think :)

Mhairi wrote: "At this point I feel I should point out I'm currently unemployed so I have more disposable time than most :) As long as you write, that's the important thing, I think :)"

Hi Mhairi

Nonetheless, I admire your productivity. I'm retired so I write full time as well, but this current WIP is making me work for every word of it. Hopefully it will be released in the spring of 2012, and the next will flow a bit easier.

Some books are just bloody like that, and some just flow like rivers to the sea. I admire your persistence! It's missing in a LOT of would-be authors.

Elle wrote: "As a full time writer I write about 3,000-5,000 words a day, but I was wondering what's normal? I write short stories, not novels, so I was wondering how long it takes people to write a full length..."

Eight Years, 170,000 words, but I have a day job, three kids, and a dog. I travel a fair amount in my job so I pretty much wrote my book on the road.

How many words I get in depends on how well I see the story I'm working on. On really good days, I've averaged 5K a few days in a row. On bad days a few hundred. My average would probably fluctuate between 500 and 1500 words per day. I never really set a schedule for myself and focus on just letting whatever flow.

I have a full-time job, and a busy family life with two children 10 and younger. I can go days without writing anything, and then sit down and write a chapter. I don't really pay attention to word counts, but my issue is always time to write. I never seem to have trouble writing when I have the time to dedicate.

It truly depends on the project I'm working on. If the project requires a lot of research or if it's a topic I'm not very familiar with, I don't actually get much writing done at all. On the other hand, if I know what I want to say and/or am writing on a familiar topic, I can whip out pages in no time. Another thing that varies is my state of mind. If I'm tired or frustrated, my productivity suffers.

Adrian wrote: "I have a full-time job, and a busy family life with two children 10 and younger. I can go days without writing anything, and then sit down and write a chapter. I don't really pay attention to word ..."

I am the same way. I work full time and have a 2 year old daughter. I write only when I am excited to (turns out to be around 4 days a week) and can usually get in a couple thousand pretty easily. However, I really try to not even look at the count until I finish the book. I want to feel like I have told the story and not stretch to make it to a certain number or get so lost in the word count that my story suffers.

For me it depends on mood, time, kids and a list of other things. Most of the time i aim for at least 1k, sometimes i can get upwards of 8k but that is a rarity rather then the rule.

I also have a job, kid, husband,dog,life...luckily, I work retail,so I have screwy hours and am usually home alone one or two days a week. In a solid block like that, I can write 3000-5000 words at a time. But some days I don't write at all.

I have fibromyalgia and was working as a certified legal assistant when I came down with it. It got worse and worse because I worked too hard, so I finally quit. So what did I do? Start writing! Now when I am not researching (because I write historical fiction), I write at least one chapter a day. It may be four or five times that I write it but it is in one day. I get involved with my writing. My characters become like real people to me, I guess because I do a lot of research. I try to make my characters as real as I possibly can. It sounds crazy, but sometimes I feel as if they are talking through me standing behind me. They are as real to me as they can be and I cry sometimes when I am writing something emotional. I write about WWII, so that is easy to do. Anyway, writing becomes my obsession. Joyce Shaughnessy wwww.blessedarethemerciful.net

I'm trying to skip the rough draft, and I'm publishing my novel daily to Google+. I was writing 500-600 words a day and bumped it recently to 1000-1200 words, but I started feeling weird, like something in my head was coming loose. (I don't know how else to describe it)

I've taken a couple of days off and I'll probably start writing again tomorrow. I'm at a point in the story where I really need to write more than 500 words at a time, so I might need to write every other day.

I only write four hours a day, no word count predicted.

Elle wrote: "As a full time writer I write about 3,000-5,000 words a day, but I was wondering what's normal? I write short stories, not novels, so I was wondering how long it takes people to write a full length..."

for me... since I work full time and have a hobby farm i.e. goats, burro, chickens, dogs, cats --- and a home to maintain (whew!) I only write about an hour or so a day - my books are (and will be) over 65-70,000 +++... it takes me about 4-6 months - then another 2-3 months to self-edit! sigh...

I have my own law practice, so how much I write varies with how busy the practice is. When I'm first drafting a novel and I'm working a typical week (40-55 hours), I average about 5,000 words per week. If I take a whole day off to write, I write about 3000-5000 words a day. I do a lot of outlining in advance, sometimes spending months on that before I start writing any chapters or scenes, though I do character sketches. After the first draft, I spend months or sometimes years rewriting and editing.

lisa - OH MY! you do sound like an attorney!
now...don't get me wrong...that's a noble profession ( I work with attorneys and bankers in my profession)
...
but your approach...? It's so structured!
wow
do you ever veer from that plan? I find my characters sometimes take me away from my original plan... and it's a delight! They're better at determining their future than I am ! LOL

Anthony wrote: "I'm trying to skip the rough draft, and I'm publishing my novel daily to Google+. I was writing 500-600 words a day and bumped it recently to 1000-1200 words, but I started feeling weird, like some..."

do you have a link to GOOGLE ? I tried finding Google Authors or Google publishing etc. and had no luck.

While I'm outlining I ramble a lot in writing about the characters and often they take the story in directions I didn't expect. So that may change the story a lot at that stage. It happens during the first draft and in rewrites too, though not quite as much. Despite all the time I spend on them, the outlines I write usually cover only pretty major points so there's a lot of flexibility. And definitely some surprises!