Most words in a day?

Printer-friendly version

Author: 

Taxonomy upgrade extras: 


Most words in a day?


Here a few weeks back when I was pounding away on my keyboard working on 'Destiny' I broke my own personal record for most words written in a day. On that day I wrote a little over 4000 words, but most days I'm lucky to get 1000 words in. Typically, even on my worst days I can force out about 500 words, but there are a few scattered days where I cannot even finish a single sentence. Generally, anything that gets forced out is either heavily revised, discarded or completely rewritten, but I'd rather force something out then not right anything at all.

Anyway, I was wondering about the folks hereabout... What's the most you have ever written in a day?

Comments

2500

I have never written that much before or since. I am collaborating with another author on this site on a story and I banged out the prologue some time back when I had a weekend off.


I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair

21500

but that was like seven years ago in college when I could live on no sleep and junk food. And I spent the next three days editing what I had put down. But hell, most of the text survived in one form or another.

When I am in the groove I can do 4500 a day. Always try to do at least 1500 a day even if it sucks. The trick is to not get out of practice, much easier to cut than to add.

Now

Daniela Wolfe's picture

21,550? Now that's pretty darn impressive.


Have delightfully devious day,

It all depends on how focused I am on a single story

I tend to be able to get many many more words out when I skip around between ideas than when I simply sit and concentrate on one single story or concept. Back when I was writing at my peak, I could sometimes do as much as 4 or 5 thousand words in a single sitting, especially without distractions like the internet at hand (it being my biggest distractor, games taking a marginally close second.) Any more, though, I'm lucky if I can pound out about 2 to 3 thousand in a day, and that will usually be followed up by as much as two weeks without touching any of my stories at all.

Melanie E.

Distractions....

Daniela Wolfe's picture

I am almost constantly letting myself getting distracted. The Internet the most prominent among them, but oddly if I find myself robbed of my web access I actually have a hard time getting anything written.


Have delightfully devious day,

We're all amateurs

compared to Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining. You know, when he was writing that novel (or supposed to be) and just filled a book with nothing but "all work and no play make Jack a dull boy"? That looked like a 20,000 word day right there. **Sigh**

Words may be false and full of art;
Sighs are the natural language of the heart.
-Thomas Shadwell

lol

Daniela Wolfe's picture

lol... ^_^

If only it were that easy!


Have delightfully devious day,

A few good words?

Andrea Lena's picture

...truth? I can't handle the truth. Don't mind me; I haven't had two of my meds since the storm hit. :)

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

I once managed

Angharad's picture

10,000 in a day, but spent practically the whole day writing and was wiped out at the end of it. I usually write 1,200 - 1,500 most days and regularly knock out 4-5,000 words. My biggest inhibitor/obstacle is working quite long hours to keep two cats in the manner to which they have become accustomed!

Angharad

Meow.

=^.^=


I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair

Woah

Daniela Wolfe's picture

10,000 words in a day? I'd be absolutely thrilled if I was able to write that much. Work tends to drain away my own creative energies so I can understand that.


Have delightfully devious day,

I once researched and wrote a

I once researched and wrote a 10, 000 word essay with formal
grammar and feetnotes in a day but there was zero creative
process

Dayna

Ps didnt do anything else either

Writing formal essays

Daniela Wolfe's picture

I find formal writing difficult, so to me that is quite impressive.


Have delightfully devious day,

Hmm

If I'm really into it I write about 1000, maybe 1500, words in an hour. The most I wrote in one day was roughly 6000 words I think. I'm not completely sure. However, I don't write very regularly and I have a hard time really getting into it, which means that on average I don't write much in a week. A productive week, for writing that is, would mean I did 10 000 words in a week. I also have many weeks where I don't write anything at all.