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The Writer Project is dedicated to transforming inexperienced writers into accomplished authors. This week’s question asks how much a writer needs to write each and every day.
Well, first off, we’re glad that you’ve accepted that writing every day is a necessary first step toward becoming an accomplished writer. The old adage goes that writing is a muscle and like all muscles, it must be used repeatedly in order to grow and gain strength. However, the question of ‘How much is enough?’ is a tricky one.
CHUCKING WOOD
Recently, in a moment of jest and silliness, I was asked by the 7-year-old son of one of our clients the old familiar riddle from childhood about woodchucks and chucking wood:
“How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”
We all know that the question is meant to function as a delightful tongue-twister that has persisted throughout the ages, but this young man was persistent, demanding an answer. After a moment’s thought, I tried to convey to him that the question was impossible to answer because it lacked parameters (try taking THAT answer to a 7-year-old and see how far you get!).
The boy was curious though, and I explained that we had no conditions for the question –– Are we talking about how much wood in one day? How much wood in an hour? How much wood in a lifetime? The constraints continue –– What is the going rate for average wood chucking these days among small rodents? Are there any factors that would limit the maximum possible amount of wood chucking? The boy took it in stride and moved on to an equally mind-boggling tongue twister (“How much dew would a dew drop dew if a dew drop could drop dew?” Alas, the world may never know).
This riddle relates to the question of word counts by revealing the fact that a simple answer is hard to come by. We have no parameters. Are these words of quality or words to get the story going? Are these outlining notes or will they remain as polished elements of the novel? What good is a word count if you’ll have to spend just as much time deleting them as you spent writing them?
FAMOUS AUTHOR DAILY WORD COUNTS
However, the practice of a daily word count ritual has been known for decades. Take a look at some of the famous daily word counts of other well known others, listed from least to greatest:
Ernest Hemingway – 500
Ian McEwen – 600
Mark Twain – 1400
Stephen King – 2000
Nicholas Sparks – 2000
Maya Angelou – 2500
Michael Crichton – 10000
(Source)
ADVICE FROM THE MASTERS
Along with some of these word counts comes the advice that anything less than a rigid, attainable goal will only result in subpar progress and productivity. Therefore, it is wise to set some kind of daily writing goal, but does it need to be a strict word count? Not necessarily.
Famous authors such as Kazuo Ishiguro (2017’s Nobel Prize Winner for Literature!) tend to focus on time over words written, spending anywhere between six to eight hours writing each day. However, in contrast, an apocryphal story about James Joyce tells of how coming up with just seven words in a single day indicates progress. Every writer is different and more important than trying to conform to an objective process is developing a method toward consistency.
QUANTITY VS. QUALITY
This is what it really comes down to. If forced, many of us could pump out thousands of words per day on any given topic, but would these words be worth reading? Probably not. Instead of focusing on a single word count at the end of the day, think of your daily writing goal more in terms of what your content needs. Is 500 words enough to properly introduce a character and give us a revealing action? Will 2000 adequately round a chapter climax? Are 1000 words needed in order to convey a pivotal conversation? When you start to think of your novel not as something disparate and disjointed but as the sum of its parts, the answers will become clearer. Some days will require more words, some fewer. But everyday demands something.
What are your questions? Drop us a note at: contact@thewriterproject.com or contact us here
The Writer Project is an arts and literature program dedicated to mentoring future authors and developing literary talent. We work with writers one-on-one to craft compelling narratives, see projects through to completion, enhance writing & communication skills, and submit polished work for publication. Have a story to tell? Get in touch for a free consultation.