How much is enough? - Writers Forum

ltpalmer · 11-30-2003, 02:45 AM

I was just curious as to how much time other writers spend writing every day? My motto is - "Three hours or three pages - which ever comes last." I think that this is enough time - but, when I really get going I could spend eight hours writing everyday. This, I think, is too much.

L. T. Palmer

Jasmine · 11-30-2003, 06:15 AM

Doing NaNo this past month has meant the most writing I have ever set out to do in such a short time, but, my average was 2 and a half hours a day, which I don't think is a lot at all.
I made 50,000 words, and the most I spent on it in one day was four hours, the least zero hours.

I don't think you can say, well, I can't at least, that 'I WILL spend three hours writing every day', because it just won't happen like that. Things will come up which need to draw your attention away from writing, important things, or you may simply not feel like it one day.

My original aim was 2000 words a day, which incidently is what Stephen King recommend in 'On Writing'. Most days I made it, but some I didn't, and just had to remember not to beat myself up over it.

My advice is write as much as you feel you can do, without neglecting the important stuff, like family and home, and that this is 'enough'.

**Penelope** · 11-30-2003, 01:07 PM

Unlike Jasmine, at times during the month of novel writing, I was at it for over eight hours. When the words start flowing, I won't leave till they are spent. Unless of course, there is my employment demanding I drag myself away. A couple of times I wrote all night and slept all day because I was on holidays. So, I suppose the answer is, what ever you can stand or sit.

Capulet · 11-30-2003, 01:23 PM

I couldn't conceive of writing for 8 hours a day, unless you included Judge Judy time, sit there and stare at the screen time, thinking time, email time, chat time, etc. To me that seems the road to burn out.

This is probably due to writing being a secondary item in my life. Between work to support myself, and school to get better work, I just can't afford to write that much.

I write when I'm "in the zone" or some sort of idea hits me. If I'm not in a mood to write, I'll edit my own work or pop on here and peruse the critique section.

In a lot of situations I think forcing yourself to write can be damaging to your work. Just like an athlete turns in a sub-par performance if they take no time to rest, writers can turn out sub-par work if they continuously force themselves to crank out words too. Quality over quantity is especially important in writing.

Don't fixate on a specific amount of time to write in a day unless you're on a deadline. It isn't the amount of time you spend writing that distinguishes you from the unwashed writing masses, but the quality of your output.

HisNibs · 12-02-2003, 05:18 PM

Isaac Asimov used to write all day, every day, seven days a week. I think Stephen King writes all day. Shelby Foote, on the other hand, cranks out 150 to 300 words a day using a quill pen! Some accomplished authors write one hour a day, and that's it.

How much is enough? No one has the answer but you.

Allusearna · 12-02-2003, 05:56 PM

I can’t write with a time limit.
I start when I can, I pause when I can’t write, and I stop when I realise that I’m not going to be able to start again. Sometimes I might start again that day.
And when I say I can’t write with a time limit, I mean it. Yesterday afternoon I was happily writing. At 3:30 my brother comes home. Five minutes later he asks if he can have the computer at 4pm. I say fine. I was a little annoyed, I was on a roll, words were just spilling out. So, I say fin and continue to write. Or that’s what I was hoping, nothing came out. I just couldn’t write. I tried for another 10 mins, but because I now had a time limit, I couldn’t write. So I stoped and my bro got the comp 15mins early.
But whatever suites you. I’m not a professional writer, otherwise I would probably spend most of the day writing.

Aevin · 12-04-2003, 03:02 PM

Like Allusearna, I don't write with a time limit, primarily because time ceases to exist when the writing is especially good. Generally, I can write for about three hours when I'm into it, but there are times when I can't get into the fictional world. If the writing is going well, I continue. If it's going badly, I stop. However, writing a little every day is definitely a good idea, (not that I practice it). Even if you write just a little, it's still worthwhile. The purpose of writing every day is not to produce material quickly, but to not allow your skill to atrophy. If nothing else, spend fifteen minutes or so on an imaginative excercise.

Nazareth · 12-22-2003, 02:51 AM

I like to put a good 7 or 8 minutes in and then call it a day- I've been writing for 30 years and I'm almost done with my book

Lord Archimage Nykimbur · 12-22-2003, 04:47 AM

Dude, writing the same book for 30 years is just wrong IMO. But, it's your book...

Nazareth · 12-22-2003, 01:40 PM

LOL I'm just kiddin- I write about 3-4 Hrs. on average a day- some of it very slow writing & Re-Writing- My problem is I've not learned the basics of novel writing & during the day I learn something else then go back and re-write a whole section-

I've been workin on a novel since about Oct. Should finish up about end of Jan. if everything goes well

Lord Archimage Nykimbur · 12-22-2003, 02:07 PM

I spend hours every evening just modifying a paragraph, it's annyoying. A few years ago, I started my first third person piece on my old computer, an anime crossover novel and I couldn't stop writing for a whole year. Unfortunately, I was getting around to making a backup print; the floppy drive was broken so I couldn't get any other type of remote copy; but it got corrupted, and I've since deleted the user account it was on, so there's little chance of recovering it. It's a shame, I was quite proud of it. Since then, about two years ago, I've been kinda depressed and my writing hasn't been as good. I write a lot less even though I spend more time trying to, but I'm getting over it.

Myxamatosis · 12-23-2003, 01:13 PM

Hrrm, I dont be able to find 3 hours to write. If i get time to write its usually in overtime, in otherwords, time that i should be using to sleep.

I have to write in sporadic fits of maybe 10 minutes at a time a couple times a day. But I cant write unless I get into the perfect mood.

8 hours a day!? Don't you have school or work or something?

Farror · 12-23-2003, 02:17 PM

I usually write for about 2 hours at a time, a few days a week. (Actually, it depends on what I'm writing, for poems, a few minutes, for stories a few hours!)

blackswan · 12-27-2003, 01:35 PM

Well, since there's school and guitar and lots of other work to be done, I usually try to write 1,000 words a day, but lately I'm forgetting about the words limit and just write for however long I feel like I want to. Some times if I push myself to write 1,000 words, the first few hundred are good, but then the rest comes out as crap and I have to delete them, and write again.

So I rather go by quailty, not quantity.

gabriella · 01-03-2004, 09:44 AM

It's enough unless you're sacrificing other activies: skipping your morning jog for more word, eating chips for lunch and Delicio pizza for dinner because you don't want to take the time to cook something decent, neglecting kids, homework, or studying. Neglecting sleep - whenever you begin to steal time rather than make time, that's when it becomes too much. Similarly, if you're writing on the computer eight hours a day you might want to go out and buy VisionGuard if you don't already have it.

Writing eight hours a day is great, and I congratulate you for your dedication to your novel. But make sure you're not ignoring people and pushing them away.

For Nanowrimo I two chapters a day, and each chapter was two thousand words long (minimum). And on the days when I couldn't write, I simply wrote one chapter and came out on December 1st with 100 008 words. I was on such a mighty roll and although I can copy and paste the space key on the forums, I can't do that with my novel. I admit that there are ways around it but not only am I lazy, I'm uninspired.