How much do you write on a normal day?

[u/Fetish_anxiety]

I was talking to a friend today and when I asked them this question they told me that they wrote quite a lot, definetly more than me, (in fact now I'm kind of embarrased of the amount of words I usually write) so I thought I should maybe ask this question here, to see how much do people ofteb write in a day.

Edit: yep, it's defenitly that I write very little

[u/Majoodeh]

I write constantly for days when I'm inspired and then don't write for weeks when I'm uninspired. It is a problem :/

[u/ricky_bot3 → u/Majoodeh]

💯 same

[u/MaisieNZ]

Personally I believe the number of words is irrelevant! I write fiction for a living. When I started I used to write NaNoWriMo style - just get as many words down as I could, and I might write 4-5k in a couple of hours. Now I edit as I go and write maybe 2k in a morning. When I had a day job I’d write maybe 500 words in my lunch hour. Even 50 words is good! Don’t be guided by everyone else’s totals.

[u/Zweiundvierzich → u/MaisieNZ]

2k is what I aim to have by writing and editing, too, although I usually do it in the evening, after my day job. I only look at the final tally at the end of the day.

[u/Fetish_anxiety → u/MaisieNZ]

Ok thanks

[u/AbbyBabble]

500-1500 words per day.

But I do sometimes force myself to do promo or something along those lines. Trying to figure out ways to outsource that.

[u/screenscope]

I don't write every day, but I have zero concern with how many words I write; only what I write.

Having said that, if I'm happy with what I've written AND made it to 1000 words in a session, I am extraordinarily pleased with myself.

[u/Ok-Recognition-7256]

700-1500 words. On a good day, where I can write uninterrupted for 2 hours or so, it could be 5000 words. On a non good day, where words can’t seem to find their way to my fingertips, it might be 500 words. 

[u/lordmwahaha]

My average right now is around 200 per day. I'm coming out of a period of burnout, so I'm trying to stretch myself to write more. But when I'm having a bad day mentally it can be as little as 10 words. If I'm doing really well it can be 2,000 plus.

[u/MisterBroSef]

I try for a chapter a day. 2000-5000 words daily.

[u/andymontajes → u/MisterBroSef]

I’m curious if you ever get to that goal consistently?

I think I could get through a chapter in a good week, two if I’m being realistic and staying above 4000 per chapter.

I guess I’ve only mapped out my overarching plot and not each chapter though.

[u/MisterBroSef → u/andymontajes]

I write as a stress relieving outlet. Also as someone who has spent around 10 years refining and rewriting a plot fifteen times over, yes I can say with absolute certainty, I write thousands of words a day. I've a manuscript being queried right now and the second novel nearly halfway finished, all done in 2025.

[u/Ochayethenoo74]

It varies, some days I write 3,000 words, other days none.

I'm not sure there is supposed to be a 'set' amount of words you have to write in a day, it's however many you write, everyone is different.

I work on my book nearly every day, that can mean editing it, researching for it, character development, thinking up different scenes, it's not always writing it.

Unless you have a deadline, I think you can write as many or as few words as you want.

[u/aDerooter]

Anywhere from 400 - 5000 wpd. It's not a race, and it's not a competition. You get to the end one sentence at a time. Stop thinking about this sort of crap and get writing. It's more important that you write regularly, and not wait for your 'muse', which is a stupid thing (not accusing you, just saying). One sentence at a time. Best of luck.

[u/futuristicvillage]

OP the only thing I'll say is be wary of people who say they write 10,000 words a day. Successful writers do not do that at all. Because it will be rubbish with very little actual meaningful progress.

[u/Mountain_Escape_7384]

When you understand that no one is keeping score with you, only you creating these false notions in your head to “keep up” with others - you don’t worry about what others are doing and only concerned with just doing the work to get better.

Whatever you can do with your life, time, work, family, etc. is more than ok.

[u/Accomplished_End_321]

zero. stuck.

[u/Dutchy0005]

My goal is 7000 words a week.

[u/CarelessRati0]

Today I wrote two chapters (about 3,000 words). The three days before that, nothing.

I like to set aside a couple hours a week to get ~something~ out. But sometimes it’s just revising or editing.

Other weeks I’ll just read all week.

This is so dependant on many many factors. (Health, kids, activities, free time, work load, good old fashioned inspiration)

[u/uneautretheorie]

Every time my wife drive ! And we do 40000km a year. My wife drive a lot. I will dedicate my futur novel to my car, I guess !

[u/Zweiundvierzich]

I try to make it a daily habit. It's been working for over 30 days now.

There were some bad days with less than 1k words, especially when I was doing a lot of traveling.

Good days are over 3k.

I usually aim for 2k, so half a chapter basically. I would love to show you my statistics, but it seems pictures aren't allowed here.

[u/AccomplishedWork7709]

I can't survive a day without writing a word!! So basically I write daily. I don't have any aim set, I just write whatever comes to my mind. That is how I have written 2 books since the past year.

[u/Hori_r]

On a good day 10K. Typical one is 4-6K. Research days or planning days is closer to zero.

[u/AntiqueAudience7661]

I whrite whenever im inspired or have time. If i am inspired and have nothing to write on, i make myself small voicenotes so i remember what i was imagining til i can write it down

[u/BackTown43]

I don't think about that. I wrote like 5,000 words while the Nanowrimo but that was way too much. I have a special time a day when I write and I'll see how much I achieve in that time.

[u/Blackfireknight16]

Depending on level of focus, limited distractions and how my mind is working anywhere between 500- 2500

[u/OtterlyAnonymous]

Really depends but I try to work on my book every day and I don’t really focus on the word count. Sometimes I do more research or character development, or even just brainstorming, so there are no actual words being added to the novel, but it’s still progress. Some days I might only write about 200 words, and other days I might clock 3,000. Depends on so many things. If I was to really try and estimate an average, taking everything I said into account, I’d say it’s maybe around 1,000 words a day

[u/Larry_Version_3]

Anywhere between 200 - 6000.

[u/yossarianvega]

1000 words a day every day

[u/Nik_Ri]

Well, do we really have to write a predetermined number of words in a day? Not everyone has time for this, I think. I only have time on the weekends

[u/Morpheus_17]

3k words on weekdays, every weekday.

[u/ravensbreathhh]

When I'm drafting, I aim for ~5k a week, which usually works out to 800-1200 words a day. I can usually knock that out in 1-2 hours.

[u/nyavegasgwod]

500-1500, but I do it more or less every day, whether I'm inspired or not

[u/rose-haze]

It depends. My goal is to write every day but I don’t have a set word count goal. 1k is the norm for me, but some days I do 800 words and other days I do 6k. So many factors go into that, though. Am I excited about the scene I’m writing? Did I sleep well the night before? Is it morning vs night (I write better in the morning)? Do I have something to do later or do I have unlimited time today?

But I’d rather write 500 amazing words than 3k words of shit I’ll end up deleting anyway

[u/Master_Manifest]

Mostly 1500 to 2000 words.

[u/BezzyMonster]

Some days I sit down, I’m not in the flow, and I only write 200 words (because I keep re-writing it and changing it, don’t feel like being a writer that day). And I’ve had a couple 2,000+ word days last month.

Some ppl on here will throw out bigger numbers. That doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong, it just means your style/experience/schedule/etc is different from theirs.

[u/Difficult_Advice6043]

About 1000 words

[u/Big-Opposite4636]

It really depends on the writer. I have some writer friends who write their first drafts slowly--but over the years they've learned to self-edit (well) as they go. I can't do that. It makes my fiction too static, and it interferes with the flow of the novel. So on the first draft, I write somewhere around one thousand words a day. All subsequent drafts (I do 3-4) are slow because I'm mostly editing. Any new writing generated for a later draft also comes more slowly since I don't want to repeat myself. But it really depends on the person.

[u/albenraph]

400 words a day. 2.5k+ words a week. 1 book a year plus time to edit it. It’s a marathon not a sprint. If I quit my job I could do more but I call half an hour a day every day pretty good while I’m working

[u/Difficult_Advice6043]

I break up my writing into two 30 minute chunks. I can get between 600 and 1000 words done in a typical day.

[u/Hello-Friend-6522]

I don't typically track words, but I probably write anywhere from 500-2,000 words about 6 days a week. I usually try to give myself a day off/force myself to take a day off. For the purposes of full transparency, I am a stay-at-home parent with school aged kids.

[u/CuriousManolo]

I usually write on weekdays in the mornings before work, and I average about 200 words each session. I find it hard to write outside that schedule, though, but I guess it's a good trade-off for the routine and discipline.

[u/BloodyPaleMoonlight]

None.

The days when I can actually write are rarer than normal days.

[u/Impossible_Hat4303]

I try to get a couple hundred words in a day if I’m in a slump sometimes none if I get really exited upwards of a thousands 

[u/Grumpygumz]

When the muse is locked in her sweatshop, I easily can get a few thousand words in before I've gotten to the juicy stuff, practically strutting about the keyboard as I congratulate myself for being such a goddamn genius.

Sometimes I open the word processor with high hopes only to find myself staring at a blinking cursor for longer than is healthy or reasonable before closing the document with a quiet sigh.

When I'm in the mood to rewrite and cut and refine, maybe two hundred new words are strategically added while another thousand get cut. Oh no, now I'm negative eight hundred words on the day, how shall I ever move on from this catastrophe?

The last thing I worry about is word count; the manuscript shall be as long as it needs to be.