I'm writing the next chapter and it's taking so fucking long. It also doesn't help that I go on here and other websites while I'm writing. Sometimes I feel like I can sit down and pump out a 5-7k chapter like nothing and now I'm having issues getting to 2000 words. Do you guys plan it out and put it on paper or do it off the top of your head? I do the latter and it's slowly flowing out.

 

When I have a detailed plan, I can crank out 5000 words in a full day's worth of writing.

When I'm winging it, I'll be lucky to get 1500 words in the same time period.

 

Depends on what I'm writing. Action scenes, I can get done in a few hours. Plot heavy scenes can take a little longer, depending on how happy I am with them - I tend to edit as I go, so I can spend ages over a few crucial lines. 'Filler' scenes, for want of a better term - scenes that don't necessarily drive the plot forward, but build on characterisation, for instance - can vary depending on how clear an image of it I've got.

It also depends on finding time, of course. Example: last summer, I was updating every week with an average chapter length of between four and five thousand words. Due to real life, I haven't updated since April, which is shocking.

 

I'm not a particularly gifted writer or a fast typist, but I can write about 1000 words an hour.

It really depends on how well the story is outlined, how motivated I am, and mostly how lazy I am. Wait, those last two are the same, right? Curses!

 

It all varies. When I first started, I wrote a lot. Like, a lot. I think my record was 9000 words in six or seven hours. That was eventually cut down to 7500, but still. Effort.

These days, I'm really slow. But that may be because I'm rewriting at the moment rather than writing new material. Once I get into a rhythm, I'm can crank out words pretty quick, but it's a challenge to get into that rhythm.

We've had a bunch of these topics. Everyone varies in the amount they can produce, their ability to get into the rhythm, and how they write (plotting every bit out, or just having a goal and winging it through the scene).

There is no correct or fastest way. Certainly not one that applies to everyone.

 

The most I usually write in one sitting is about 2000-3000 words, which takes me about two hours. Having a good outline helps.

 

Yeah, I'm quite slow right now despite the fact that I have a plot and stuff planned out.

 

Depends a lot on my state of mind and my body. If I'm awake and know where I am going, then a few thousand in an hour or two. If I'm tired then good luck even trying. I can still type, but not that quickly. Near bedtime and I can't focus enough, no matter where I know I am going.

If I'm hungry and or just bored, for whatever reason, I continually get distracted. Stressful day, the same.

Sometimes I waddle through a few scenes, a few hundred words here and there and come back to it.

 

I can type pretty fast, I'm just never quite happy with how what I type sounds. So I constantly delete and retype things over and over until it's just right. So while a chapter may well only be 5-7k words, I probably typed 20k words in the process, simply deleting, and in some cases re-writing word for word what I just had.

That phenomenon is a bit odd, really. I don't think something was quite right, so I delete it, and go to fix it...but then decide that it was probably the best way I could express things after all. And then delete it again.... and paradoxes ensue, heads explode, and whatnot.

I guess, as others have said - speed isn't really a measurable thing, or really mean anything in regards to quality. Everyone is different.

 

It, depends, whether you have a job/school/work or not and the amount of free time you have.

I could easily write a 10k chapter a day when I started out, and for a few months I always had a new chapter every two to three days. Back then, I only used Microsoft Word's spell checker and I immediately published it once it was done. (and I also had only one story going.)

I also had no qualms writing perfect, over-powered, OC-Harry stories, no matter how cliche they were. (I also have no job back then too.)

 

I write somewhat fast, I can write 10k words in a day with a proper layout and if I really get into the story. Sometimes when I get really into it, I have a lot of trouble properly conveying my ideas to the reader and the meanings get botched up.

The longest part of writing though, is not the actual chapter. It is the editing. I have never used a beta, and have long since given up trying to get one. I am not a great editor, I am hardly a master at grammar or spelling. But to compensate for that, I usually read and edit each chapter at least three times before publishing.

The problem is that editing involves reading every word individually to see if it works, while just reading for enjoyment just means you have to understand each sentence individually. For example, one of the recent chapters in one of my stories was 24k words. That took less than a week to write, but took nearly three weeks to edit. If I can edit 5k words in a day, that is a good day. This is assuming it is a weekend and I have nothing to do for the whole day an am motivated.

A properly done 10k chapter by me can probably be completely written and published in one week. I think that is a good pace as long as I don't rush anything.

 

When ever I write anything(essays, stories, poems) my pace changes depending on whether it's due sooner or later. I can do 10,000 words in 10 hours(edited and grammar done correctly), but that's after procrastinating for weeks. I hate my working habits, but I find it difficult to do it any other way.

 

Not a fanfic but I once procrastinated so horribly on a 5,000 word research paper that we had a month to do that I ended up writing it in about 8 hours (the evening before it was due), which is including the time it took me to find the sources, come up with a thesis, write and edit it, and compile the bibliography.

I ended up getting an A on it lol, but I'll never do that shit again. It pretty much killed my nerves and I was so stressed out about it that I didn't feel normal for like a week afterwards. Procrastination is the fucking devil.

 

^This so much.

Some people take pride in procrastinating(some idiots at my school think they're cool when they do things at the last minute), but I hate procrastination, even though I procrastinate as much as anyone.

Anyway, if I've got an essay or story planned out, I can do a few hundred words an hour, and it's usually more coherent and organized than a rushed job.

 

I agree. Procrastination is shit though I do it all the time. I did that with a paper and ended turning in only half of it. But I made up for it next time and wrote a good and long as paper because I felt I had to prove myself and actually got an A in the course.

Yeah, I've got the stuff planned out and still haven't gotten into the thick of it. Finally put some more words into the next chapter since I started this thread. Life his just been so busy but now the words are suddenly flowing again but unfortunately, sleep is calling me. Time to dream and create.

 

For me it varies like all hell, but I'll use Breach of Contract as my example right now.

The original draft was very damn planned, complete with character beats and each chapter's solidifying 'theme', and I wrote the whole thing before even posting the first chapter. It ended up at 58768 words, and was written over the course of 17 days while still juggling other responsibilities like work and excessive Eureka watching.

It wasn't a few thousand words a day, though. The first three days I wrote only like 4000 words or so, but when I got going, I had the plan there and blitzed the entire first chapter out easily enough. Chapter two was a rocky start that I powered through and then an 8000 word blitz in one damn session. Chapter three had a 9000 word blitz. Chapter four was a lot more spaced out over a few days, though I know I didn't write for at least two days before starting that chapter. And finally, chapter five's big scene was all written in one night. First I did about 4000 words, then erased it and rewrote the whole thing, about 10000 words all in all.

Long story short, it varies. It also depends on what kind of writing I'm doing. If I'm doing it off the top of my head with no plan (Even a barebones one), I find yourself stopping and starting a lot. A very detailed plan will either force me to push through the scenes I know won't be as interesting to write, but the planning helped me finally start writing (But don't be afraid to add to or subtract from your plan. Just remember that even if makes things easier for you the writer, it may not translate best for the readers).

Rewrites, too, are different. I rewrite my entire chapters while side-by-side with my first draft, so I can probably knock out 12000 words in one night (Or, as I recently did, 16000 in one night. And the chapter I was rewriting had 13000 to start). It's easy enough 'cause I've pretty much written it already.

TL;DR: I recommend a detailed plan, and hope like all hell it all flows out of you so much your eyes bleed (See above: 9000+ words in one sitting).