By Terri Lively
You might wonder, “If you only write a few paragraphs every day, can you really call yourself a Writer?
The answer is yes, provided you work on a project. If you only talk about writing a project, one clever website describes you as an “Aspiring Writer.”
So, how many words should you write daily to consider yourself more Writer and less Aspiring Writer? The everyday word count goal varies, depending on your writing process and the time you can devote to it.
However, it’s probably not as many as you think.
On her blog, Daphne Gray-Grant, Publication Coach, says that the goal is the most important part of this equation. Making one and sticking to it is key to completing the project. Gray-Grant also suggests adding a time limit to keep the workload bearable; in her case, it was 500 words per day and half an hour. That made the goal achievable and her work consistent. Later, after editing, she reduced that goal to 250 words and 15 minutes for the last two chapters. The reduction was the move she needed to complete her book, Your Happy First Draft.
Some of the most successful writers didn’t write as many words each day as you might think. Consider the following:
Under 1,000 Words per Day
From 1,000 to 1,500 Words Per Day
More than 1,500 Words per Day
So, What Does This All Mean to You?
Wherever you are on the Writer vs. Aspiring Writer spectrum, you likely still wonder if you are writing enough daily. Gray-Grant gives an average word count for a book at 70,000 to 80,000 words. One way to set your goal is to divide that achievable daily word count number (she used 300) into the total words for a novel to determine your timeline. Using Gray-Grant’s scenario, you would complete your first draft in 46 weeks.
Some genres have higher counts than others. For example, The Write Life estimates that a history or biography can have up to 200,000, while self-help may only have 30,000. (Please click here to see the full list of word count ranges per genre.)
Daily word count goals are one of many tools that help you stay on track. The most successful writers knew this, and their numbers weren’t as high as one might have thought. Determining what works for you requires some thinking about the type of project you want to write, your writing process, and how much time you have to devote to it daily.
However, you might find that this daily-word-count tool doesn’t work for you. That’s fine, too.
The only non-negotiable here is consistency. A little every day will be better than nothing, so keep at it, and you might be surprised how quickly you find yourself typing “The End.”
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