This is a question that writers ask, especially during the early stage of writing: how many words should I write a day?
So I will keep the answer as precise as possible.
Why?
It’s because there’s no compulsory word count you must accomplish in a day, even if you want to sharpen your writing skill or complete a project.
Some veteran writers will tell you to write a specific number of words per day, while others tell you “Yeah! I write a blah blah number of words every day”.
Do you want the truth?
It doesn’t matter.
Don’t try to limit yourself or cage yourself either way by sticking to a specific number of words to write a day. No, don’t!
Still, if you want to quickly sharpen your writing skill and develop as a writer, it’s important to set a benchmark for yourself on the number of words you’d write per day.
Fortunately, there’s an ideal word count suggested to help you grow and keep your engine on as a writer.
I’m not talking about the number of words you type during phone chats and email conversations. No.
Although it could be for your diary, a short story, your impression about something, someone, or daily word count for a project.
All in all, here’s why you should set a word count for yourself as a writer.
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In This Article
What is a word count and why is it important?
Word counts are simply the number of words or targeted words for content.
As much as there’s no specific number of words you must write per day,
Success in writing is never born out of luck. No.
You need to write your way to success. This means, that if you want to be renowned for what you do (writing), you must sharpen your skill by writing consistently.
And how do you do this?
Start by setting a daily word count for yourself and stick to it.
Setting a word count also helps you build your confidence as a writer.
You may not know this yet, but as you keep writing consistently every day, your confidence builds up gradually. It also improves the quality of your writing.
The more words you write, the easier it gets.
It also generates more ideas, maybe for a book or some other projects.
This means the only way you can sharpen your writing skill is by practicing consistently.
Now, to the question of how many words you should write every day.
How many words should I write per day?
A beginner writer should aim to write 500 to 1000 words every day, while veterans can write more. There’s no limit.
Still, don’t try to swallow the whole cake at once, especially if you’re a beginner.
Take it piece by piece.
That way you won’t choke.
Although there’s no specific number of words you must write per day, you should set a daily word count for yourself, especially if you’re still learning how to put the pen to paper.
This will help you sharpen your writing skill and develop as a writer.
So how do you set the daily word count for yourself?
3 ways to set the best daily word count for yourself
Understand your current limit
You wouldn’t enter a gym for the first time and head straight for the heaviest weight.
It’s suicide.
Writing isn’t this extreme though. It’s super fun and delightful.
Nevertheless, it could wear you out.
Before deciding how many words you will be writing per day, you should first evaluate your limit.
It’s okay to aim high and try to write 5000 to 10000 words per day, but the question is “can you?”
Forget the fact that you’re enthusiastic about writing, overworking doesn’t cut it here. Consistency does.
So don’t jump to the big numbers. Not yet.
Start small.
Evaluate your schedule
Writing 5000 words a day may be difficult when you have a busy schedule.
If you have a job or some other important activity that takes most of your time, you may want to minimize your daily word count.
There’s no need to aim for the big numbers you know you can’t achieve with your busy schedule.
Set a word count that you can accomplish every day regardless of how busy you are.
With this, writing becomes more comfortable for you as you can consistently accomplish your daily word count.
Cultivate a good habit of writing
As much as you want to know how many words you should write a day, a good writing habit is what gives it essence.
Don’t worry if your writing isn’t good or your content doesn’t seem great.
This will help you cultivate a good habit of writing.
You may also feel lazy sometimes, but if you don’t have a good writing habit, there’s no need to set a word count.
Yeah, as a veteran in writing, I feel lazy sometimes too, but I wouldn’t pamper myself by sitting around doing anything.
I still accomplish my targeted daily word count no matter how lazy I feel.
How have I always been about to accomplish this?
It’s a good writing habit.
In case you need something to propel you, see these daily word counts of 39 famous authors.
The daily word count of 39 famous authors
According to Writerswrite, here are the daily word counts of 39 famous authors.
WRITERS WORD COUNTS
Anne Rice 3,000
Anthony Trollope 3,000
Arthur Conan Doyle 3,000
Arthur Heiley 600
Barbara Kingsolver 1,000
Carol Shields 600
Charles Hamilton 4,000
Erle Stanley Gardner 3,000
Ernest Hemingway 500
Frederick Forsyth 3,000
Graham Greene 500
Holly Black 1, 000
Iain Banks 3,000
Ian MacEwan 600
J.G Ballard 1,000
Jack London 1,500
John Van de Ruit 1,000
Jon Creasey 6,000
Kate Dicamillo 600-900
Lee Child 1,800
Lisa Jewell 1,000
Lisa See 1,000
Margaret Mead 1,000
Mark Twain 1,400
Maya Angelou 2,500
Michael Crichton 1,0000
Michael Robotham 500
Nicholas Sparks 2,000
Norman Mailer 3,000
Patricia Highsmith 2,000
Peter James 1,000
R. F. Delderfield 10,000
Sarah Waters 1,000
Sebastián Faulks 1,000
Selby Foote 500
Sophie Kinsella 1,000
Stephen King 2,000
Susan Wittig Albert 1,500
W. Somerset Maugham 1,000
A final thought on how many words you should write a day
Now I have finished this piece answering a specific question: how many words should I write a day?
I didn’t plan the number of words to write for this. I just write till I’m able to touch every important part and answer the question.
If 500 was my daily word count, you’d say I’ve done well by writing more. Right?
What if my daily word count was 5000?
Would you say I underperformed?
Of course, I didn’t.
So keep writing and don’t limit yourself to a word count. As long as you’re giving value, you’re limitless.
FAQs on how many words you should write a day
How many words a day is good writing?
There’s no limit to the number of words you should write, but 500 to 1000 are good numbers to aim for in your word count.
Is writing 1000 words a day good?
Writing 1000 words a day is excellent for developing your writing skill. If you can set a daily target of 1000 words at least and accomplish them, then you’re setting yourself up for success.
How many hours do writers write a day?
The hours it takes for different writers to create content varies; first by the time it takes to research the topic, write the content, and edit the pieces.
Most importantly, content with a higher word count takes more time than shorter content.
Enough talking. How many words do you want to write every day? Tell me in the comment box below.