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Writers: How long does it take you to write 1000 words, generally?
25 minutes or less
Over 25 minutes but under 45 minutes
Over 45 minutes but under an hour and a half
Multiple hours
Days
Unsure / I donāt know
Other answer / itās complicated
See results / I donāt write
my questionable writing speed
For some context, I have considered writing as a passion of mine about 3 years now, depending on when you count. I used to write all the time, but then I got the biggest writing block of my life and stopped for a year.
Then, about a few months ago, I started writing again...so, as in "I stopped writing for a year" I mean, "I stopped actually writing for a year."
....so during my huge writing block, I was watching a lot of youtube videos about creative writing instead of, like, actually writing. Anything.
So it's been a year. I finally started writing again.
I pick up my previously-abandoned WIP---a fantasy/adventure novel that, once finishing the improvised and i-just-went-with-it-with-no-plan-whatsoever-and-thus-has-too-many-plot-holes-to-count rough draft, I had given up on.
But no longer! I had learned a lot about creative writing, and have surely matured as a writer! I read through the plot and the 110,000 word manuscript.
....and it was just as, if not even more, trashy than I had remembered.
After trying to simply adjust the plot, I realized it was beyond repair, so decided to rewrite the whole plot from scratch.
So, here I am. After [insert an embarrassing, considerably longer amount of time than planned] outlining, I started writing the first few chapters.
...and I realized it took me five hours to write a single chapter.
Now, I have no idea how long people usually take to write a chapter, but I was very sure that I used to be able to write 3 chapters in one sitting. Three. In like one sitting.
And so I'm staring at my manuscript, and questioning myself, like, "what the heck happened in the time span I stopped writing?"
I plopped into the middle of the May 2025 drabble challenge by @thedrabblecollective a few days ago, and I worked on one of the prompts.
I was doing 2 drabbles per prompt, so, pfft, it'll be quick warm up, right? A simple and fun challenge that'll take a quick amount of time.
Right?
Right?
Wrong.
Ok, so I finish the drabbles, I look up at the clock, and it's already midnight. Which meant that I spent an HOUR writing 200 words.
This was even slower than my already slow average. As mentioned before, I usually take five hours to write one chapter, which is typically 4,000 words for me. So that's 800 words per hour.
I mean, the 100 word limit, no more, no less, for each drabble was being a challenge for me, but still. I was writing 4x slower than usual.
sorry, I went on a bit of a ramble, but.
WHAT IS UP WITH MY WRITING SPEED I AM AS SLOW AS A LITERAL SNAIL. HELP
11 strategies that will help you write more words per hour.
New post on the WA blog š
Increase your writing speed
I got an ask ages ago by @theemmanation, asking if I have any advice for under-writers. As a former under-writer, I do.
It used to take me two or three hours of steady writing to get to a thousand words. Needless to say, my novel was progressing slowwwly. I had accepted the fact that I would never write 1,000 words per hour, I just wasnāt that kind of a writer. Or so I thought.
These are the things I did to increase my wordcount and my writing speed:
1. I stopped writing by hand
I love, love the idea of a stack of notebooks for my first draft, to show how much work I put into it. For my first NaNoWriMo, I decided to temporatily switch to typing and BOY, did that work. Without changing anything else, my writing speed doubled.
Because I couldnāt let go of the idea of the stack of notebooks for my first draft, I printed them. If you want to see how that turned out, here is my finished first draft, a stack of 14 notebooks. I considered creating a font of my own hand-writing for the print, but in the end I didnāt. (If you want to, google how. Itās free.)
2. I participated in NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo is a yearly event in which writers try to write 50,000 words in 30 days, or an average of 1,666 words per day. I had never had such an ambitious goal, and surfing along the momentum of other writers made me push myself beyond what I thought was possible. It genuinely changed me as a writer. Because I was pushing myself to write these 1,666 words per day, I wrote faster and for longer per writing session. And against all (my) expectations, I won! I wrote more in that month than I had written in the previous 2 years.
Even if you start NaNoWriMo and donāt succeed, you may find that you can do more than you think.
3. I do word sprints
Meet up with someone (online or live), set a relatively short time, and get out as much words as you can on your wip. If the competetive factor doesnāt work for you or if youāve got no-one to partner up with, do the Pomodoro technique: set your timer for 25 minutes, write your ass off, and take a 5 minute break. Repeat if needed.
In word sprints, I often reach a speed of 1,200 words per hour. And good words, too, not just word vomit.
4. A good plan is half the work
The idea is to get your problem-solving done before you write, so that you donāt lose any writing time and still get the same (or, I would argue, a higher) quality of writing. So I usually know what Iām gonna write before I start. Not in great detail, but I have a one- to three-sentence description of my scene before I start it, and before writing the real stuff, I make sure I already have the scene in my head, using the method of āHow I never have to face an empty page when I writeā. If it doesnāt suit you, then donāt, but this is what does the trick for me. Also, see my post on how to outline your novel, but Iām sure most of you have seen it.
5. I carve out my writing time
Write when youāre the most creative, the most mentally active. Donāt go against your own energy pattern. Most people write when the moment is convenient, like in the evenings after dinner when the kids are in bed or when homework is done. But if youāre like me, dinner makes you drowsy and you donāt have a lot of mental stamina left. Afternoons are my jam. Base your writing time on your bioclock and then make writing a priority.
When I say make writing a priority, I donāt mean that afternoon writers need to work less to be able to write more. I mean: prioritize writing during lunchtime over talking to your colleagues. If youāre an evening writer, prioritize writing over watching that new series your partner is bingeing. If youāre a morning writer, prioritize writing over waking up slowly while watching the news.
***
I hope this was helpful. Donāt hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!
Follow me for more writing advice, or check out my other writing tips here. New topics to write advice about are also always welcome.
Tag list below the cut. If you like to be added to or removed from the list, let me know.
So, this might be a hot take, since everyone seems to do it, but I'm going to say if anyway.
Putting innocent people down isn't required in praising someone.
See, I ended up seeing a post somewhere a while back, where someone was self conscious over the fact that they wrote extremely fast, and didn't have much time to make sure their handwriting was neat.
This other person came in, and replied with what was, essentially, "fast writers are smarter. No offense, slow writers, but fast writers think faster and better", or something like that. It's been weeks since I've read it, so take this with a grain of salt.
Now, this is obviously wrong factually (you can look it up, I've already researched), but the problem I'm seeing is them needlessly putting down slower writers. In helping that one self conscious fast writer, there have probably been several self conscious slow writers who have seen that, and put in a similar, if not worse place than the original poster was.
I should know, because I'm one of them. After seeing how the post was framed, how fast writers are made out to be vastly superior, I desperately forced myself to write faster, just so I could feel good enough, even in private. I'm obviously better now, since I've researched the truth and found out that the reply was blatant misinformation, but if all you're doing is replacing one person's self loathing with another's, can you really say you're helping?
There have been several other cases of situations like this, some of which you've probably seen, but this was the main one I could think of.
(Uh, this might be common sense, and I doubt anyone will be upset enough by this to try, but don't attempt to track down the post just because you're mad. At this point, the person could've already realized it's misinformation, and corrected it. It's honestly impossible for me to know, but I don't want to be the cause of any drama š this is just a teeny tiny vent post)
Freewriting is an even freer process where you just open the document and start. Let your fingers run free. In my case, at 120 wpm.
#quotes
Freewriting is an even freer process where you just open the document and start. Let your fingers run free. In my case, at 120 wpm.
https://medium.com/eggsisting/the-beginning-of-a-challenge-ffff58f01ad7 / #quotes
Day Fourteen: What is your speed when writing?
Honestly, Iām not the fastest writer in the world. I usually take my time with my projects because I want them to be as good as possible. Obviously.Ā
My first draft of the book Iām writing now took about a year to come together. Then, I took years trying to fix it up with no luck. Iām in the middle of revisions and self-editing for the third draft, and feel I will be done with that 6 months to a year from now.Ā
So, all in all, Iām kind of a slow writer. but better not to hurry your work and have it come out bad, then to be a little slow, and really concentrate on your work.
