At the beginning of 2020 I set myself some lofty goals. I know, I know…great year for it. However, as I write this blog post from the desk in my new apartment and I look over my word count spreadsheet, I have to admit that the wheels haven’t fallen off my year as much as it feels some days.
The biggest productivity goal I set this year was to see if I could write 500,000 words in a year. Yep, half a million words. It felt impossible. In fact, I had also set this goal for 2019 where I didn’t even come close.
But I wanted to try again.
I’ve come to realise that my motto is: let’s see what happens. I often go into things without expectation, only wanting to gather data to see if something is possible and (ideally) repeatable.
Okay, but it’s September.
Let me start off by saying I haven’t hit the half a million point yet. YET. What I have done is crack the biggest word count goal of my previous writing years (which was 400,000) with three full months to go. I could go tools down now for the rest of the year and still have had a massive year, so I feel confident sharing this data with you.
How many words do you write a day?
The assumption seems to be that writing so many words a year means HUGE word counts on a given day. That’s not the case for me.
Here’s a secret. I have the most boring superpower: epic consistency.
Let’s break it down. To write 500,000 words in a year you need 41,667 words per month. That’s 10,417 words a week (assuming a month has four weeks) and if you write on weekdays, that’s just 2084 words a day. I’m rounding up because one extra word never hurt anyone.
What happened in September?
For reference, I don’t work on weekends. In September 2020 this is what my stats looked like:
Goal: 41,667 words
Words written: 46,298
Days worked: 18 with 4 days off to move house
Of those 18 days, I had a 5,000 word day only once. I had plenty of days where I only wrote about 1,500 words, because I had boxes to pack and moving stuff to coordinate.
Aside from the move, this was a very average month.
My highest month so far has produced 61,236 words and my lowest has been 5,583 (a two week break, revisions and peak pandemic malaise chewed up all of July.) Most months have hit around the 45,000 mark.
What is my approach to writing?
I put my ass in the chair every day and I write. I know, least helpful piece of advice ever. I track my words in a spreadsheet every day and have done since 2014. This data really motivates me.
I almost always juggle multiple WIPs (usually writing 2 at a time and having a further 1-2 in varying editorial stages). I prefer a morning/afternoon split, doing words in the morning and either edits or more words on a second project in the afternoon. I tend to “exhaust” on a project around 3,000 words so having a second project revives me and allows me to get more done.
Essentially my approach is to write 5 days a week, with a goal of hitting 11k a week. I don’t worry about daily goals because some days I just need to think or tinker with a scene, so the weekly goal is the one I aim for.
Will this work for everyone?
No. Sorry to be blunt, but it won’t. That’s because NO APPROACH WORKS FOR EVERYONE. Loud enough for the people in the back? Okay.
Here’s who it could work for:
People who thrive on consistency, routine and momentum (and have a lifestyle that supports this)
Highly goal-oriented and/or data-driven people
People who are very focused and/or people who like juggling projects
It might not work for you if you find routine and consistency stifling to your creative process, or if you don’t have a lifestyle that supports it. This amount of data can also be intimidating/boring/uninspiring to some people. That’s cool, too.
I wanted to share this for the people who do like consistency and routine, to show that it’s possible to use that very underrated skill to your benefit.
Big word counts goals are just an accumulation of many smaller word counts.
I’m confident that this year I WILL hit 500k. For me it’s important because I have SO MANY books that I want to write. So many characters to bring to life and stories to serve, and writing is what I love doing.
NB. Honestly, during this pandemic consistency and routine make me feel safe. I tend to bury myself in work when I’m stressed, because it soothes me. I know this NOT the case for a lot of people. If you’re not that kind of person, please don’t beat yourself up. We all cope differently. But please also don’t criticize those of us who do rely on work to get us through the tough times.