# Big Question! How often are you writing? (1x/3x/5x/7x per week? And why?)



## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

All right kboarders.

The biggest problem a lot of authors have, is just getting the writing done.

So here's your Big Question:

1) How often are you writing?  And why?

2) What would help you get closer to your desired writing frequency?


(this should be gooood...)


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## Guest (Jan 22, 2015)

I have some health issues, a job, household chores, a child and no partner to share any of that with so the best time for me to write is on a weekend when my demonic child is out of the house with her friends or doing her own thing. 

My intention is to try and drum up some energy during the week to write more, will see how it goes.


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## DawnLee (Aug 17, 2014)

I write 7x a week. I freelance during the day, between 3-5 days per week. I work on my books every evening and during the day when I don't have to work on freelance projects.

Sorry, flummoxed by the "Why?" Whatever do you mean?


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

Writing daily, DawnLee?

YOU ARE ROCKING IT OUT, GIRLFRIEND!!

No "why" for you - you're doing what all we writers aspire to. 

Writing daily. 

HI-FIVE!

Question:

What helped you START that daily habit?


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

abonje said:


> 1) How often are you writing? And why?
> 2) What would help you get closer to your desired writing frequency?


1. Every day. Because writing.
2. N/A I'm already there.


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## DawnLee (Aug 17, 2014)

abonje said:


> Writing daily, DawnLee?
> 
> Question:
> 
> What helped you START that daily habit?


It's not something I cultivated. It just is. Obviously, the freelancing is something I have to do if I want to have electricity, but I've cut back on work and tried to manage my time better so that I have a couple of weekdays off. This gives me a couple of days of nothing but my own work while the kids are at school. As far as writing my own stuff every day, that's not something I have to force. It's what keeps me functionally sane.


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## Kenzi (Jul 28, 2014)

Every day.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Can't vote. I write 6 days a week. I take one day a week off to prevent burn out, but not two days because I don't want to go too long without writing. I hear a lot of people who take weekends off say that Mondays are always hard.


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## NotHere (Jan 21, 2015)

When I was writing Dream-Scanner Darkly, Bailie's Stories, and Nymphs Of Winter Fire I was working at 1,000 words a day every week.

These days though, I tend to write every second day for 2,000 words.


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

Stacy Claflin said:


> Can't vote. I write 6 days a week. I take one day a week off to prevent burn out, but not two days because I don't want to go too long without writing. I hear a lot of people who take weekends off say that Mondays are always hard.


Hm - good share, Stacy. Added 6 days/week for ya! 

How are you able to write 6 days a week..
where many authors struggle,a nd can only write when they feel in a creative "zone"?


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## meh (Apr 18, 2013)

TOS.


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## Darren Kirby (Oct 6, 2014)

I strive to write everyday.  I don't always make it, but I at least have my intentions, and I have a spreadsheet that I use to track how many words I write each day.  It's a motivator to me to see the numbers add up from each day.  I actually wanted to do 2 things with my writing:  write more often, with daily being the goal, and then to write more each day.  I'm focusing on the "more often" part for the past 2 months, and for the most part I'm doing pretty good.  I'm still working on the "write more" portion, but I know that will come in time.

For me, while I like to write and I enjoy the stories that I tell, I still have a day job, family obligations, etc. so that means I need to work at making sure I carve out time to write.  I don't feel bad about that either, because it's part of my larger goal to be able to start paying some bills with my writing.  Things are progressing on that front as well, and as I like to say, if you take care of the small things, the big things seem to magically take care of themselves.  Cheers!


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

I write every day. If I don't the story goes stale.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I didn't vote because there wasn't an option that fit me. When I'm actively working on a story, it's 5x per week. But I go through periods of not writing on a regular schedule, usually in the summer when my kids are out of school, and then all I get done is outlining and a few scattered scenes. I'm always preaching that people should write daily, rain or shine, but I don't actually practice it myself. Not year round anyway.


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## Scott Bartlett (Apr 1, 2012)

SevenDays said:


> I write every day. If I don't the story goes stale.


Judging by your username you were meant to participate in this poll 

Edit: If I'm posting I should probably participate too eh...I write every weekday, and normally one of the weekend days, to make sure I mentally stay in the story's space.


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## ufwriter (Jan 12, 2015)

Every day. Because I get obsessed, haha.

But when I say I "write" every day, I mean that I'm writing or working on edits. If I'm revising, I usually don't write as well.


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## Fishbowl Helmet (Jan 12, 2014)

abonje said:


> 1) How often are you writing? And why?
> 
> 2) What would help you get closer to your desired writing frequency?


1. Every day with the rare exception due to health. Even on sick days I'll try for a few hundred words instead of my bargain-basement lazy-day minimum of at least 1000 words every day.

2. Since I'm already there, I'll share how I got there...

Two realizations. First, that the only difference between a wannabe and an actual writer is the shift in thinking from "finding time" to write and "making time" to write. The job, kids, SO, car wreck, house fire, lost job, missing dog... either you make time to write or you don't. Life's hard. If you wait for life to get easy then start your writing, you'll never start. Instead use all that strife as fuel for your writing. Second, life's short. I could die tomorrow, or the day after, or next week sometime. I'd rather there be a half-finished and battered attempt at a rough draft on my hard drive waiting for my family to find than a mess of Twitter or Facebook posts about cats or a log of how many hours I've poured into some video game.

So: You have no guarantee of time, and largely have control over what you do with that time. Simple.


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## cvannatta (Jul 6, 2014)

Current WIP novel: Every day, because my schedule is so freakin' hectic at the moment, I can only fit in an hour here or there each day, and it makes me crazy when I'm not making progress.

Other writing, for my day job: 5 days a week, so I can eat regularly, sleep indoors, and support my cats in the manner to which they've become accustomed.


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## suspensefulCJ (Nov 8, 2013)

I aim for every day, but there's usually one day a week when I don't write. I tend to work on admin stuff, homeschool planning, and plotting on that day. 

I do make myself work on something writing related every single night, that way I don't get out of the habit. I struggle with self-discipline, and if I don't do something every night, the next one is twice as hard. I am the sole support of my family until my husband's virtual author assistant business takes off, so I make sure I don't slack off of my schedule.


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## Guest (Jan 22, 2015)

I write daily. I'm a plodder and if I don't chip away at my goal every day I'd take longer than George RR Martin to finish something...


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## Allyson J. (Nov 26, 2014)

Unfortunately its weekends only for me. I have a full-time M-F day job. By the time I'm home, I cook and get ready for bed. I'd only have an hour or so to knock out any writing, and I get too anxious trying to "perform" on a tight timeframe. That's when I research and casually read to recharge my brain.

Maybe next winter I can go down to part-time.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

I would say I write five times a week and work on my books seven days a week. At least once a week I lose an entire day to editing - and various hours throughout the week. Today, for example, I edited an entire novella and did no writing. I will probably do an outline tonight, too. Why? Because it needs to be done. I'm more than happy with my writing speed.


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## Taking my troll a$$ outta here (Apr 8, 2013)

Every day since I quit the day job.
When I was working full time (3-4 12 hr shifts per week) I wrote 5 days a week. The other two days I'd catch up on sleep.


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## over and out (Sep 9, 2011)

7 days a week.  Miss a day and it's harder to get myself back in the story.


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

Allyson Jeleyne said:


> Unfortunately its weekends only for me. I have a full-time M-F day job. By the time I'm home, I cook and get ready for bed. I'd only have an hour or so to knock out any writing, and I get too anxious trying to "perform" on a tight timeframe. That's when I research and casually read to recharge my brain.
> 
> Maybe next winter I can go down to part-time.


Totally understand, Allyson!

I suspect quite a lot of people who still have 9-to-5s fit into this category...


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## 58907 (Apr 3, 2012)

I have a goal this year of writing 365,000 words which is only 1000 words a day. So far, I've written everyday. The more often you write the faster you get--at least for me. Earlier this year, I was writing 1000 words in 45 minutes. Now I can type 1000 words in about 30 minutes. In the past, I've noticed that the more days that pass without writing equals a harder time to get back into a writing schedule and the actual rhythm of writing. There are a few things I can do to increase my speed; my goal is 20 minutes.

This year: #NoExcuses


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## 75814 (Mar 12, 2014)

Pretty much daily. Sometimes I miss a day here or there but I've managed to stay pretty consistent in the past few months.


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## a_g (Aug 9, 2013)

6 days/week. I try to take one day off a week to catch up administrative stuff, organize the week and rest my mind and body to allow the well to refill. I'll burn out otherwise. 

Count me in the group of not waiting for inspiration/creative drive to kick in. If I did, I'd be waiting for a long time. This is more than a creative thing for me, it's a job to make money. I show up at my desk promptly at 8:30am and work to lunch (minimum) or to 3pm. 

I used to be a daily word count writer but lately that's not been working out for me (family issues taking me from my writing for long stretches). I'm toying with the idea of bumping it to weekly word counts and hitting it hard and fast on those days I'm there to make up for the lack of when I'm not.


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## dgrant (Feb 5, 2014)

Peter's going to be up at 4am whether he wants to be or not, and we've both learned that typing does not wake me up. On days I go to work, he writes until it's time to wake me up and see me out the door, then goes back and writes more or edits. On my days off, I sleep in and he writes until I've rolled out of bed, had a cup of tea, and finally woken up.

This does mean our first conversation in the morning can go like this:
"Good morning! I love you! I heard you stir, so I made you a cuppa, and I have three thousand words in! I finally figured out how to pull these plot threads together, and..."
"Mmmrrrgggrbbble."
"I love you too!"


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

KVictoriaChase said:


> I have a goal this year of writing 365,000 words which is only 1000 words a day. So far, I've written everyday. The more often you write the faster you get--at least for me. Earlier this year, I was writing 1000 words in 45 minutes. Now I can type 1000 words in about 30 minutes. In the past, I've noticed that the more days that pass without writing equals a harder time to get back into a writing schedule and the actual rhythm of writing. There are a few things I can do to increase my speed; my goal is 20 minutes.
> 
> This year: #NoExcuses


Really good observation about rhythm and speed/ease of writing, KVC.
Keep at it - you're doing a great job!


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

Perry Constantine said:


> Pretty much daily. Sometimes I miss a day here or there but I've managed to stay pretty consistent in the past few months.


BOOM. Killing it. Fist bump.


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## 58907 (Apr 3, 2012)

abonje said:


> Really good observation about rhythm and speed/ease of writing, KVC.
> Keep at it - you're doing a great job!


Thank you!!!


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

a_g said:


> 6 days/week. I try to take one day off a week to catch up administrative stuff, organize the week and rest my mind and body to allow the well to refill. I'll burn out otherwise.
> 
> Count me in the group of not waiting for inspiration/creative drive to kick in. If I did, I'd be waiting for a long time. This is more than a creative thing for me, it's a job to make money. I show up at my desk promptly at 8:30am and work to lunch (minimum) or to 3pm.
> 
> I used to be a daily word count writer but lately that's not been working out for me (family issues taking me from my writing for long stretches). I'm toying with the idea of bumping it to weekly word counts and hitting it hard and fast on those days I'm there to make up for the lack of when I'm not.


Great focus and determination, a_g.
8:30am - 3pm... 6 days a week.
Leaving one day off for rejuvenation and admin stuff sounds like a good idea.
Although 7 days / week seems to be working for a fair number of volume writers, I think it's prudent to discover what works best for each individual... and do that.

Rock it out. If you decide to go to weekly word counts, good luck !
You may consider trying it for a week or two, to see if it allows you to be more productive.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Tilly said:


> I write daily. I'm a plodder and if I don't chip away at my goal every day I'd take longer than George RR Martin to finish something...


Bravo! I am with you Tilly! I wanted to write ever since I was 13 and read Tolkien's works but I always felt that being an 'author' was something special and beyond me or my talents (I still think that way sometimes) until last year. Then I wrote a 115k novel that I always wanted to do and I did it 1 lunch hour at a time. Sure it took me a few months, well a lot of months but just being able to do it gave me confidence.

So when I read Tilly's comment above it hit a nerve with me. This year I set some serious goals and made a goal to write 2.5k words each day (which usually takes me about 2 hours for some point of reference) and like another poster I have an excel spreadsheet where I track my progress.

To date I have written 48,519 words with my standard saying I should have written 55,000 (I'm behind schedule by 6,481). The point however was that even 'failing' to meet my own standard I have realized that this commitment to write has netted me almost 50k words in 3 weeks (not including today) and I am pretty sure based on last year that I'd be closer to 10 k with the resolution and determination.

My problem now is I am an old fart with over 3 decades of ideas rattling around in my hollow head so I need to get them out on paper soon before its too late. Luckily I type 50 words per minute with no errors and seem to be able to pants my plots more than normal (from what I have read of others) since I have had them rolling around up there for decades.

Key will be what I have written by December 31, 2015. I'm hoping to have my first book published in 2 or 3 weeks and the current WIP submitted to the Kindle Scout Program in 2 weeks as well then on to book 3 

Success to the rest of you all!
SM


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Salvador Mercer said:


> To date I have written 48,519 words with my standard saying I should have written 55,000 (I'm behind schedule by 6,481). The point however was that even 'failing' to meet my own standard I have realized that this commitment to write has netted me almost 50k words in 3 weeks (not including today) and I am pretty sure based on last year that I'd be closer to 10 k with the resolution and determination.


Yes, 'failing to success'. Congrats on the work and keep at it. May we all hit our goals this year!


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

Way to go, Salvador!

The tracking spreadsheet is a great idea.

And I especially love this:


> "...then I wrote a 115k novel that I always wanted to do and I did it 1 lunch hour at a time."


And this:


> "... The point however was that even 'failing' to meet my own standard I have realized that this commitment to write has netted me almost 50k words in 3 weeks."


ROCK ON!

Let's get more of those ideas out of your head!


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

I've been writing 7x/week since I started, while I'm writing a book. Other days, I'm still working, but maybe not as much. I do have a month or so between books when I do other stuff, including pay some attention to the other things and people in my life, but also editing, marketing, audiobook proofing, etc, etc. 

When I started, I was working a day job. I still wrote 7x/week, because I had to. When I'm in a book, it's very hard to stop. I did take two days off for Christmas this year, from everything. It felt really hard to do. 

I don't think the above is ideal. I'm going to try for some balance. As soon as I finish this book.


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## Guest (Jan 23, 2015)

I'm up to 5 days a week because I'm trying to get more books out quicker than before. I do need breaks, but I'm finding out that if I let more than a day pass without writing, I lose my impetus. So, I'm thinking of using one no-write day as a float day. 

I don't do a word count. Instead, I have an overall schedule to get my next book written and published, and I schedule what I need to get done each day to meet my self-imposed deadline. What that is dictates how much time I spend writing that day. The closer I get to the end of the book, the longer my work days.

If I skip a day writing, I do a makeup day on the weekend or double up.

Luckily, I have the freedom to write full-time, if I choose to.


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## SA_Soule (Sep 8, 2011)

I try to write every day. I get cranky when I don't, but some days it is hard to find the time. Sometimes my creative muse refuses to appear. Or if I am I stuck on a plot issue, and then I find it hard to get into the "writing zone."  Or if I am editing someone else's work.

And I wish I could write faster! I am not a morning person, so I feel more creative in the evenings. But that's also when I have more distractions. *sigh*


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## Claudia King (Oct 27, 2012)

I generally schedule myself to write every day, although in practice there's usually one day a week where I end up not doing it for one reason or another (including forcing myself to take much-needed breaks!). It definitely helps to keep the rhythm of a story going if you write frequently and consistently. The hardest times for me to start putting text on a page are when I've been away from the keyboard for a while and lose that spark of passion for whatever I was planning to have happen next.

Aside from that, though, it's mainly a productivity thing. It's difficult for me to sit down and write for, say, five hours straight. I need to mix my daily work activities up to keep things going. My philosophy for things like work, diet, exercise etc. has always been "little and often", rather than doing everything in one lump then forgetting it for a while.


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

Claudia King said:


> It definitely helps to keep the rhythm of a story going if you write frequently and consistently.


True indeed!



Claudia King said:


> My philosophy for things like work, diet, exercise etc. has always been "little and often", rather than doing everything in one lump then forgetting it for a while.


I think this is an excellent approach to have - for any habit under the sun.
(And there's lots of empirical data on habit-forming, to back it up.)


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## Genre Hoarder (Oct 4, 2014)

I write seven days a week. I aim for 2500 minimum daily, but don't beat myself up for not hitting that mark. I use the weekends to catch up on my word count and to edit. On a good day (weekends normally), I can write upwards of 10K - 15K words. When that happens, its great. If it doesn't happen, that's fine. I will get there.


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

graelily said:


> I write seven days a week. I aim for 2500 minimum daily, but don't beat myself up for not hitting that mark. I use the weekends to catch up on my word count and to edit. On a good day (weekends normally), I can write upwards of 10K - 15K words. When that happens, its great. If it doesn't happen, that's fine. I will get there.


Very cool!
What genre are you writing in...
and how often do you publish a new book?


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## Amity Lassiter (Nov 28, 2014)

I have a monthly goal vs a daily goal. In order to reach that goal, it's a lot easier to write little bits daily. So far, I have been aiming for a total of 30K in February and I'm on track. I am a shift worker so I have large chunks of time off after 4 12 hour shifts but so far in February I have been trying to just maintain 1K/day, even on days that I work. Eventually, I hope to bump up on my days off at least, and still maintain the 1K minimum on days I work. I am working on my third book and have not taken any significant amount of time off between books yet.


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## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

I always shoot for daily but manage between 4-5 days a week on average.

I'm building for the everyday dream.


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## Douglas Milewski (Jul 4, 2014)

I write 5x a week.

I write is smaller spurts because my mind can only concentrate for so long before it's done. So I write frequently, using the time in between to think about where I want my story to go.


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## abonje (Jan 12, 2013)

harker.roland said:


> I always shoot for daily but manage between 4-5 days a week on average.
> 
> I'm building for the everyday dream.


You can do it, H.R.!


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## SteveHarrison (Feb 1, 2015)

Writing at the keyboard? Twice per week, guaranteed. More if I can, but work & family commitments make this difficult.

Writing in my head? 24/7 ( I even dream about writing!)


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## 67499 (Feb 4, 2013)

Calendar schedules and daily word goals worry me because I can never meet them.  Instead, I measure out 4-5hrs of writing every day - it's not labor but dreamtime.  Then a few more hrs editing (editing is a LOT of fun - scratch this, blot out that, what was I thinking here and where are the matches?).  When my eyeballs begin to seize up and the keyboard complains of the pounding (I learned to type on a manual typewriter, highest of tech in my day), I go to the beach and watch the dolphins.  Manage 3-4,000 words per day that way.


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## Amity Lassiter (Nov 28, 2014)

Steven Hardesty said:


> Calendar schedules and daily word goals worry me because I can never meet them. Instead, I measure out 4-5hrs of writing every day - it's not labor but dreamtime. Then a few more hrs editing (editing is a LOT of fun - scratch this, blot out that, what was I thinking here and where are the matches?). When my eyeballs begin to seize up and the keyboard complains of the pounding (I learned to type on a manual typewriter, highest of tech in my day),* I go to the beach and watch the dolphins.* Manage 3-4,000 words per day that way.


This would make me a lot more productive! Alas, landlocked...


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## ♨ (Jan 9, 2012)

abonje said:


> So here's your Big Question:


I count three questions, but only two are numbered.



> 1) How often are you writing?


Almost daily. Granted, some days it might be more of a note than actual writing, but it totally counts. And, some days, the word count may be one, but that solitary word still totally counts. Other days, I may write more in KB posts than in actual future book content, but I blame Betsy for that.



> And why?


That's not a numbered question, so I'm afraid I can't answer it because, clearly, if you were serious about wanting an answer for it, it would have been numbered. As an unnumbered question, it's more of a bonus question and since there's no grade involved here, I feel safe in ignoring it. Sorry.



> 2) What would help you get closer to your desired writing frequency?


A clone. Or a lot of money such that I didn't have to worry about doing other things to pay the bills. Or both. Also, fewer commercials on TV shows so it wouldn't take as long to watch them. Also, a way to type into the computer without typing, as in by simply thinking about it. That would save a lot of time. I do a lot of thinking. If that thinking went directly into the computer, that would be awesome, unless an implant would be required, then the answer would be no. Also, it would have to be a secure connection such that no one would be snooping on my thoughts. I have a lot of million dollar ideas, but I have nickel and dime fingers, so it takes a long time to get that data into a fixed form.


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## elizabethsade (Feb 3, 2015)

I write every day, pretty much. With a few exceptions - so far this year I've taken two days off, but that's it. I tend to write 500 on bad days, or up to 3k ish on good days.

It's hard. I work a 60 hour job, basically, and purposefully I set aside 1-2 hours a night to get some stuff written at night. I'm struggling on fitting in editing time now that I have some projects finished, but I'll figure that out eventually.

Why? Because I want to be able to support myself with my writing sooner rather than later. And I can only do that, by writing more books.


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## EthanRussellErway (Nov 17, 2011)

I try to write and/or edit every single day.  My plans are often derailed, but that's one of the biggest reasons to aim for a goal of writing every day.  My goal is at least 2000 words.  Often the actual number is less, sometimes it's more.  But even if it's a few hundred words, it all ads up.


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## Error404 (Sep 6, 2012)

abonje said:


> 1) How often are you writing? And why?
> 
> 2) What would help you get closer to your desired writing frequency?


1) 7 days a week (excluding visits to folks every few months) because I like to release a novella once a week.

2) Making a steady 10k a month


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## Micah Ackerman (Feb 16, 2014)

I try and write everyday, but sometimes life gets in the way. I sometimes it's just a paragraph, sometimes my fingers fly. I have to be in the right frame of mind to really pound out the pages (words) whatever.


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## Crystal_ (Aug 13, 2014)

I write five days a week, Monday through Friday. I take the weekend off with rare exceptions.

I don't see why anyone would want to write every day. By Friday afternoon, my brain is total mush.


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## RBK (Nov 28, 2014)

Crystal_ said:


> I don't see why anyone would want to write every day. By Friday afternoon, my brain is total mush.


The reason some want to write every day is because every writer is different. Personally, if I take a weekend off, my brain is total mush on the Monday.

So yeah, to each their own and all that.

I try to write every day, but usually end up doing six days a week, taking Sunday off.


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## 75814 (Mar 12, 2014)

Crystal_ said:


> I don't see why anyone would want to write every day. By Friday afternoon, my brain is total mush.


Because I love it. When you find something you love, you want to do it a lot. I feel a lot better when I look back at my daily word counts for the week and see I've written every day as opposed to weeks when I take a day or more off. I only take days off when I'm too burnt out or sick from other things and even then, I probably would have felt better if I pushed through and tried to write something.


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## going going gone (Jun 4, 2013)

7 days, but I'm not always writing a new draft. Sometimes, I'm revising or proofing instead. Sometimes, I'm researching or outlining. Occasionally, I don't work on fiction and write a half-dozen blog articles ahead or spend two days on business matters. And I take a few weeks entirely off each year, too.


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## Crystal_ (Aug 13, 2014)

Perry Constantine said:


> Because I love it. When you find something you love, you want to do it a lot. I feel a lot better when I look back at my daily word counts for the week and see I've written every day as opposed to weeks when I take a day or more off. I only take days off when I'm too burnt out or sick from other things and even then, I probably would have felt better if I pushed through and tried to write something.


I love writing, but it's still hard work. I'm happy for all the writers who enjoy writing every day, but wanting a break doesn't mean I don't love writing.


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## elizabethsade (Feb 3, 2015)

Crystal_ said:


> I love writing, but it's still hard work. I'm happy for all the writers who enjoy writing every day, but wanting a break doesn't mean I don't love writing.


^
This. You can love something but still have days (or longer) where you don't want to touch it with a ten foot pole, burnout or not.

For me, right now, writing keeps me (mostly) sane. But there are still days where I just can't do it, or I only have the time/energy for 500 words. Or somedays I just want a day off to not think about my projects.

It all works out eventually.


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

Can someone offer advice on getting into a habit of writing a limited time daily and walking away guilt free? I either do 13 hour days or weeks of no writing, and it just seems so ineffective because in those weeks i still worry about not writing.


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## dgrant (Feb 5, 2014)

DGS, 

The Pomodoro Method. Basically, take an egg timer, a timing app, or what have you, and set it for 25 minutes. Write for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. Set it again, do another 25 minutes, then take another 5 minute break. After 4 of these, take a 15-20 minute break. 

It's a short enough time that you can really focus on writing, and all the things that immediately pop into your mind of "Oh, I need to..." can be put off until you've finished your time segment. But it's long enough to actually get something done, and walk away feeling that you had a structure, a set of tasks, and you got it done. Even if all you have is half an hour free when everything else in life is pressing, that's still enough time to set the timer and write, then walk away knowing you got a pomodoro in. 

(We use an egg timer shaped like a penguin.)


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## henderson (Jul 14, 2014)

I write between 5 and 7 days a week for most of the year. 

When the kids are not in school, then maybe three to five days a week.


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## Shei Darksbane (Jan 31, 2015)

I write every day that I can. So far, I average 6 days per week. 
But my birthday happened to fall in my first two weeks of writing and I took two nights off for festivities. So there ya go. 
I'm mostly writing some at least each day.

My average is 4000 WPD so if I miss one night here and there, I'm still making nice progress.


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