Speed! - How fast can you write?

[Guest Tuftiperkys]

I can't believe I thought to utilize the forum, I'll be riding this high for days!

Anyway.

I don't mean how fast can you type, so please don't start giving me your WpMs - it would only embarrass and intimidate me and for no real reason. What I mean is: If you sit down at your computer/laptop/typewriter/Mr. Spell, how long does it take you to have a finished product - or do you even manage in one interval?

Generally (I find it's best to stick with the general), how long does it take you to write a new chapter and/or one-shot? I always feel like such a slacker when I start writing and I've been wondering if that's because I expect too much of myself. Is it crazy to think that if I sit down at my computer with a good few hours at my disposal that I should have a finished product by the end?

I write dialogue - really, really fast, I write dialogue. For a twenty page one-shot, I can have the dialogue done in fifteen minutes. Easy. At any one time, it's not only possible but extremely likely that I have ten chapters written on ten different stories with dialogue only (and they stay gimpy and deformed like that for far too long, my poor lovelies). The background bits...eh, if they get finished, it's usually best counted in week increments - if not months. Which is horrible only due to the fact that people...wait on my stuff (the bastards) so I was wondering if you guys had any tricks. Or maybe just knowing other people do it quicker will activate some sort of latent competitive gene? I'm not going to hold my breath on that.

And do any of you out there suffer from PADD like I do? I am a creative butterfly (apparently) and that is not very conducive to completing, well, anything. So, I'm curious, do any of you start working on a project only to go, 'Ooo, this would be the great start to a whole NEW story *squee*' [i don't know whether people say squee or, er, [i]make[/i] squee but I figure being 'in the know' with the terminology makes it seem much more like I'm one of the cool kids]. Now those of you who have contracted my same affliction (Pairing-Attention Deficit Disorder) - How do you manage to concentrate on one pairing for a long enough time to actually finish a total, whole story?

I understand if these are secrets of the 'if I tell you, I'll have to kill you, hollow out your skull, and use it as my musical gourd' variety (happened more times than I can count) but, if not, please assuage my curiosity before I end up like that stupid cat that ruined the adjective for everyone.

Thanks for reading all the ramble,

Calrissian18/Tuftiperkys/Maddie/Shmadsmonster/Stinkypotamous/Piddle Squiddles - (Author, Forum User, Me, Friends, Sister, Mom)

[Jaded_Star]

How fast I write depends on my mood. I once wrote nearly 200 pages in a week (while working full time). My writing partner nearly had a heart attack when I sent all that to her... Some nights I'll sit in front of the computer for hours and get half a paragraph I'd say my average is about a page a night, which involves a lot of me going off to do other things.

I totally suffer from writing ADD (sorry forgot what you called it) I'll get into one story then suddenly think, "oh I could write that instead!" I'm currently rewriting a story I wrote ten years ago (but quit towards the end) and I'm dead set on actually finishing it this time! Aside from one shots I've never actually written the ending to anything... It's a problem. I think I need therapy.

Part of the reason I started posting here was I knew if someone was actually reading the stuff they'd care that it never ended.

[Danyealle]

i do a 4000 word chapter in 2 hours usually and put out between 2-3 chapters a week. Sometimes i do more than that, depending on the story and where I'm at in it. I've done more than that, a lot more. I'm one of those beings that could update every day if I would cut down my chapter size. But it's not unknown for me to update both stories I work on at a time in the same day with a minimum of 4000 words each (usually I overshoot that by a bit). That's not to mention the outlines and such i do in between time.

[CloverReef]

Wow, I'm almost embarrassed after those answers. When I'm really into a fiction that I'm writing, my average is churning out a 2k-3k word chapter in 2-5 days. When I'm lucky I can do half a chapter in 3-4 hours.

As for the other things, I do have a problem with getting ideas for new fics just as I'm starting a new one. I don't really try to solve that problem, though. I believe I write better if I just go where the inspiration is. As for couple ADD, If I start getting bored of a couple I'm writing about, I'll sometimes throw in a new element/character to spice things up a bit. Or make an existing char in the fic take on a more central role.

Then again, that's not saying much. I think I've finished about 10 whole stories in 12 years, and have about a million beginnings.

[WarlordEnfilade]

I average a thousand words a day, every day.

[canterro]

i do a 4000 word chapter in 2 hours usually and put out between 2-3 chapters a week. Sometimes i do more than that, depending on the story and where I'm at in it. I've done more than that, a lot more. I'm one of those beings that could update every day if I would cut down my chapter size. But it's not unknown for me to update both stories I work on at a time in the same day with a minimum of 4000 words each (usually I overshoot that by a bit). That's not to mention the outlines and such i do in between time.

my God... I'm sorry if I offend you - this is certainly not my goal, but... do you even have time to think the story through? to create some complex relations, characters, and person-to-person games?

I mean, for me it's better to write one very good (it's relative, of course) thing, put a lot of effort into it, than have a high production rate - it doesn't work for me;

well, sure, sometimes you just go with the flow, and it happened to me that I was able to pull the thing in one day or night, but it's not my standard

however,... it's just me

[canterro]

As for the other things, I do have a problem with getting ideas for new fics just as I'm starting a new one. I don't really try to solve that problem, though. I believe I write better if I just go where the inspiration is. As for couple ADD, If I start getting bored of a couple I'm writing about, I'll sometimes throw in a new element/character to spice things up a bit. Or make an existing char in the fic take on a more central role.

Please, please, take up one of my challenges I threw onto AFF sooooome time ago

It'd be great!

[Jaded_Star]

my God... I'm sorry if I offend you - this is certainly not my goal, but... do you even have time to think the story through? to create some complex relations, characters, and person-to-person games?

I mean, for me it's better to write one very good (it's relative, of course) thing, put a lot of effort into it, than have a high production rate - it doesn't work for me;

well, sure, sometimes you just go with the flow, and it happened to me that I was able to pull the thing in one day or night, but it's not my standard

however,... it's just me

I don't know about anyone else, but for me I will usually do a lot of thinking in my car, and since I commute quite a ways, that gives me a lot of time to think. I never manage to get it all down on paper though

Different people are blessed with different strengthens, some can write more than others. For me over thinking is my biggest enemy. I seriously have to give myself a pep talk and remind myself that I can edit what spews from my brain, but I can't work with nothing.

I always go with the approach of "brain spew" for writing assignments, but not so much for creative writing. I do recommend it though, as it gets the ideas on paper and gives you a workable draft.

[TwistedHilarity]

Getting out a new chapter, I'm so darned slow. I tend to write 1000-2000 words a day, which takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. But I have a long editing process. I'd say, hmmm...maybe 8-16 hours of editing for a chapter, depending on how much I need to change, rewrite, cut and rewrite, etc... So, say, average of 13 hours to finish one chapter? That'd be my guess. Every once in a while I get lucky and it just comes out perfectly, but that's rare for me.

As for finishing a story that's gotten boring? Oh, hard one! I do tend to have other ideas pop up, a lot. And at first, I started writing a few of them. But now, I just record the idea and sit my butt down and finish the one I should be working on.

If I am REALLY not feeling like finishing, I'll set myself very short term goals. Like, set a timer for 10 minutes and then write as many words as I can on the unfinished story in that time period. Then do it again. And again. Maybe reward myself with something afterward, if needed. That's what gets me through, typically.

Usually, the writing is utter crap, I'll be honest. But at the same time, as I've heard said, I can edit crap. I can't edit a blank page, ya know? It takes me longer with the edits, but it gets done. :-)

[Danyealle]

my God... I'm sorry if I offend you - this is certainly not my goal, but... do you even have time to think the story through? to create some complex relations, characters, and person-to-person games?

I mean, for me it's better to write one very good (it's relative, of course) thing, put a lot of effort into it, than have a high production rate - it doesn't work for me;

well, sure, sometimes you just go with the flow, and it happened to me that I was able to pull the thing in one day or night, but it's not my standard

however,... it's just me

Oh they are very thought out. Most of mine are very complex multi-chapter stories that are huge with plotlines that twist all over the place. Since i work off very detailed outlines (most times though there are exceptions to this) i have no problems going through a chapter and getting it done. I have everything thought out and worked out before i even start to write it so, yes, they are well thought through before i start writing them. At any given time i have roughly 30 outlines in various stages of completion on my computer to work off of. Those are done in off times when I'm not writing. I just have more time to do this than most people on here is all.

[canterro]

Oh they are very thought out. Most of mine are very complex multi-chapter stories that are huge with plotlines that twist all over the place. Since i work off very detailed outlines (most times though there are exceptions to this) i have no problems going through a chapter and getting it done. I have everything thought out and worked out before i even start to write it so, yes, they are well thought through before i start writing them. At any given time i have roughly 30 outlines in various stages of completion on my computer to work off of. Those are done in off times when I'm not writing. I just have more time to do this than most people on here is all.

weel, it explains a lot

I can't prepare everything before I start writing, cause.. I get bored

For me a story is a journey. I sail as the wind blowes and I see what's happening Almost every new chapter is an adventure for me and I often can't tell how it'll end up