How many words per day do you write/for your first draft and others? Do you feel writing more than what you set for yourself makes you write worse in quality terms?

To the first question - it greatly depends on the goals I have set for myself, and the planning (if any) that I have done in advance, and also the ideas.

In terms of a first draft, I can comfortably do 60,000 words a month (approximately 2000 words per day, or about 300 pages of a standard novel). For a draft, I prefer to write 50% more than the “intended” length of my novel. This gives me room to leave a lot on the floor after I’ve done cutting away the fat. Sometimes I end up with less than my goal and carefully write in more.

Generally speaking, one can write a novel in a year with 300 words per day (109,500 words over the course of a non leap-year). Want to take a couple days off? Then write the extra words on different days. Keep a spreadsheet and keep track. To this end, when I’m not writing as much as 2000 per day (this is when I’m pushing toward a personal deadline rather than writing to write)… I settle in closer to 800–1000 words per day.

Ultimately, I write until I run out of ideas for the day (or time, or energy, whichever comes first).

For editing and restructuring… I write very little. I spend most of my time reading everything carefully and taking notes. I tend to do this on paper as it’s a LOT less tiring on the eyes, and considerably faster for me. To this end, I go over about 15,000 words (75 pages - ISH) per day. However, I go over 100% of my writing not less than 3 passes per draft revision before moving onto the next revision (and I usually do 3 revisions… so, 9 passes total). Again, the writing here is considerably less and this is only if I have a deadline.

Without a deadline, I write considerably fewer words, and I spend a lot more time carefully going over my work. I very literally read everything aloud, I take notes (extensively), and I ponder over dialogue by pacing about my room acting out the parts myself.

As to the second question, quite simply: Nope.

I feel that quality is not a word I use to quantify a draft. Just like when I am sketching, it is nowhere near a finished painting… and I will sketch twenty to thirty ideas (and countless thumbnails) before landing on what I outline for a painting… and as I paint, there are still more corrections, adjustments, and adaptations. My writing is the same… a draft is the brainstorming for the world. Get it on “paper” so to speak, and then start the real work of fine tuning, clarifying, and drawing out the story.

Every writer has very different methods. There are people out there who buy into the hustle and believe “if a person isn’t writing 10,000 words a day, are they even a writer?” … to this, I quite loudly cough b***sh**. Anyone who writes that many words per day is very likely either lying (the most likely) or writing absolute garbage - with very few exceptions. Many famous writers settle in at 2–5 pages per day or 500 - 2500 words.

In the end… it does boil down to the person. If anyone is reading this is wondering what their word counts should be (and yes, I asked myself this question too when I was starting out)… write whatever you can, whenever you can. The key, and this is pretty much everywhere, is doing it. Consistency. Even if all a person can produce is 150 words, that’s enough. If they get a dose of serendipity and churn out 5000 words, that’s fantastic. If they write at 16 wpm or 100 wpm … it doesn’t matter. Simply: write.

Final thought for all the up and comers, and may you be plentiful - compare yourself only to yourself. Don’t worry about what others are writing… it should be enjoyable (in the weird way that writing is both a passion and a chore) rather than an endurance.