Daily Writing Targets of Ten Bestselling Writers

What works for one writer may not work for the rest

There is no fixed formula for anything when it comes to writing good stuff. But you have to try your best to write well.

The toughest thing for aspiring writers is to spend time for practicing their craft.

What is your daily writing target? Have you ever thought about how much time other writers spend practicing their skills?

If you knew the daily word count targets of successful writers, it may give you a good idea about your daily goals.

If you are an aspiring writer, stay away from social media to focus on your writing practice.

The daily writing habits of successful writers vary greatly:

Ernest Hemingway — 500 Words

“When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. You have started at six in the morning, say, and may go on until noon or be through before that,” Hemingway once said.

Michael Crichton — 10,000 Words

“Books aren’t written — they’re rewritten,” he wrote. “Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.”

Stephen King — 2,000 Words

In his book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, King talks about his writing speed. He would set a daily target of 2,000 words. This would add up to 180,000 words in three months.

Besides, King often becomes involved in marathon sessions. He wrote The Running Man in only one week.

Mark Twain: 1,400–1,800 Words

“In 1897, when we were living in Tedworth Square, London, and I was writing the book called ‘Following the Equator’ my average was 1800 words a day; here in Florence, (1904), my average seems to be fourteen hundred words per sitting of four or five hours.”

Lee Child: 1,800 Words

“I write in the afternoon, from about 12 until about 6 or 7,” he said. “I use an upstairs room as my office. Once I get going I keep at it, and it usually takes about six months from the first blank screen until the end.”

Anne Rice: 3,000 Words

“I have to get all distractions out of the way,” she says. “I plunge into the work and write an episode; I can’t just clock in at 3,000 words. I have to have time free to resolve things. I write in episodic ways. But when I’m ready to plunge in, I write from late morning through all afternoon, all evening.”

Arthur Conan Doyle: 3,000 Words

“But Anything is better than stagnation,” he wrote.

Arthur Hailey: 600 Words

“I set myself 600 words a day as a minimum output, regardless of the weather, my state of mind, or if I’m sick or well,” he wrote. “There must be 600 finished words- not almost right words.”

Graham Greene: 500 Words

“Over twenty years I have probably averaged five hundred words a day for five days a week. I can produce a novel in a year, and that allows time for revision and the correction of the typescript. I have always been very methodical, and when my quota of work is done I break off, even in the middle of a scene,” he once replied to a question.

Sarah Waters: 1,000 Words

“My minimum is 1,000 words a day… Those 1,000 words might well be rubbish- they often are. But then, it is always easier to return to rubbish words at a later date and make them better,” Waters said.

Conclusion

Anything is better than stagnation. But most of the writers write around 1000 to 3000 words in a day. This daily writing target seems reasonable for aspiring writers.

You don’t buy every book when you go to a book store. You read the book reviews for guidance. The curation is a review of your written piece — by Medium. What Medium wants and what you can do about it — an explanation of the requirements for successful curation.