The Definition of "Fast Writing"

 
I think the recent attention paid to writers generating (or wishing they could generate) 5,000 to 10,000 words per day has skewed the definition of “fast”.
 
When I was first starting to take my writing seriously, I thought 1,000 words per day was a lot. Well, not really a lot, no, but a good target. After all, even doing that only 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year, will net you 250,000 words, which is 2-4 novels worth of work.
 
That’s the pace I used for my first long work, The Indie Game Development Survival Guide. And for my first novel, Threads (unpublished). Though, there was a point while writing Threads when I did something boneheaded and lost 3 days worth of work. I was so angry at myself I wrote 3,000 words per day for the next few weeks to make up for it. And learned I could write 3,000 words per day. Which was nice to know. On the other hand, it didn’t help me finish the novel any faster, because I worked on Threads off and on from 2003-2005.
 
Anyway, I think “fast” needs to be revised back down to 2,000-3,000 words per day. That’s a solid, professional, and sustainable pace. Or maybe that should be considered “normal”, with “fast” used for anything over 3,000 words per day. Even the pulp writers of the early 20th century might agree with that. Frederick Faust (Max Brand) wrote in the 2500 words per day range, and, more recently, Stephen King weighs in about here, and so do a lot of other long-time professionals.
 
Sure, Erle Stanley Gardner or George Simenon would be unimpressed, but they were outliers with their 10,000+ word days (usually dictated, then typed by secretaries). We will call their output “extremely fast”.
 
Dean Wesley Smith’s recent publicity stunt of writing a 70,000-word novel in 10 days should also be considered an outlier. His stated purpose for doing it was to show it could be done. Not to hold up an example of how it should be done. He also stated that it was above his normal pace, which is probably more in the 4,000-5,000 range (guessing). We’ll call that “very fast”.
 
Going the other way, I don’t think 1,000 words per day should be considered “slow”. It’s not a fast pace, sure, but it’s still a good pace. More “moderate” than slow.
 
I think “slow” should be reserved for numbers in the 500-ish range per day. But even that pace will net you 1 or 2 novels each year. So … how is that “slow”, exactly?
 
So, where does that leave us? And are we better off now than we were?
 
I think the most important thing is to write consistently, at whatever speed that is for you. Sure, envy the outliers, be inspired by them, but don’t get hung up on trying to emulate them or feel bad that you can’t reach their lofty heights of daily word production.
 
Oh, and here’s one last point: You really shouldn’t say “I write 10,000 words per day” when you’re not actually writing 10,000 words every day, or at least not consistently. The correct phrasing is more like, “I’ve written 10,000 words on my best day(s).”
 
Have a good weekend!
 
-David
 
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