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Eh... I didn't think this qualified for Asset Creation: Writing, so to General Discussion it goes!

How many words per hour do you all typically write?

When I'm writing an easier section and in the zone, I can write 1,000 words per hour, but I've found myself writing 250 words per hour too. I have a feeling that... I might be slow...

Editing takes longer, of course. I'm just asking about getting the words on paper, not polishing them. (Actually, I type... so...)

I really don't know... because every time I sit down at the computer to write, time begins flying at such a ridiculous pace that I don't like to look at the clock...

Plus I often have to stop and fact-check. Don't worry, I'm probably even slower than you are... OTL

I write veeeeeeeeeeery slowly. It is why it takes me so long to finish games.

When I get to a part that can move fast (and I am properly motivated), I can write a 500 word scene in about an hour. Any other time, I take an entire week just to write 200 words sometimes.

It really depends. I'm not entirely sure in a VN time frame but if I'm motivated, I can write 1500 - 2000 words for a story. Music swirling in my head really kicks that motivation :]

Well, if I try I can type around 70-80 words a minute when I'm motivated. The most I remember doing is 3000-4000 in an hour when I was working on the NaNoReNo project.

When I'm not, it's more like 20 words an hour xD

Ah... when I listen to music and write, I get a lot slower, and the writing starts to look like it was written by a crazy person that also makes a lot of errors.

70-80 words per minute?! I my max typing speed is only a little over 60

I think it's a bit slower than eighty now but I'm only posting the last time I checked how fast I could type. And that was back in...fifth grade, I think? I was competing with another kid in my class, who got up to 100 wpm and I got jealous so I worked harder and got it only up to 80. :p
It's probably closer to 70 now though...Haven't been doing as much on the computer as before.

I love music, and I love to listen to it when I work but it distracts me so much when I'm trying to write. I start typing the song lyrics instead of dialogue xD

I'm pretty slow... =.='''

If I'm motivated and extremely inspired for whatever reason, I can get about 1000 words down in an hour, which is rarely.

Usually its only about 300-400 per hour. If I'm not motivated in the least I won't even try. I'll just stop right there. XDDD

I write quickly but spend an ungodly amount of time editing and rewriting and deleting.
Mostly because I...don't plan things out and end up coming up with the next scene on the spot.
LOL I hope I'm not the only person who does this.

It depends on the genre for me. If it's a murder mystery, I can write around 3000 words per hour because I have read pretty much nothing but murder mysteries since I was little. My brain is more or less wired for that sort of story. Now, any other genre? Around 250 per hour.

silenteve wrote: I love music, and I love to listen to it when I work but it distracts me so much when I'm trying to write. I start typing the song lyrics instead of dialogue xD

Me too, as much as I love using it to set a mood. Also, it sucks when the perfect song for the mood you're going for is like 2 minutes long and you can't write a whole scene in 2 minutes.

My solution is to listen to fairly generic midi tunes from visual novel asset websites on loop. They set the mood well enough and they're just generic enough not to be distracting. (Makes sense, considering they are designed to be playing while you're reading )

The secret to fast writing and high word counts is simple -

Be excited about what you are writing about, and know what you are writing.

I never write anymore without following a script, and it has improved both the quality and speed of my writing. I know that sounds funny, but I'll explain. Much like a story outline, a script outline lets me quickly see what is working and what isn't, and let's me work on the flow of a scene without worrying about the exact words or sentence structure. It works like this:

1) I decide what a certain scene is trying to accomplish and the characters involved in the scene.

2) I write out a scene outline in very simple format. It looks something like this:

Character 1 storms into the throne room, angry and upset.
People in the throne room react with surprise and alarm. Character 1 was not supposed to be here today.
King shows no surprise; ushers guards to intercept Character 1.
Character 1 shouts that the king is an imposter.
King is derisive, makes a clever comment to courtiers about the absurdity of the possibility. Everyone laughs except the guards and Character 1.
Character 1 starts yelling out his case - the clues he has collected.
King suddenly becomes serious. Character 1 is getting too close to the mark. King starts loudly talking over Character 1, speaking of the misfortune of madmen.
Character 1 doubles his efforts to be heard. Tries to shout the evidence he gathered from the Black Castle all in one rush.
Guard hits Character 1 hard enough to shut him up and send him to the floor. Guard says no one talks at the same time as the king.

Etc. Etc.
You get the idea. Writing a scene this way is very fast, and you can get as detailed as you want. You can do all the rewrites and reordering of events you want to get the flow right and make sure the drama builds appropriately. I find creativity is much easier in this format because I'm no longer searching for the exact right words or phrase, so I don't get stuck or hung up on the perfect paragraph or response. Instead the ideas I have for the scene can flow quickly and freely without censorship or the pursuit of perfection.

3) Once the scene is "scripted", and I am satisfied with the order and flow of events, satisfied that the meaning of the scene will come across and its goal will be accomplished, I start writing it "properly". This can even be done in passes so I don't get hung up or stuck. For instance, I may leave a blank spot for the dialogue if it doesn't immediately come to me - such as the king's clever comment above. That way I get all the prose filled in without having to stop and ponder the perfect cutting remark. If something doesn't immediately come to me I leave a spot for it and move on. When the scene is over, I start another pass and fill in the blanks.

4) Once the scene is written, I read it over in full and do a rewrite. Usually this is very fast, changing a word here or there, structuring a sentence better etc.

5) I move on to the next scene, starting at step 1.

Of course during all of this I am working from a broad story outline, which is written much like the script in step 2. This helps me make sure the rising and falling action are all in place and the story hits all the beats it needs to. This lets me double check to be sure the story has the right balance before I start. It also means I can see what characters I will need. I then develop and work up these characters, getting to know them intimately. This all occurs simultaneously with world building. Once the world building and characters have been developed I can go back to the story outline and make it more detailed or make changes informed by the characters and world.

Once everything is done, of course I do a couple of rewrites.

The author I learned this method from could produce up to 20,000 words a day, and finished a novel length book once in just 7 days. Learning her method was sort of a eureka moment for me.

LateWhiteRabbit, I love you.

I can't wait to try that scene outlining method. I never had much training in creative writing so I always thought authors wrote straight from their heads and came up with all that witty dialogue by the seat of their pants!

(Only recently did I actually have the good sense to write down even a broad plot outline for my story instead of trying to keep all the chapters and scenes straight in my head, and the relief is immense... But of course I won't actually have full relief until I write the actual story. While outlining, I get all giddy with excitement and anxiety like "GAH! JUST LET ME WRITE IT ALREADY!")

Depends on the level of distractions. If I'm actually concentrating on the project, 2k is standard. If I have something like COD on the 360, then... 1k is average. Sometimes lower, but I rarely drop below 1k an hour.