Word Count Per Day?

I was asked by a reader, “How many words do you write per day?”

Quick answer is: I wish I were that regimented! It’d certainly make my time tables easier to determine.

Long answer:  It depends on what I’m doing.

1. When it comes to writing comics: I always outline an issue first when I’m working on a comic, then I hold myself to 3-5 pages of comic script per day until the issue’s complete. I take two weeks off so it “cools” and I’m not so excited that I’m blind to the flaws, then look at the script again for editing purposes and see if I need to make some changes.  In editing, I try to get a complete script of 22 pages done in 1-2 days.  On the other end, I letter my own pages, so my final scripted words get another pass at that stage.

2. When I’m writing prose: I don’t hold myself to a limit, but I like to try to get at least 1,000 words out in a writing session, roughly speaking. I don’t use word counts to monitor my progress, but . I write a full scene or two full scenes per day.  When I’m editing, it depends. Editing can mean cutting whole scenes, writing completely new scenes or just going through and making the words work. I do typically do one thing at a time so when I’m editing I’m not usually throwing prose into a new project, unless something’s really pounding in my head that it needs to be written.

The key is consistency. Since I work in different mediums, the output looks different depending on the project. However, getting SOMETHING onto the screen at least 5 days a week is my goal. Usually hitting one of the targets above.

Hope that helps!

Jon