Writing a novel: comparative work rates.

new log of books read

Writer's Digest.
How to write and publish books, articles, poetry, plays, and scripts.
The Writer
Well-written articles for aspiring writers of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction; great tips, exercises, and new developments (like 'Print on Demand').

See also the pages on the project to write a 50,000-word novel in November - National Novel Writing Month:

10 steps to prepare for writing a NaNoWriMo novel.
13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley.
Background on the write-a-novel-in-a-month international race.
NaNoWriMo 2005 lessons learned.
Plan A.
Status day-by-day.
Weekly tips and exercises from Chris Baty's book.
Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
Edward Abbey's Black Sun: his novel-in-a-month.
Novel writing: comparative work rates.
The Weekend Novelist.

Work rates by various novelists.

Author Book(s) Preferred time to write. Hours of writing
per day. Rate (approximately) of words written per hour or day. Reference.
Gary Paulsen Young-adult novels: Canyons (1990), Woodsong (1990), Hatchet (1988). All the time. Nineteen or twenty hours every day: said he was "totally, viciously, obsessively committed to work. ... I don't drink, I don't fool around, I'm just this way. ... The end result is there's a lot of books out there." The Writer's Almanac for Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Alexander McCall Smith The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency 4,000 per day Interview by Giles Whittell in The Times (August 21 2004).
John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath Most weekdays; sometimes on a Saturday.
Started warm-up writing between 10 and 11 a.m. most days, through sometimes after 12 noon. [May to October 1938.]
Daily goal of 2 hand-written ledger pages and 2,000 words per writing day.
Weekly goal of 10,000 words.
Overall goal of 200,000 words in 20 weeks. Working Days.
Jane Smiley 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel First thing. "I get up and write three pages a day and try to do that five days a week. If I come up to some fact that I don't know, I stop and jump on the Internet and try to find out about that." Maria Schneider. p.43 of Writer's Digest January 2006.
Anthony Trollope The Warden Early morning, roughly 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. 3 1,000 per hour
The Weekend Novelist The Weekend Novelist and The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery. Every weekend for a year. ? ?

	log of books read
Writer's Digest. How to write and publish books, articles, poetry, plays, and scripts.	The Writer Well-written articles for aspiring writers of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction; great tips, exercises, and new developments (like 'Print on Demand').

Author	Book(s)	Preferred time to write.	Hours of writing per day.	Rate (approximately) of words written per hour or day.	Reference.
Gary Paulsen	Young-adult novels: Canyons (1990), Woodsong (1990), Hatchet (1988).	All the time.	Nineteen or twenty hours every day: said he was "totally, viciously, obsessively committed to work. ... I don't drink, I don't fool around, I'm just this way. ... The end result is there's a lot of books out there."		The Writer's Almanac for Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Alexander McCall Smith	The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency			4,000 per day	Interview by Giles Whittell in The Times (August 21 2004).
John Steinbeck	The Grapes of Wrath	Most weekdays; sometimes on a Saturday. Started warm-up writing between 10 and 11 a.m. most days, through sometimes after 12 noon.		[May to October 1938.] Daily goal of 2 hand-written ledger pages and 2,000 words per writing day. Weekly goal of 10,000 words. Overall goal of 200,000 words in 20 weeks.	Working Days.
Jane Smiley	13 Ways of Looking at the Novel	First thing.	"I get up and write three pages a day and try to do that five days a week. If I come up to some fact that I don't know, I stop and jump on the Internet and try to find out about that."		Maria Schneider. p.43 of Writer's Digest January 2006.
Anthony Trollope	The Warden	Early morning, roughly 5 a.m. to 8 a.m.	3	1,000 per hour
The Weekend Novelist	The Weekend Novelist and The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery.	Every weekend for a year.	?	?