Write 10,000 Words* A Day

(*not to be confused with Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours theory) because I bet anyone can write 10,000 words in 10,000 days.)

Have you read Rachel Aaron’s blog about how she writes 10,000 words a day?

I was reminded of side one of her ‘triangle process’ the other day when I felt overwhelmed by the chapter I was revising. I knew where I eventually needed to end up with the chapter but I had SO MANY WAYS I could get there.

I was stumped. Stymied into inaction. Paralyzed.

But then I thought about what Rachel had tried to teach me. I got out a piece of school paper and started scribbling a truncated version of the scene. I crossed stuff out, added other stuff, drew a lot of arrows. But after about four minutes (yes, I checked), I had it figured out.

Side one of her triangle is Knowledge … knowing what you’re writing before you write it. Even though I knew what I was writing  ”” I mean, c’mon, it’s my fourth revision! ”” I still needed … something.

I don’t know if it is a matter of writing by hand, or free-writing, or simply dumping out the contents of your brain on a simple sheet of paper, but it absolutely worked for me.

The other two sides of her triangle are Time and Enthusiasm, fyi. But if you haven’t read the article, do it now. Anything that helps you write faster should be seriously considered, eh?

How many words can you average in a day? What’s your personal best?

5 thoughts on “Write 10,000 Words* A Day”

  1. I’m all about an outline and a visual of what I need and where it needs to go. I’ve discovered Venn diagrams, thanks to Jose!

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