As an Internet entrepreneur and Kindle publisher, I know that reaching a high word count can have a positive effect on my income. In theory, the more words I write means more success for my business.
For the last six months, I've averaged 50,000 to 60,000 words per month. However, I've never attempted to push this boundary and set a really high word count goal.
So for January, I decided to improve my daily writing habit. I set a modest goal of 75,000 words for the month.
Here’s an overview on how to increase word count…
#1 – Reason Why increasing word count matters
Writing is a habit that directly relates to the success of my Internet business. It affects my ability to create blog posts, Kindle books, information products and email marketing messages. Generally speaking, the more I wrote, the more money I'll make. So it makes sense to push the boundaries of what I think is possible and to strive for a higher word count than I've ever achieved before.
Also, I'm a firm believer in one of Vince Lombardi's famous sayings:
[click_to_tweet tweet=”‘Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.' #pracitice #goals #success” quote=”‘Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.' ” theme=”style4″]
While I think it's important to set milestones, I believe it's equally important to focus on improving your skill set. I also wanted to use this experience to improve the quality of my writing. By practicing perfection every day, I hoped to make a small improvement to my writing skills.
#2 – How To increase word count
This next section details the steps I used to reach my goal of writing 75,000 words per month. Whatever your level of writing, you can use the same principles to increase your writing by 10-25% per month. Then once you are comfortable with the higher level output of words. Do it again.
I do the bulk of my writing work from Monday to Thursday, leaving Fridays for meetings and papeerwork. I also take care of my little boy during much of my writing time. This means I had to be really smart about how I manage time. Every minute counts
Typically, I block out my time in 25 minute increments using The Pomodoro Technique. That means I had to create a few rules for when to write and how much I'd do each day.
Here's what I did to build up this writing habit:
Write for 4 blocks immediately when I woke up (Monday through Thursday)
Write for 2 blocks after lunch (Monday through Thursday)
Write for 2 blocks when I woke up (Friday)
Write for 10 additional blocks whenever I completed priority projects for the day (Varies each day)
With writing, you can't wait for inspiration. Instead, you have to schedule this activity and stick to it, even if you're not in the mood. In a way, it's like a job where you show up every day. You simply get your butt in the chair every day, do the work and make no excuses.
Besides blocking out time, I used an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my word count. This document includes a few columns:
Date and time
Location
Project name
Type of writing (rough draft vs. 2nd draft)
Total word count for the writing session
Blocks of time used for the writing session
Average word count (total words / blocks of time)
All of this information was critical because it helped my identify my “optimal writing state.” For instance, I averaged 487 words (per block) in the morning at my kitchen table, but I averaged 543 words at Starbuck's Coffeehouse in the afternoon (when my child is in daycare). So if I wanted to improve my “words-per-hour” output, all I had to do was spend more time in a coffeehouse.
#3 – Obstacles
The major obstacle to this habit challenge was the fact that it's an important, but not urgent activity. When it comes to time management, there are four types of tasks you'll encounter in the business world. While writing is important for my long-term goals, it's not as an urgent as an important email or Skype phone call. These activities involve another person who expects your participation, so it wasn't always easy to “find time” to do as much writing as I wanted.
What did help was blocking out the first few hours every day? By adding a few routines that increased my energy in the morning, I was able to write a lot before 9 am. (For more on this, check out my Kindle book, “Wake Up Successful“)
Focus is another big issue. The more you focus when writing, the better you will do. When I am at home writing, I need to keep some focus on my child, making sure he is not up to any dangerous shenanigans. Naturally, this slows down the word count. On the other hand, the “white noise” of writing in public actually helps me block out all distractions. These are clear reasons why focus is the major difference between the two sets of word counts I tracked during this word count experiment.
Since focus is a key to writing, word count, writing well and just about any task that matters… you may want to check out this post on the power of focus.
#4 – Results
Okay, technically I failed with my word count goal. In total, I did 74,508 words – about 500 short of what I wanted.
On the other hand, I consider the month to be successful from a productivity standpoint. During this time, I wrote:
5 blog posts for DevelopGoodHabits.com
work on two “in progress” Kindle books
1 outline
6 email marketing messages
Assorted mini-articles in different Facebook groups and forums
In addition, I found that my speed of writing has improved. By focusing on a large word count goal, I was able to ignore that “inner editor” voice that often pops up when I'm creating a piece of content. As a result, I'm now able to write more words with the same amount of time.
#5 – Verdict
Keep it! And double down. Continue to strive for increased word count.
I love the idea of having a word count goal for every month. However, I think it's useful to focus on a target number that's slightly beyond your current output. That way you can stretch your comfort zone and challenge yourself.
The one thing I'm going to change is the specific word count for each month. There are certain periods when I won't have time for writing. Moving forward, I'll look at my schedule at the start of each month and set a challenging, but doable goal.
For instance, in July I'll be in Greece, in August I'm going on a few small trips and in September I'll be back to work. So I can set realistic goals that match my available time for each month:
March: 80,000 words
April: 85,000 words
May: 60,000 words (I have a two week trip in May)
June: 100,000 words (yeah, I'm gonna go for it!)
The key to all this is to create a word count goal that encourages the writing habit, instead of making you feel overwhelmed.
How to Create a Daily Writing Habit
I'll be the first to admit that it's not easy to write on a consistent basis. It requires a strong level of willpower and a willingness to do the same thing day after day. What I recommend is following this six-step strategy:
Set a specific word count goal for every month
Focus on completing smaller writing projects like blog posts, short stories, novellas or Kindle books.
Block out specific times each day for writing
Track metrics like word count, location and time of day
Identify your “optimal writing time”
Write in the locations and times where you work best
The common characteristic of successful writers is they've developed a habit. Even if they're not in the mood to write, they'll still put in the work on a daily basis. If you follow this six-step strategy, your writing habit will improve and you'll create more words every single month.
Want to see EVERYTHING it takes to create your own writing habit? Check out my Writing Habit Mastery book. It will teach you all the basics you need to know for taking your daily writing habit to the next level.
17 thoughts on “Daily Writing Habit: How to Write 75,000 Words in a Month [30DHC]”
Point #0: know your past performance. I set a monthly writing challenge for myself first time this month. But to do it I needed some data about how much I write in general. Luckily (you know the saying about luck and preparation 😉 ) I’ve been tracking my word count for the last couple of months.
Another factor for increasing writing output is preparation. It’s much easier to write if you know what you are going to write. I have to constantly remind myself about this as my enthusiasm is often faster than my thoughts. Plans, drafts, brain dumps, outlines and deadlines go first, writing – second.
Michal,
You make a good point. If I had set out to write 75,000 words each month when I first started writing, I surely would have failed, or it would have been 75,000 words of gobbledygook. In any challenge is important to know your baseline, that way you know what you can do and how far you can push yourself to be challenging, yet still be achievable.
Again, with preparation, I wholeheartedly agree. In my writing, I only use the barest of rough outlines, but you need some sort of guide in your writing to keep you from going down the wrong path.
SJ
Holy smokes are you kidding me you are on fire this month. I’m going full trot now writing at least 2000 a day.
Ash,
Glad to have inspired! 🙂 Pushing ourselves in trying to do a little bit more is the only way you get better and faster at your writing. Let me know if you are able to knock out that 2000 words a day at the end of the month, and how the challenge went for you.
Good luck and good writing!
SJ
I really like how you focused on when and used timeboxes to flex your writing muscles.
There is a lot to be said for setting up a simple habit of taking action at a certain time. It sets the stage to make things happen, and is a great way to practice your art, whatever your art may be.
JD,
Yeah, I love to do everything in time boxes. My family and friends sometimes even tease me, but it really helps to get things done. It is a great way to get those “unpleasant” things done and avoid procrastination.
SJ
I never really thought of myself as a writer. Today with the importance of a blog I have had no choice but to write. I am still not comfortable with it but I am getting very good responses to the blog so I must be doing something right. I feel that preparation is key. I make a rough outline and I constantly tweak it. If I didn’t create an outline I find I go off on tangent. that don’t relate to what I am writing about.
Arleen,
I feel you. I have main two blogs now, I have written over a dozen eBooks and make my living just from my writing. I feel I am getting a lot better, but still sometimes don’t think of myself as a “writer”. It is all about the prep. work and making a real “system” out of it. If you do that, your writing cannot help but improve.
My big problem is taking the time to do the research. It’s one thing to write words and another to write something that is profitable to others. I like the idea of so many words per day. Do you use some of your writing blocks for research? Or is that extra?
Clara,
Research needs to be it’s own time block. But it is also important that you put a clock on it. It is far to easy to get lost in tons and tons of research, never feeling that you have enough. But on the other hand, the very last thing that you want to do is to be searching for information while trying to write. It is all about focusing on the task at hand when working on it.
These habit examples are killer! I’m a writer/editor/researcher and try to work out a piece with 3 hats on. Seems like I need 3 boxes instead. So I am going to try to ditch the hats and follow your time block method to “divide and conquer” writing projects.
I just found your site this week and am amazed at your clarity of thought and direct action. I’m revamping my entire Kindle strategy and hopefully my productivity too for the New Year. Thanks for clearing up the mind clutter and the getting me out of the guru quicksand.
Thanks Ridk! I found that breaking down the writing process down into distinct stages has really helped me. It works really well for those moments when you’re stuck on a certain section and don’t know what to write. By knowing that everything will be edited later, you can put down your best ideas on that topic and skip ahead. This is great for keeping momentum. Good luck with your Kindle strategy! Let me know how it goes.
This is a really great run-down of what worked for you, and a great motivational tool/framework for what I need to do to add a little focus and structure to my own writing goals; thank you for sharing. I used to be a prolific writer, both professionally and personally, but after an accident several years ago forced me onto disability for a bit (and to this day, although I’m much improved and will return to work soon enough thankfully) I completely lost that structure and purpose to my writing. As I’ve recovered, I’m spending more time getting back into my groove, and instead of the common writers block I feel sometimes as if I’ve also gotten myself stuck in analysis paralysis- between personal journaling in DayOne, trying to update my main name-sake site with relevant professional posts, another two domains I own, etc etc. Or better put, “look at that shiny object!” I’m definitely going to implement your suggestions, for while this paralysis does happen my first hurdle definitely needs to be that disciplined writing habit; but I definitely can already see this increased word count also leading to so much material I’m overwhelmed by how and where to organize it all. Do you have any suggestions for this type of thing?
Again, thank you for your original post. I happened upon the site by way of your google plus update and already love it!
Jake — The one thing I’d suggest is to focus. It sounds like you’re doing a bunch of things. Why not focus on one writing project for a couple of weeks and see where that goes. Like if you want to build up a blog, then write a bunch of posts. I found that the best motivational tool (for me) is to start something, bust my butt to finish it and then see the end results. Do that for every writing project and you’ll find yourself getting into a groove.
Hope this helps!
You’d be a shoe in for Nanowrimo. I actually started writing daily just over a month ago doing the Jullian Cameron Morning Pages. But instead of three pages of long hand I type for one Pomodoro. I’m up to about 1200+ words in 25 mins but it’s stream of consciousness nonsense lol.
I love your site.
Mike,
I think Nanowrimo is supposed to be for fiction novels, which I love to read, but it is not what I write. It is a great project anyhow, I think it really helps people to follow that get out there every day philosophy.
1200 words in 25 mins is insanely fast, but for stream of consciousness, I see how you could get it down. Like many things, the trick to writing is just repetition, repetition, repetition. The more you do it, and work at it the better (and easier) it gets.
Glad you like the site, thanks for dropping a comment!
Oh, my. I think I need to do this. Like, right now.
This month I tried to write every day on the story I’m working on, but I failed hard. I did write in this blog I own, but my goal was for the story, and the blog kinda got in the way.
But one thing that really has gotten my eye was the project thing. All this time… I thought that you had to write every day, but on the same project so I would be able to finish it. Because, you know, I have a problem with finishing things… I think I’ll do the excel thing. To keep a record of what I write, for how many minutes/hours, and where. I think that will help me a lot.
Point #0: know your past performance. I set a monthly writing challenge for myself first time this month. But to do it I needed some data about how much I write in general. Luckily (you know the saying about luck and preparation 😉 ) I’ve been tracking my word count for the last couple of months.
Another factor for increasing writing output is preparation. It’s much easier to write if you know what you are going to write. I have to constantly remind myself about this as my enthusiasm is often faster than my thoughts. Plans, drafts, brain dumps, outlines and deadlines go first, writing – second.
Michal,
You make a good point. If I had set out to write 75,000 words each month when I first started writing, I surely would have failed, or it would have been 75,000 words of gobbledygook. In any challenge is important to know your baseline, that way you know what you can do and how far you can push yourself to be challenging, yet still be achievable.
Again, with preparation, I wholeheartedly agree. In my writing, I only use the barest of rough outlines, but you need some sort of guide in your writing to keep you from going down the wrong path.
SJ
Holy smokes are you kidding me you are on fire this month. I’m going full trot now writing at least 2000 a day.
Ash,
Glad to have inspired! 🙂 Pushing ourselves in trying to do a little bit more is the only way you get better and faster at your writing. Let me know if you are able to knock out that 2000 words a day at the end of the month, and how the challenge went for you.
Good luck and good writing!
SJ
I really like how you focused on when and used timeboxes to flex your writing muscles.
There is a lot to be said for setting up a simple habit of taking action at a certain time. It sets the stage to make things happen, and is a great way to practice your art, whatever your art may be.
JD,
Yeah, I love to do everything in time boxes. My family and friends sometimes even tease me, but it really helps to get things done. It is a great way to get those “unpleasant” things done and avoid procrastination.
SJ
I never really thought of myself as a writer. Today with the importance of a blog I have had no choice but to write. I am still not comfortable with it but I am getting very good responses to the blog so I must be doing something right. I feel that preparation is key. I make a rough outline and I constantly tweak it. If I didn’t create an outline I find I go off on tangent. that don’t relate to what I am writing about.
Arleen,
I feel you. I have main two blogs now, I have written over a dozen eBooks and make my living just from my writing. I feel I am getting a lot better, but still sometimes don’t think of myself as a “writer”. It is all about the prep. work and making a real “system” out of it. If you do that, your writing cannot help but improve.
My big problem is taking the time to do the research. It’s one thing to write words and another to write something that is profitable to others. I like the idea of so many words per day. Do you use some of your writing blocks for research? Or is that extra?
Clara,
Research needs to be it’s own time block. But it is also important that you put a clock on it. It is far to easy to get lost in tons and tons of research, never feeling that you have enough. But on the other hand, the very last thing that you want to do is to be searching for information while trying to write. It is all about focusing on the task at hand when working on it.
These habit examples are killer! I’m a writer/editor/researcher and try to work out a piece with 3 hats on. Seems like I need 3 boxes instead. So I am going to try to ditch the hats and follow your time block method to “divide and conquer” writing projects.
I just found your site this week and am amazed at your clarity of thought and direct action. I’m revamping my entire Kindle strategy and hopefully my productivity too for the New Year. Thanks for clearing up the mind clutter and the getting me out of the guru quicksand.
Thanks Ridk! I found that breaking down the writing process down into distinct stages has really helped me. It works really well for those moments when you’re stuck on a certain section and don’t know what to write. By knowing that everything will be edited later, you can put down your best ideas on that topic and skip ahead. This is great for keeping momentum. Good luck with your Kindle strategy! Let me know how it goes.
This is a really great run-down of what worked for you, and a great motivational tool/framework for what I need to do to add a little focus and structure to my own writing goals; thank you for sharing. I used to be a prolific writer, both professionally and personally, but after an accident several years ago forced me onto disability for a bit (and to this day, although I’m much improved and will return to work soon enough thankfully) I completely lost that structure and purpose to my writing. As I’ve recovered, I’m spending more time getting back into my groove, and instead of the common writers block I feel sometimes as if I’ve also gotten myself stuck in analysis paralysis- between personal journaling in DayOne, trying to update my main name-sake site with relevant professional posts, another two domains I own, etc etc. Or better put, “look at that shiny object!” I’m definitely going to implement your suggestions, for while this paralysis does happen my first hurdle definitely needs to be that disciplined writing habit; but I definitely can already see this increased word count also leading to so much material I’m overwhelmed by how and where to organize it all. Do you have any suggestions for this type of thing?
Again, thank you for your original post. I happened upon the site by way of your google plus update and already love it!
Jake — The one thing I’d suggest is to focus. It sounds like you’re doing a bunch of things. Why not focus on one writing project for a couple of weeks and see where that goes. Like if you want to build up a blog, then write a bunch of posts. I found that the best motivational tool (for me) is to start something, bust my butt to finish it and then see the end results. Do that for every writing project and you’ll find yourself getting into a groove.
Hope this helps!
You’d be a shoe in for Nanowrimo. I actually started writing daily just over a month ago doing the Jullian Cameron Morning Pages. But instead of three pages of long hand I type for one Pomodoro. I’m up to about 1200+ words in 25 mins but it’s stream of consciousness nonsense lol.
I love your site.
Mike,
I think Nanowrimo is supposed to be for fiction novels, which I love to read, but it is not what I write. It is a great project anyhow, I think it really helps people to follow that get out there every day philosophy.
1200 words in 25 mins is insanely fast, but for stream of consciousness, I see how you could get it down. Like many things, the trick to writing is just repetition, repetition, repetition. The more you do it, and work at it the better (and easier) it gets.
Glad you like the site, thanks for dropping a comment!
Oh, my. I think I need to do this. Like, right now.
This month I tried to write every day on the story I’m working on, but I failed hard. I did write in this blog I own, but my goal was for the story, and the blog kinda got in the way.
But one thing that really has gotten my eye was the project thing. All this time… I thought that you had to write every day, but on the same project so I would be able to finish it. Because, you know, I have a problem with finishing things… I think I’ll do the excel thing. To keep a record of what I write, for how many minutes/hours, and where. I think that will help me a lot.
Anyway, thanks. 🙂 You helped me a lot