What is the average amount of time you should spend per day, writing?

Question

In context with improving your writing.

How long should someone spend per day writing, with improvement as their goal?

I'm asking this because I tend to write five to six hours daily. I keep all of what I write, and a lot of it is character background stories, which frustrating (right now they're longer than the story).

I apologize for any errors in my typing. I'm tired and my keys are sticky...

Answer 1

If you want to improve the more time you can spend the better. Practice really does make perfect. I edited a magazine for years and the best writers were those who treated writing as a craft, something which they learnt over many long years of practice.

Answer 2

I think it's really personal preference and how much writing per day you can stand. I only write an hour or two, if that, per day. If you're writing five or six hours, that's probably plenty. I wish I could sit still that long!

Answer 3

I spend all day in spurts writing.

Most of the time, I'm doing something else, so I jump behind the office desk, plunk down a paragraph or two for a few minutes, then get back up and do something else.

Sometimes, I just tie in one hour or two, and just hammer away on my novels.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I second AF's suggestion. Getting into the know of things - i.e. your paperwork, thesis or novel - is a better way to train yourself. When you are well-versed, the words will come out naturally. Read a lot of books, magazine and novels. Watch a lot of TV. (Seriously. It has a lot of info you can glean from and take them into your works.) Do a lot people watching. You can get interesting insight into human nature and get ideas. Doing this may feel uncomfortable to you at first, but trust me, a muse is happier when the mind is in constant motion.

Answer 5

it doesn't matter how long a day you write. you should concentrate more on reading literature, classics and magazines such as the new yorker, time, economist etc. to improve writing skills. by doing so, your brain picks up on techniques, sentence structure, grammar, diction (word choice), etc. then, if you're intent on improving, go back and write an essay about what you read. make sure you have a thesis, argument and comparative aspects of your essay.

Answer 6

If your goal to improve involves published writing it is a good idea to write as much as poosible. Plan it by setting intermediate goals and then achieving those goals. No writing is wasteful: consider keeping some form of narrative diary -- at least on one subject.

Answer 7

As an English prof advised me once, read, read, read.

Of course, I don't! I spend about 5-6 hours a day and my writing hasn't improved much, so I guess he was right, LOL

Answer 8

You have to put the time in. Hemingway would write as if he were putting in hours for a full time job. As the years pass you will grow to dislike the things you wrote before. Because you will be better.

Answer 9

I was challenged to focus on the amount of words rather than the time spent -- a thousand words per day.