One dilemma each writer has to resolve for themselves is whether their daily writing effort should be regulated by hours or by words.
Those following my Sunday ‘How I did’ posts know I swear by word targets (for fiction. For technical writing, I work by aiming to get chapters or sections done rather than by working to either hours or words).
My logic for using words rather than hours is simple: it’s too easy to cheat with hours. You can, in fact, sit in the front of the computer for your regulated number of hours and still have a blank page at the end of it. Technically, the boredom might force you to do something, but that’s not a given.
On the other hand, if you can’t leave your chair till you get your minimum words down, that’s real incentive to start typing, no matter how awful those words might be. It also has the added benefit that if you’re having a fantastic day you can get the minimum done really quickly and take the rest of the day off (oh, ok, or you can keep going and take advantage of the run).
The downside is that on a bad day you might have to keep persevering for far far longer than someone with set hours would have to. But then, when you do finally get there, the sense of relief that you can finally give it up for the day is buoying, while the sense of achievement is enough to get you back in the chair the next day.
Setting a time limit may be better for people who have tight schedules who know they only have a certain time to spare: it’s very discouraging to set a minimum word target and consistently fail because you only have a short space to do it in.
If you do only have a set amount of spare time, but still prefer to choose a word target, set yourself up to succeed. Start with a very small target that you think you can meet consistently, and see how you cope before increasing it. If you stumble and miss it, forgive yourself and try again. If you keep missing it, try decreasing it.
Of course, number of words and number of hours are related. I do 2000 words; it takes somewhere between three and four hours. But I know myself: if I set a minimum limit of four hours, it’s unlikely I’d be getting 2000 words done. You might have to try it both ways before you know which way works best for you.
