Outfit:  Designers Remix at the Louisiana Museum, Denmark

I’m not going to beat around the bush.  A writer can write 1000 words a day, every day, for close to three months before burning out.  That’s it.  That is the maximum.  Anyone who is saying they are writing over 1,000 words a day is using a Voice Recognition Program or has a staff of junior writers.  How many times have I read a NYTimes article or even scrolled through message boards where authors claim to write 9,0000 or 12,000 words a day?  And each time I felt miserable and hopeless.  I always end up losing several hours of work because I feel like I can’t compete and shouldn’t even try.  But I’m here to tell you that those authors are lying.  It is an intimidation tactic to discourage other writers.  Less books, less competition.  Simple as that.

As far as using a voice program…hey…it works…I guess?  How do you know whose using a voice program?  Go to the drug store, pick up some paperbacks and look at the giant run on sentences and masses of dialogue.  That’s how you know an author is using voice software.  I know exactly who they are.  And I always shut the book.  That’s not writing.  That’s puking a train of thought onto a page.  Writing is rhythm, writing is a form of music.  And you have to pick each note carefully.  Doesn’t mean that every page is pure gold, but it’s something to aspire to.