How To Write 1000 Words A Day (For Beginners)

So you want to learn how to write 1000 words a day? The good news is that it’s definitely doable and it’s actually quite easy! The bad news is, it’s going to take a bit of practise if you’re not a confident writer. Writing 1000 words might sound like a lot on the surface of things but it’s really not too many words when you break it down.

In fact, 1000 words equates to two and a half pages of Google Doc sheets with a font size of 9. Whilst two pages might sound like a lot of work, it can be done quite quickly when you put the right practises in place!

I often find myself writing 1000 words in half an hour or just over because I not only write all my own articles on this blog but I also do some freelance writing too. Most of the time I need to hit 1000 words to complete those freelance posts and so at this point, I’ve found myself in a rhythm where I know exactly what I need to do.

How long does it take to write 1000 words?

Writing 1000 words could take you anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours depending on the type of writing you’re doing and your ability levels.

Maybe you want to write 1000 words a day because you’re writing a short essay or maybe you’re writing a book and want to break it down into easy chunks of 1000 words. Whatever the reason your goal is 1000 words, there are certain things you’ll need to do so you can write them not only quickly but also properly with little editing.

#1 – Research your subject well

The reason I’m able to write 1000 words quickly, for example, is because I do a lot of research on the subjects that I write about. Although you might classify this time as additional ‘writing time’, I don’t do research when it’s time to actually write.

For example, when I’m writing a blog post like this, I’ll usually have jotted down my post idea a few days beforehand in my phones notes app. I normally compile a list as I go so I’ve always got a stream of content ideas. It also helps so I don’t forget them! Instead of looking at Facebook, for example, I’ll do some research when I’ve got gaps of time if I need to.

When it comes to writing the post, I’ll already have a good idea of what I want to say because I’ve tossed the ideas around in my head for a few days so I can quickly pump out 1000 words when I hit ‘new post’.

If you’re writing a book then it may be even easier to write 1000 words in a day, you can probably get up to at least 2000 or 3000 a day. Now, I’ve only ever written short stories under 15k words but I’ve always found that simply letting your mind run wild (and your fingers) is better than writing one sentence and then scrutinising it for hours. When you ponder over every word to try and make it perfect, you not only lose time but you interrupt your creative flow.

By allowing yourself to write freely, you don’t let any ideas escape and if you’re not fond of them later you can always delete them. If you’ve already got a solid idea of what you want to happen in your story, writing 1000 words a day will be very easy. When you’re writing a book or a short story, you might be fighting against procrastination and the idea of perfection so churning out words quickly might be your best bet and then hacking them down later when you come to edit them.

As mentioned, I’ve done a lot of freelance writing for other bloggers and I’ve found that writing 1000 or even 2000 words a day to be quite easy at this point without the quality of my writing suffering. Again, researching the subject prior to beginning to write is key. You have to put yourself in a position where you know everything you need to know before you start.

#2 – Break it down

Let’s imagine you’re writing a blog post. Most articles that you write can be broken down into four sections:

Introduction > problem > solution > conclusion.

If you have four sections to write then you can break those 1000 words down into four. With 250 words for each section, writing 1000 words starts to seem a lot easier. Even if you have three core sections, you can break your 1000 words down into 333 x3 parts.

Writing 1000 words also becomes easier when you know what the endpoint is. It’s a good idea to know what you want to say in the last section of your 1000 words because it will make it easier to write towards when you start.

What ever you’re writing, you can break your 1000 words down into easy chunks. Once you know the subject of what you’re going to write, the structure and what you want to achieve at the end, writing 1000 words becomes easy.

#3 – Use a good spell checker

The next tip for writing 1000 words quickly is to make sure that you’re using a good spell checker. I used to use the native spell checker in Word and Google Docs (or even the spell checker on WordPress) but I ended up going for a third-party spell checker in the end because they are better at correcting grammar.

Whilst I don’t have perfect grammar, it’s certainly improved thanks to Grammarly. All you have to do is download Grammarly (for free) and it will appear in your toolbar at the top of your screen. When you go on a website or app you can select whether you want Grammarly to check the writing on that webpage so you don’t have to always have it on which is good because it can slow down your webpage sometimes. The neat thing about Grammarly is you can also use it on your phone so if you do a lot of writing on Google Docs you can check your spelling and grammar on the go.

Instead of doing lots of editing after you’ve written 1000 words, you can check your spelling and your writing as you go when you use a good spell checker. Of course, it’s always important to read your writing back once you’ve finished but using a spell checker will speed this up because you’ll be less likely to make any corrections.

*I’ve written approximately 1000 words at this point as an example of what 1000 words looks like.

#4 – Keep practising

If you’re new to writing or you just don’t like it (but you need to get that essay done!) then writing 1000 words quickly and well will seem difficult at first. Back when I was at school the teacher used to tell us to write 1000 words for homework and it always seemed like a mammoth task but these days it seems easy. However, I only got better through consistently practising my writing.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and likewise any skill takes time to build up, unless you’re born with a God-given talent right off the bat. Most of us have to keep doing something until we get better at it and to be honest it can take years to refine a skill. Even when you think you’re done learning, there’s something else you can learn. Over the years I’ve changed my style of writing multiple times and it’s still evolving to this day.

#5 – Track your progress

My next tip for writing 1000 words on a regular basis is to keep a track of what your writing and how many words you’re writing. I keep a spreadsheet (Google Sheets) and I list my articles, the date and the word count. You can do the same thing no matter what reason you’re trying to write 1000 words a day. You don’t need to try and aim for 1000 words a day in the beginning. You could aim for 250 words a day which is essentially a short paragraph. Over five days of the week you’ll have 1000 words.

If you want to aim to write 1000 words a day then you can slowly build up to 500 words a day, 750 words a day and finally 1000 words a day. After a couple of weeks, you should be able to write 1000 words a day or more quite comfortably and a lot faster than when you first tried. Right now, I can write 1000 words in under 30 minutes.

So there you have it, whilst 1000 might sounds like a big number, it’s easy when you follow these guidelines.