Can You Write 10,000 Words in One Day?

Well...I survived.

On September 7th I participated in the 10k Writing Challenge hosted by Mandi Lynn (author of Essence, I am Mercy, and She's Not Here). The goal? Write 10,000 words in my novel in a single day.

I knew this would be hard work, but I was also fairly laid back about it. After all, I write a lot. I can't go longer than a day or two without having to write something; it's just the way I was wired. But the most words, prior to this challenge, that I remember having written in a single 24-hour period is around 8,000 words. That was on the final day of NaNoWriMo 2017 when I was desperate to finish the goal of November (50,000 in 30 days). So the idea of 10,000 words in one day was actually a bit daunting.

Why did I choose to do this challenge? I had seen a couple posts on Twitter and vlogs on YouTube about previous 10k challenges hosted by Mandi Lynn and thought it was an intriguing idea. And lately, I have been pushing myself to finish the novel I have been writing since November of last year. I am so close to the end of the story that I felt I just needed a little push to actually finish it. So when I saw Mandi Lynn was hosting another 10k Writing Challenge, I decided to do it!

It was hard work, and after the first 6,000 words, the quality of my writing plummeted. That was around 2 in the afternoon, if I remember correctly. My brain was turning to mush and I couldn't think well enough to string too many words together coherently. So I just strung them, coherent or not.

I did manage to write 10,000 words. 10,006 to be exact.

The best part of the day for me--aside from the relief and pride at finishing--was the interactions on Twitter. There were several other authors participating and posting about their word count, their struggles, their amusements, etc., throughout the day and that definitely is what made the experience fun. Because suffering together is way more fun than suffering alone. Plus we were able to encourage each other, and every writer needs a large dose of encouragement on a daily basis. Almost as much as we need our coffee (or in my case, tea).

Sadly, despite the 10,000 extra words in the novel, I did not quite finish the book I was writing. I shall carry on, however, knowing that someday this novel will be a complete story...

and in that spirit, Happy Writing, everybody!


You can find all things Mandi Lynn related over at her website: https://mandilynn.com/