Writing habits and daily word counts
Subject in Books
Writing habits and daily word counts has come up in 1 episode across 1 podcast in TMT, including The Tim Ferriss Show. 4 people have made recorded remarks about it.
What people said
Brandon SandersonAmerican fantasy author of the Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series
Sanderson estimates he produces around 300,000 new words a year after accounting for revision time.
“Now, third of my time's done to revision. So really, I'm looking at around 300,000 words”
The Tim Ferriss Show: #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and More (Aug 5, 2026) · Listen from 44:50
Sanderson says most writers he has seen do better writing consistently, with only a minority being binge writers.
“Nine out of 10 writers that I've found are that do better with consistency. One out of 10 is a binge writer”
The Tim Ferriss Show: #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and More (Aug 5, 2026) · Listen from 40:32
Seth GodinAmerican author of Purple Cow
Godin recounts that Isaac Asimov typed for six hours every morning regardless of quality.
“Every morning for six hours, he would sit and type. And it didn't matter if it was good or not”
The Tim Ferriss Show: #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and More (Aug 5, 2026) · Listen from 47:59
Jerry SeinfeldComedian and co-creator of Seinfeld
Seinfeld advises defining an end time for each writing session and rewarding yourself when it ends.
“If you're going to sit down at a desk with a problem, and do nothing else, you got to get a reward for that”
The Tim Ferriss Show: #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and More (Aug 5, 2026) · Listen from 18:33
Joyce Carol OatesAmerican author whose story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? inspired Tremblay
Oates holds up Philip Roth as a writer who protected his time far better than she does.
“Philip Roth would never, he wouldn't do one hundredth of the things that I do. He was too smart”
The Tim Ferriss Show: #878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and More (Aug 5, 2026) · Listen from 14:02
Podcasts
- The Tim Ferriss Show · 1 episode
Episodes
#878: How to Start When You're Stuck, Finish What You Begin, and Stop Waiting for Inspiration — Creative Advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Lamott and MoreThe Tim Ferriss Show · Aug 5, 2026 · 59 min
Tim Ferriss compiles writing advice from Elizabeth Gilbert, Anne Lamott, Joyce Carol Oates, Jerry Seinfeld, Mary Karr, Brandon Sanderson and Seth Godin on starting, persisting and finishing.