If you haven’t been to Writing Camp before, you may not have heard of the Nutheads. These are girls who write crazy amounts of words in one day. To become an official Nuthead, it is required that you write at least 17k words in one day. Most of us at camp are not nutheads.

However, I was able to catch the camp’s two nutheads and interview them. I hope you enjoy it! My words are in black.

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Okay, let’s get started!
Thanks for joining me today, Joy and Lyds. Since you two are officially Nutheads, I have some questions for you regarding this accomplishment/status.
When you first started writing, did you ever dream or wish for the day when you could write so many words in a day that you became a nuthead? I mean 17k words in a day is a LOT.

Lyds-
I don’t remember ever paying attention to how many words I wrote in a day until I joined camp. I just never thought about word counts much, other than to do word wars with my sister. And even that I only started doing after I’d been writing a few years already.

Joy-
No, I really didn’t. My first camp goal was just ten hours, and that seemed like a big goal at the time! But then someone in my tent wrote 5k in a day, and I thought, “I want to do that sometime!” I guess that’s when it first hit me.

Interesting that neither one of you ever planned or dreamed of being a Nuthead, and yet here you both are. Do you think this is some genetic thing? I mean do you have to have certain DNA to become a Nuthead or could anyone become one?

Lyds-
Oh, absolutely. It’s hard to escape if you’ve been at camp for a while.

Lyds, you make it sound like it could be addicting or maybe catching is a better term.

Lyds-
Well, some have definitely called it catching. And I have noticed it spreading on multiple occasions.

You mean, you aren’t the only Nutheads? Or is it just the writing lots of words in a day that’s catching?

Lyds-
We’re the only ones stuck with the name, but there are definitely lots of people out there that write as much or more than us. 😀

Here at camp? Or just writers in general?

Lyds-
And most of them claimed that they had been bitten by the camp bug or the nuthead bug before reaching that stage.
Both! But camp definitely helps a lot to get the non-nutheads well on their way to becoming nutheads.

Wow! It will be interesting to see who else joins your ranks.

So, this isn’t only for a select group of writers than. Wow! So, if anyone can become one, is it hard? Do they need to practice or take classes?

Lyds-
It can be hard, depending on how fast you tend to write in the first place, but no, no classes needed.   Practice is good, but not always needed. Really it just depends on the writer.

Joy-
No, you certainly don’t have to take classes. Which is good because I don’t think there are any classes on it! But I will say that it is hard. And you have to practice writing a lot. It generally helps to build up and practice hitting bigger and bigger goals.

Lyds-
Yes, Joy’s right. Writing a lot and building up will help a LOT, especially if you don’t write a lot to begin with.

I did have another question that someone asked. And that is, “Does it hurt to write that many words in a day?”

Joy-
So, yes and no, actually. My brain gets extremely tired by the end of a long writing day. And it’s actually very important to check your posture frequently or you will get sore. And also important to stay hydrated and stretch your fingers and things. If I’m careful about maintaining all that and taking breaks, no it won’t hurt.

That’s good to know.

Lyds-
Yes. It does at first. It hurts your brain, it hurts your fingers, and it hurts your muscles if you can’t move around very much. But as you keep on at it, it becomes a lot easier. And it’s definitely important to take breaks, even short ones. Also, I don’t recommend trying to do a lot of it on a phone. That definitely hurts. Take it from me.

Yikes! A phone? That’s dedication!

Lyds-
Yes, jumping jacks are great! I try do those too when I can.

Joy-
And you don’t have to do jumping jacks. Just standing, stretching, and walking around will help.

Lyds-
Exercises like touching your toes and stretching your arms back and forth also helps a lot.

Speaking of taking breaks, some of my readers wanted to know what tips you would recommend for someone striving for Nutheadship. And what advice would you give them?

Lyds-
Well, one of the first things I would suggest is planning your day carefully the day before. Have a solid plan of how you’re going to manage the day, but also plan for interruptions and schedule changes where possible.  Don’t wake up so early you’ll be tired later. Try getting up at your normal time where possible, but just get going as quickly as possible, and try and get other tasks out the way first so you can focus on writing. Take breaks at least once every hour or so, even if it’s just to jump up and down a few times and have a drink of water. If you start getting so tired you can’t think, STOP and take a ten-minute nap. Go outside for just a few minutes, eat some food, think about something else, and then try come back to it. Don’t push yourself too hard! And if possible, try work on a laptop so that you can change position and location whenever you need to. If you can’t and you have to work at a desktop computer, make sure your chair is comfortable and make extra sure to get up often. I’ve often had to use a cushion or sit on something else for a bit because sitting in one place all day can get very uncomfortable, and then it’s hard to focus. Once I thought to start using a cushion on the office chair I was working on, it got a lot easier.
On the other hand, don’t let the breaks be too long, Stay focused, and don’t let yourself get distracted. Breaks are also not for going onto social media or reading a book. You’re going to need to keep writing solidly all day, and the only breaks you should take are away from your computer and involving physical activity of some kind.

Joy-
Well, there are two things that really help with Nutheadship: writing speed, and writing endurance. In order to hit those huge word goals it really helps to write fast and to be able to maintain that speed over a long period. I think it can help to cultivate these both separately. I highly recommend doing word wars to practice and increase speed. Trying to do fifty-headed hydras (writing 500 words in 5 minutes) is also great for improving speed. And you can just challenge yourself to hit a certain number of words in a small amount of time. And if you’re struggling with speed, it may actually be a typing limitation. You can try practicing typing and that can help your writing speed.
To improve endurance, you can practice writing for set periods of time. And then slowly lengthening those sprints to help yourself learn to stay focused on writing for longer. It’s just important to still take breaks! I also really love pushes, where you don’t have any distractions (social media, email, texting, talking to siblings…) during your sprint. Pushes are the best thing for me when I want to maximize my word counts.

That is some great advice! Not only for those trying to write the crazy amount of 17k words in a day, but for those who want to go for 5k in a day when they’ve only ever written a few hundred words.
Do you have any tips on helping you stay focused? I see that’s a big part of reaching such astounding word counts, but how do you do it?

Lyds-
Also, decide whether you’re best at working on one WIP all day, or if you should have multiple lined up to give yourself variety. Have anything you want to work on prepared the day before, and try and get a clear idea of what you want to write that day.
The other thing is, DON’T worry about typos while you’re writing. Just ignore them. Even if your doc is covered in red lines, as long as you know what you’re saying and as you can read it later, just keep going and don’t even look at the screen most of the time. I know it can be overwhelming to write like that, but if you can force yourself to ignore the red lines, it will become easier. On the other hand, try and think about what you’re writing and don’t fall into the trap of getting so focused on words that the words coming out are actually very poor writing, even once the typos are corrected. That balance can be hard to find in the beginning, so I would advise building up to a faster typing speed gradually and trying to maintain quality of writing throughout.

Joy-
For me, pushes work well. I also close everything else on the computer that doesn’t relate to my writing. But I think it’s also learning what works for you. Some people work better with shorter or longer sprint lengths, or writing at certain times of day. So experiment with things and see what helps you stay focused.

Lyds-
What Joy said.   I don’t think I have anything else to add to that, except maybe giving yourself a reward (like chocolate) for little goals, like writing without stopping for ten or fifteen minutes, is a good way to get more used to focusing.

Joy-
Yes, yes, yes to the typos! It can even help to try writing with your eyes shut just to practice that. And just focusing on the flow and the story can help to not let your quality drop with the speed.

Wow! Thanks so much! This is all great advice and very helpful when thinking about tackling a large goal.
Oh, ignoring the typos! Yikes, that would be hard for me.

Joy-
Never hitting the delete key can be a good rule too. Otherwise I get too caught up in editing the words I just wrote, instead of just going and editing later.

Lyds-
Personally, I hate leaving those red lines there, and sometimes I give up and correct things just because it starts getting distracting.   Some people will find it easier or harder, but if you can train yourself to just keep going, it will help in the long run.

So, plan to fix the next day? Or maybe take a few minutes just to fix typos to sort of give yourself a mini break from creating?

Lyds-
Absolutely. It’s also nice to set aside the entire next day for typo corrections, because then you can give yourself a complete break from actual writing the day after and that can give your brain a rest.

Joy-
Yes, ignoring typos is hard. But when I started doing that, that is what first let me really start writing quickly.Yes, I generally have a set day or sprint when I will go and just fix my typos. It can work to do it that way too as a break from writing, since fixing typos is usually really fast.

I do have one more question, or rather a request. Could we get a small sample of what your writing looks like near the end of a 17k day [or even not that high] so others can be encouraged by what their writing looks like along side of two certified Nutheads.

Joy-
Yes.

Lyds-
Um, sure.

(Note: Both of these samples were better than normal as they were taken from 10k sections instead of the 17k.)

Thanks so much, Lyds and Joy! I enjoyed getting to talk with you both and learning more about what it takes and how to become a Nuthead. Now I’ll let you get back to writing!

What is your highest word count for a day? Have you ever wanted to write 17k in a day and become a Nuthead? What would be the biggest thing holding you back from writing so much in a day?