Despite suffering from an attack of lumbago so severe that he could not stand up, he worked from 8.30am to noon and 2pm to 6pm, completing volume one by 23 October, volume two by 15 November and the final volume on 6 December. Gissing's stimulus was merely his own inner fire. Evelyn Waugh's elder brother Alec once made the mistake of popping some benzedrine. As a 2000 words a day man, he was surprised to find himself completing 24,000 words in a week. Sadly the result was garbage.
Contemporary practitioners note the increase in pace that occurs when a book's finale is in sight.
Isabel Wolff, author of The Making of Minty Malone, strives for 2000, but having achieved it usually sinks back to a couple of hundred. Any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.