Do writers sometimes write too fast?

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I have been writing a book for a few months and am about half way through. I am happy I have the story in my head and so have been pretty relaxed about it all so far. But last week I got the urge to start writing and have managed to write a chapter every day since. I wondered if other writers experience this and if so do you think that you can sometimes write too fast and end up dizzy by your progress? I am glad I am writing again though because often I leave it for months at a time.

It can happen.

My writing habits are often interspersed with frenetic periods of lots of writing followed by long periods of relative inactivity while I think of new things so I don't think its that abnormal

When I catch fire, I go with it. I love the feeling of it. It's a pure, natural high when the words flow out of you like that.

I believe The Wizard of Oz was written in a week; I know some of his books were written that swiftly.

Now, if you keep up that kind of pace over too long a time, you can burn yourself out. But, as long as you're handling it okay, I'd say have fun!

Just curious, but where did hear that about dear old Baum? There was a TV movie about him that said it took him years of details to write the first Oz book. It was similar to another he wrote that flopped completely.
Having said that, which famous writers have this sort of reputation?
I know Stephen King claimed that he did while addicted to cocaine.

It may not have been the first Oz book; I could have that confused. And, sorry, I can't remember the exact source. It was years ago, when I was reading a writing book which incidentally mentioned that he'd written a book in a week. Perhaps it was one of the later ones. In fact, for all I know, the writing book had it wrong.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was famous for turning out books in a hurry. A lot of writers in those days wrote very quickly, because it was the best way to keep the money coming in. And, of course, over time a lot of them burned out. You don't want to keep that kind of pace up...

Woah. Been writing for eight months and only got down barely 100 pages. -___- Then again I've had three plot changes that included a whole time setting change. Plus I'm just a kid.
But the Wizard of Oz in a week??? And I thought Zora Neale Hurston was a fast writer. Wrote that Eyes Were Watching God book in seven weeks. Guhhhhhhhh...

I tend to write slow, but I am very meticulous writer and need to get everything write. Actually, I can write things quickly, I just need to go back and edit and revise over and over which takes me forever. I guess you can say that I super edit my writings. But, I love doing that, so it is okay with me, and with my first book, I feel it is perfect, at least to my standards and wants which is in my opinion a high bar.

Last year I finally managed to successfully write my first finished novel. It took me four months. I would imagine that pacing depends quite a bit on the subject matter. For me, the subject matter was very dense, philosophical material, and it required a lot of careful rumination. I understand the idea that someone could work at too fast a pace, and I do think it's a real peril-- particularly if you're like me, and you try to work out every little detail in your mind or on paper before committing to writing something. As with any creative endeavour, I believe writing is an organic process; if you rush through it, you run the risk of compromising it. I've learned to take it slow when I get to parts of the process that require additional gestation, and to speed up when it's appropriate (i.e., when the words are flowing). It's a balancing act.

I wrote a novel (that sucked and never got published) when i was 16-17 and my biggest mistake was that i rushed the THINKING. Writting fast is probably best if you've got the thinking done in your head.
I've heard Kerouac was a fast writter. Capote intrestingly enough said about Kerouacs work: ''That's not writting, that's tipping''.

Fast isn't necessarily good, neither is slow. Different writers work at different speeds. Assuming what I read was right about The Wizard of Oz, he might still have been thinking about the idea for months beforehand. And there are writers who take twenty years to write one book.

Try not to get hung up on how fast or slow you're writing. Instead, pay attention to how the story is working out, and how well the pace you're writing at works for you. Personally, sometimes words come pouring out of me, and others I struggle to get a single sentence down. Either way, I write as well as I can.

Thanks for your encouragement. I do have the story and plot worked out in my head and so I am confident I can just continue writing to the end. Then I will start the re-write and edit process if I am still happy with the story. My last novel I abandoned after I got near the end because I just started writing without thinking about the story. So it sounds like I am doing something right this time.

Plus I have found the help guides very useful. I read a book called "How NOT to write a novel." It gives great tips.

I do believe, like others have said here, that some writers do write a book fast and that often they turn out well. Also I thought of something funny when reading about how fast wizard of oz was written: apparently Pete Waterman wrote I should be so Lucky in 5 minutes!! ! I bet then they recorded it in 5 minutes too LOL Sorry that was off on tangent but I have my writing head on. Luckily I am not going off on tangents in my book though.

I am going to keep doing it because it is making me feel good. But I need to be careful I don't get too giddy with it.

Sometimes when Im writing, My Ideas come to me faster than I can write them, and I end up getting so exicted from the thrill of writing that I capitilaise random words or put an exclamitation mark at the end of sentences that are supposed to be serious.
And other times I will write so fast that I accidently leave out words, and I wont even notice untill I read what I wrote out loud.
And sometimes I get 2 ideas as to what happens next in the story, so I have to Write in the margins the other Idea.
I only get Ideas once every few months, but I have so much fun that it wouldnt bother me if my writing didnt pay off.

Sometimes the story just comes out easily. Stephen King wrote The Running Man (300 pp.) in just ten days.