Why I Keep Track of My Word Count Progress

Photo credit: MervC on Flickr

I am a methodical writer. Despite previous pantsing trysts, I’ve found that I write a lot faster (and more
confidently) when I know where I’m going, and I keep a daily and weekly writing goal that I work hard to try to meet.

That being said, it’s likely little surprise to hear that I often keep track of my word count progress.

I’ll admit that it’s a practice I fell out of after using it for a couple WIPs, but after participating in NaNoWriMo last year, I remembered why I’d starting keeping track in the first place—and it wasn’t just to make the analytical side of me happy.

You see, it’s easy to forget what you’ve accomplished when you’re deep in the trenches of a first draft. The elusive words of “The End” seem impossibly far away, and the day after day slog can quickly become exhausting.

Keeping track of your progress, then, serves two purposes:

1. It shows you just how much you’ve written. Seeing your progress on paper can be really encouraging when you’re halfway through your WIP and it feels like reaching the end will be impossible. It can serve as a great reminder of how a little each day can add up to something fantastic, and for me, at least, it’s proven to be a great motivator.


2. Progress is progress. Writing down your progress every day serves a second purpose too—it encourages you to make daily progress. Even if you only write a few hundred words that day, the numbers prove that even small progress is progress.

During NaNoWriMo you get this really awesome chart thingie that shows your progress on an axis like this, that I completely love. As of yet, I haven’t found something to replicate that (except for doing it by hand in Excel), but you can try a widget like the one below to keep track of your total progress.

From Language is a Virus: 

42145 / 75000 words. 56% done!

(NOTE: If anyone knows where to find a NaNoWriMo-like replication of the progress chart, you will make me a very happy writer).

In addition to little bar graphs like the one above, spreadsheets are a fantastic way to not only keep track of your total word progress, but of your daily and weekly progress as well, which I highly recommend. But all in all, the important thing is to just keep track.

Do you record your daily or weekly word count progress? Why or why not? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Why one writer believes it's important to keep track of your daily word count progress. (Click to tweet)

Do you record your daily word count progress while writing? Here's why you should. (Click to tweet)

Celebrating 100 Posts

Photo credit: brianjmatis on Flickr

I published my very first blog post on the sixth of May of this year. At the time I’d just reached 100 Twitter followers (which is what prompted the launch of the blog) and the design was all tan and red with a huge picture of books in the background and no pretty banner.

Yes, Writability was a completely different animal then.

I had two comments on my first post—one of them was my response to my only commenter. But none of that mattered, because I was in awe that anyone would want to read my posts to begin with. Every page view was someone giving me a chance and I battled a serious case of nerves every time I hit the “Publish” button.

Fast forward seven months and 99 blog posts and really nothing has changed—well, except for the nerves part. I still smile every time I see a comment and get rather excited every time I gain a lovely new reader.

Because if there’s anything I’ve learned as a blogger, it’s just how important every single of you guys are. It doesn’t matter if you follow this blog regularly or just happened to have clicked a link to get here, I’m thankful for you.

Because out of everything I talked about in my last post, you guys make the biggest impact. You’re what keeps me going, what keeps me clicking “publish” three times a week. Without you, my lovely readers, Writability would not still be here.

So rather than posting my top ten posts thus far, I’m going to share my most popular post with you guys and I hope you’ll do the same.

That’s right, I want to know your best post in the history of your blog.

Now I’m aware that not everyone here is a blogger, but I want you guys to have a chance to interact, too.

For those of you who don’t have a blog, share your favorite post from someone else’s blog. I promise to take a look at it as long as it doesn't have anything inappropriate (so keep them PG please, or they won’t be published in the comments).

So here we go! My most popular post thus far is Why Writers Must Read.

What about you? 

How to Be a Happy Writer

Photo credit: ohskylab on Flickr

Most writers are ambitious people—we have to be, after all, just setting out to write a novel is an ambitious move on its own. Many of us understand the worth of delayed gratification, and those of us who don’t learn it very quickly or quit.

So, ambitious people that we are, we tend to focus on the future. We’re motivated. We work hard to accomplish our dreams and focus on completing our goals—which is a good thing.

But although we put in the blood and sweat to see our dreams realized, we often forget to pause long enough to celebrate what we’ve already achieved.

What I’m saying is, we forget to enjoy the stage we’re in.

Many writers fall into the “I’ll be happy when…” trap. I know I did. We tell ourselves, I’ll be happy when I finish the book, when I finish editing, when I get an agent, when I get published, when I publish my second book, on and on and on. But guess what? When we do finish the book, when we do get the agent, we tend to celebrate for a short time, then amend our statement.

Now I’ll be happy when I sell x many copies. Now I’ll be happy when so-and-so blurbs my book. Now I’ll be happy when I have a five-star rating.

Forget that, guys. Don’t be happy later. Be happy now.

I’m not published. I don’t have an agent. I have four books in the drawer, many of which will probably never see the light of day, two more that I’m editing and another that I’m brainstorming. I don’t know if I’ll ever have an agent, if I’ll ever see my book at Barnes & Noble, if I’ll ever make any sort of best-selling list at all. And sometimes it’s heavy. Sometimes I want to stop and do something that other people will recognize as productive. Something my friends and family will understand.

But then I remind myself why I write. It’s not for the money, for the book contract, hell, it’s not even for readers (although all of those things are very nice).

It’s for me. Because I love it.

Sometimes we need to stop and remind ourselves all that we have accomplished. No I’m not published, but who cares? I’ve written six novels and I’m proud of every one of them. I’ve had journeys with my characters, I’ve fallen in love with them, I’ve developed them and then moved on. But they’re mine, and they’re alive because I wrote them.

And that in itself is something no one can take away from me.

Maybe you haven’t written a book yet. Maybe you’re too afraid to start. If that’s the case, ask yourself why you want to do it. If it’s for the money, for the fame, then maybe writing isn’t right for you. If it’s because it’s something you want to do for you, if it’s because you have a story and you want to write it to life, then go for it. Even if it never gets published, it’s a story that you’ve created, a story that will always be with you.

Maybe you’ve written a book and like me, haven’t been published or picked up by an agent. That’s ok too; I challenge you to take the time to see all you’ve accomplished. I challenge you to take a moment to remember the characters you’ve created, the lives you’ve pulled from the depths of your mind.

I don’t care what stage you’re in; take the time now to enjoy it.

And whenever you’re feeling discouraged, remind yourself why you started it all in the first place. And smile. Because you’re a writer, my friend, and you’re just doing what writers do.

Take time to celebrate your accomplishments and share them here; I’d love to hear about it. J