The first time I participated in National Novel Writing month, I actually wrote a novel the month before writing my NaNo novel. The pre-NaNo novel was right on the word count edge of novella at 40,000 words. It had been three years since I’d drafted my first novel and I wanted to get back in the game by doing NaNoWriMo 2006, and thought, why not write a shorter book in October as a warmup?
So, I created a simple Excel spreadsheet that tracked my daily word count, as well as the running total of my WIP, and also listed daily word count and overall running count goals. It worked like a charm. I did the same thing for November, aiming for 1667 words a day to reach 50,000 words total by November 30. What I learned was that my word count fluctuated, but averaged out to close to the daily goal. It worked. However, I did not track the time I spent grinding out those words. Instead, I loosely scheduled writing time.
I drifted away from tracking my word count, but now want to return to it. I like JSB’s practice of setting a weekly word count, but even simply tracking how many words I draft each day can be helpful. It’s something I’d like to start doing when I begin drafting Meg Booker Librarian Mystery #3. Also, while rewriting the previous book, I began tracking pages revised as well as setting goals for daily pages revised which helped get me through multiple editing passes, especially the last one.
One thing I’ve never been successful at is tracking my time spent writing. Instead, I schedule writing time.
Today’s Words of Wisdom presents a grab bag of excerpts on time and words. Joe Moore gives tips for how to track your time spent writing. James Scott Bell shares two tactics to unstick your story and begin increasing your word count again. Laura Benedict discusses why word counts are important in her own creative process.
Most writers live and publish by a quota, a magical number of words or pages of work they produce each day. Supposedly, Stephen King writes ten pages a day, every day, no matter what. Hemingway was a little more reasonable, at 500 words per day.
The truth is, I don’t actually have a quota, not if one insists on the notion of measuring effort in terms of something solid and concrete, like numbers of words. My quota is more elastic, more ephemeral if you will: it’s time spent writing. I write for two hours each day in the late morning, no matter what. (Okay, sometimes I’ll write for 45 minutes a day, or 20, but those days are rare.)
The problem with my type of quota is that I’m a word worrier. I can spend the entire two hours nibbling around the edges of a single paragraph. The next day, I might strike that paragraph and start over. With this method, productivity, as you might imagine, is quite the wild card.
I do have occasional spells when the writing flows–I bound through the pages effortlessly, like Emily Dickinson’s frigate on a following sea. But those happy periods of clear sailing are inevitably followed by a dead calm, and I get bogged down on a single page for days. Or a single sentence,
“Just keep going!” When we’re stalled, this is the sage advice we get from most writing teachers, critique groups, and professional writers, But so far I’ve been incapable of doing that. Sometimes I do leave a placeholder, something like, “Brilliant description of character goes here, but don’t do a generic description dump. Must be something fresh that will make the reader’s eyes widen in recognition.” One can take that kind of thing too far, however. You can wind up with an entire novel of placeholders, and then where would you be? Exactly where you started.
Joe Moore: October 19, 2010
Today, I want to offer a couple of tips for that fearful moment when you’re 10 – 20k in and you have absolutely no idea what to write next.
One tip was in my recent post about asking what the bad guy’s doing. If you’re stuck in the middle, take half an hour to think about what your antagonist is up to off stage. Have him planning his next few moves. Then go back to your protagonist who will feel the permutations of those moves.
The other tip I have for you when you get stuck is to do a variation of Raymond Chandler’s advice about bringing in a guy with a gun.
Yep, introduce a new character.
But what character? How do you choose?
Here are a couple of suggestions:
Open up a dictionary at random. Find a noun. What kind of person pops into your head who you would associate with that noun?
Spin the Writer Igniter. You can also use this cool app to choose a scene, a prop, or a situation.
Now you’ve got a new character ready to enter the fray. Before he or she does, ask yourself how this character will complicate the lead character’s life. Hopefully, you know enough about writing a novel that your Lead is facing a matter that feels like life and death–– physically or professionally or psychologically.
This new character will be the carrier of a subplot. A subplot needs to intersect with the main plot in some significant way––and a way that complicates matters for the Lead.
A new character like this is good for another 5k words at least
Bada-bing! You’ve added to your NaNo word count.
But what if you’re in the final act of your book? The hard part, where you have to figure out how to tie up the loose ends?
Add another character! A loose-ends tier-upper!
But won’t that seem out of the blue? A Deus ex machina?
Not if you go back to Act 1, or the first part of Act 2, and introduce the character there. You’re the writer, remember? You can go back in time in your own book!
This exercise works for NaNo, but also for any novel where you feel that long middle is starting to sag.
Introducing one complicating character gives you lots of plot possibilities. And I love plot possibilities.
James Scott Bell: October 16, 2016
One of my best friends, an enormously successful writer, has kept track of her words on spreadsheets for well over a decade. But I also know a writer who has been writing for a half-century and couldn’t tell you precisely how many stories she’s published, let alone the number of words.
The subject of word counts comes up frequently when you’re an emerging writer. Agents only want to see a certain number of pages, and competitions, magazines, and writing workshops all set limits. When you sell that novel, there will be a word count mentioned in the contract, and when it comes time for delivery, it better be close: if there aren’t enough, it won’t meet the contract; if there are too many, it could negatively impact the production schedule and projected costs. Word counts are relevant.
But should word counts have a place in your creative life? What do word counts mean to you?
This might sound a little crazy, but keeping track of my words satisfies the voice in my head that says, “use your time well.” Word counts are by nature quantifications. Proof that I’ve written. It doesn’t matter if I’ve written badly. It doesn’t matter if I throw them out later. It doesn’t matter if I don’t even like them. I’ve written. I’ve worked. It sounds a little cold, but sometimes you have to feed the voice. (Now, these are only my thoughts. If you don’t have that scary neurosis voice in your head telling you she’s watching how you use your time, good for you.)
The softer, more right-brained view is that the more words you write, the more practiced you become. A friend of mine is fond of saying, “Writing begets writing.” This is so true. When I write, I work things out on the page. The more words I get down on paper, the more room there is in my brain for birthing new ideas. My brain feels larger, happier when it’s planning new words.
At the end of December, I started tracking my word counts in my daily blog. The person who asked me why I tracked words wondered if I was in some kind of competition. The answer is yes. I am in competition with myself. I like to know how much I’ve written, and it keeps me motivated—not just to improve the numbers as I go along, but to have some markers along the way.
Laura Benedict: January 25, 2017
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- Do you track the time you spend writing? If so, how do you do it, and does it help you stay on track as a writer?
- Are there specific word count points, like at the 10K, 20K or 30K word marks where you tend to run out of steam. Any tips or tactics you use to get the words flowing again?
- Do you track the words you write? If so do you keep daily or weekly word counts? Do you set word count goals? Do you track scenes or chapters written instead?
- Do you track the revising you do? If so, what metric do you choose-words, pages, scenes, chapters or something else?
Q: Do you track the time you spend writing? If so, how do you do it, and does it help you stay on track as a writer?
A: I used to and I probably should start doing that again. I think it might make me pay a little more attention to output when I don’t have a deadline.
Q: Are there specific word count points, like at the 10K, 20K or 30K word marks where you tend to run out of steam. Any tips or tactics you use to get the words flowing again?
A: No, The story pulls me along. To regain momentum, it helps to hold back the last thought of each day, just make a note of what comes next. The next day, I can immediately get rolling without any delay. If desperate, I work on a later scene where I know the general content. Or go back and improve an earlier chapter. I once created a transcript of one character’s imaginary therapy session. That worked well, and I realized that the closeness of first person was called for, and had to go back and revise to first.
Q: Do you track the words you write? If so do you keep daily or weekly word counts?
A: Nope.
Q: Do you set word count goals? Do you track scenes or chapters written instead?
A: Nope, again. I track pages, if anything. Mostly, I don’t even do that. For my first novel, I tracked words. My maximum weekend output was 10K words. I’ve never reached that again.
Q: Do you track the revising you do? If so, what metric do you choose-words, pages, scenes, chapters or something else?
A: Revising is entirely different. I just bear down and try to get it done until I reach “THE END.” But I never write “THE END.” (I did put “KAI GAI” at the end of “A True Map of the City,” “Kai gai” is Deresthok for “all done.”)
Thanks for weighing in, JG. I had a writing mentor who rigorously tracked his keyboarding time. As soon as his hands left the keyboard he clicked stop on his timer. When he resumed, he’d start it up again.
I do keep track of my words per day and report them to my accountability partners. That’s a huge motivator for me! I don’t think that’s the only way to write, though. Slow, meandering progress is still progress. It would depend on your goals. It would depend on your series contract.
That’s an important point, Priscilla, about slow, even meandering progress still being progress.
That said, I could use an accountability partner myself 🙂
I’ve been using a simple excel spreadsheet for years and years. I don’t track my time, only word count, and it’s net count, not gross.
I tend to hit a wall around the 30K mark. After 30+ books, I know I’ll get through it, and it’s a matter of “just keep writing” and the words will come back.
My goal is a minimum of 1000 words/day, and I try for 500 before lunch as extra motivation.
I’ll keep using my spreadsheet during the editing process, but at that point, I’m looking at just getting to the end again, and word count doesn’t matter.
I love the elegance of a simple Excel spreadsheet, Terry. Good point about tracking net word count. That’s something I do when revising, just to keep a handle on how the manuscript’s overall word count is changing. Usually it’s not by much.
I have an uncanny ability to zero in on a book’s length during my initial revisions and then, even as I delete words, during later revisions, I’m also adding more back in.
I track how I spend my time, period. Mostly due to jealousy 😎 & amazement at what I hear others say about their accomplishments. I listen to people say stuff like “I wrote 5 books this year, ran 4 marathons, presented at 10 conferences, built 12 Habitat projects” etc. and then I look at my life thinking, what’s wrong here?
But keeping track of where my time goes has proved what I knew. For this girl, most of my waking life goes to the day job and chores. Period. Then you have to cram EVERYTHING else, including writing, into what little time is left.
So while I love to be inspired by people who write 200,000 words a year, etc., at this point in my life, it just isn’t a realistic expectation. And quite frankly, I think I would have severe burnout if I tried to push myself for those kinds of goals.
I keep track of how many words I write but I do NOT set a writing quota. That, too, would be extremely depressing at this stage of my life. In 2023 I wrote an average of 44 words a day. Yes, 44. In 2022 it was slightly better at 108 words a day. But it’s not really ‘a day’, more like what I can squeeze in on Saturday or the occasional snatch of time during lunch break. I’m speculating that my word count will be lower in 2024 because a good chunk of this year has gone to revision, editing, etc plus I’m having to add in time for physical therapy (lifelong mobility has priority over writing, hands down!).
Laura Benedict sums up the self-tracking perfectly “I am in competition with myself.” It is useless for me to try to attain someone else’s writing schedule. While the ‘numbers’ are low, I did a better job in 2023 of steadily working on a writing project week to week. In past times I could go months without touching a project. At least now I’m the tortoise—plodding forward week by week and it eventually yields results.
Also, in the post Joe Moore said about placeholders as you are writing: “One can take that kind of thing too far, however. You can wind up with an entire novel of placeholders, and then where would you be? Exactly where you started.”
I’d add to that this can be problematic if it’s taking a while to fill in gaps—I find the more times I have to read through my manuscript, the more numb I become and the easier it is to fill in the placeholder in a sloppy way. I use some placeholders, but I try to fill in those blanks quickly while I’m more fresh.
Now I better go get to my writing related assignment for this morning—learning more about the business side of writing…
Your example shows why tracking our time not only keeps us honest with ourselves about how we spend our time, but grounds us in the nitty gritty of our respective lives, which is also important.
Like you, I occasionally use placeholders, but I try to be judicious lest I wind up with that document that is mostly bracketed notes.
Thirty-five plus years ago, I decided to write “full-time,” rather than just dabbling. I was struggling to get through my first novel. My husband gave me a goal of 10 pages/day for a month (this was before NaNoWriMo). That consistent output got me into the groove of writing every day. Some pages were garbage but the continuous flow of words established the habit.
After the month ended, I cut back on the number of pages but continued to write every day.
With rare exceptions, each day I spend several hours writing and/or editing. When I have a deadline, it’s up to eight hours or more.
In novels, I inevitably hit a brick wall half to three-quarters of the way through. At that point, I change gears and instead churn out articles, blog posts, or short stories. The most important goal is to keep words flowing.
Consistency is more effective for me than word or page counts. If I skip a day or two, I feel uncomfortable b/c something important is missing, as if I’ve forgotten to get dressed.
You’re an excellent example of the importance of “knowing thyself” as a writer, and how. consistency is important to your process. It is to mine as well, though my process continues to evolve now that I write mysteries and there have been days when I have had to step back and revisit my outline and do more journaling.
As someone who recently survived a stroke, I’m happy that I can get any words down that make actual sense, no matter how few. And this is not a feel sorry-for-me comment. This a good thing. Writing makes me use my brain. When I can, I’m going to try everyone’s methods and see which one works for me.
Laurie, writing is the best brain exercise I know. I’m so glad you are working out alongside the rest of us!
As someone who recently survived a stroke, I’m happy that I can get down any combination of words that actually make sense, no matter how few. And this isn’t a feel-sorry-for-me comment. Writing makes me use my brain. After things get a little better, I’m going to try everyone’s methods and see one which works for me. (You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to type this.) You guys give me inspiration, truly.
Great gems from the past here, Dale!
I don’t track anything. I used to.
Having said that, I’ll confess I’m in a serious writing slump right now and have been for about 3-4 months. I do have a MS communing with my editor as we speak, and I hope she sends it back soon. I still churn out blog posts and emails, and did have a short accepted by Guideposts–now in the editing process with them–but as far as novels? No go.
I’m trying to figure out how to dig myself out of the debris and start working on a couple of starts I made a few months back.
Perhaps it would help to rip a leaf out of y’all’s books and start tracking again.
Thanks, Deb! FWIW, you’re not alone when it comes to writing slumps. Many of us have experienced them. You’ve probably already heard this, but easing your way back into writing can start with small steps. 250 words (a double spaced page) a day, or writing for 15 or 30 minutes a day.
As I mentioned at the start of today’s post, I’ve bad about tracking my own writing for some time. That said, as others have noted, simply writing down what you’ve done each day, especially if combined with the small steps suggestion above, and can help get a regular writing rhythm going.
🥳🥳🥳
Thanks, Dale!
Great selections to encourage us, Dale! I write with Scrivener and it has a project target feature. I put in when the manuscript needs to be finished, the total word count for the ms, and how many days a week I’ll write. It keeps track of how many words a day I need to write to finish the ms.
Right now Scrivener says my goal is 750 words five days a week for a total of 3,750. That will change once I get the first act behind me–that’s the hardest part of the story for me. Maybe for once, I’ll get the first draft finished early and have more time for revisions!
Pat, does Scrivener change the target pace when you shift from first draft to editing?
I don’t use a word count when I’m editing, Debbie and I only use the draft status so I don’t really know how it works to change the status from draft to another status.
My word count is basically for the first draft–which is to lay down the suspense line. My books usually run about 95K and the first draft usually comes in at 85K. In my second draft, I add to the romance.
The project target graph shows your daily progress as well as your overall progress. Seeing that motivates me to keep at…
Thanks, Patricia! That target feature is very handy. Good luck with your current draft.
Another great selection, Dale.
I have to organize my writing times around the months of the year and the other projects that are going on. Some months have so much going on, I have to adjust my writing expectations. And when I get to the editing phase of a ms, I put in fewer words on the next story.
Juggling three series makes things even more complicated! 🙂
Thanks, Kay! Organizing your time to what else is going on in your life can be very necessary and beneficial. It’s too easy to imagine every week and month will be exactly the same when reality is often quite different.
I don’t use a word count when I’m editing, Debbie and I only use the draft status so I don’t really know how it works to change the status from draft to another status.
My word count is basically for the first draft–which is to lay down the suspense line. My books usually run about 95K and the first draft usually comes in at 85K. In my second draft, I add to the romance.
The project target graph shows your daily progress as well as your overall progress. Seeing that motivates me to keep at…