Going All In / Word Count Musings
I have officially taken the plunge and started serious work on my young adult fantasy novel, from now on referred to as GotS. I would share the exact title, but I would like to keep that a secret for now. The mystery-in-progress, which was somewhere around halfway completed, has been temporarily shelved. I’m going all in and focusing completely on this fantasy manuscript.
Recently, I’ve noticed word count progress meters on some blogs. I really like that idea so I’ve put one here over in the right sidebar. I wasn’t sure what unit I wanted to use as a measurement. Chapters? Words? Pages? Since I’m not sure how many chapters it will end up being, I just went with total words. I’m also not even sure how many words I plan on completing so I just took the common 90,000 words which should equal approximately 300 pages.
I think this will be a great way for me to share my current progress without making a blog post every day about my daily word count. It also serves as a motivator to be able to see that meter over there. Right now, it looks kind of sad. I can barely see the light color that represents completed words. I’ve got to get a bigger chunk showing!
Sometimes I wonder if I should be so focused on word count totals, but I believe it’s something that most writers track and, at times, obsess over. To see that word count increase brings on a sense of accomplishment and makes me feel that I’m actually getting somewhere in a monster of a project. Some writers go into a novel with a specific daily word count goal. They will not stop until they have written that goal and once they hit it, they will walk away. I tried this approach this past summer. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t. I found it to be a bit draining, and if I did not have 1,000 words in me one day, I did not like trying to force it. The writing often came out pretty choppy and in serious need of editing.
I have since then changed my approach. This time, I am going to track my total word count, but I am not going to keep a daily goal. Instead, I am going to stick to the weekly goal I cam up with earlier this year. But if I don’t reach it, then I just don’t reach it. I’m using it more like a loose idea rather than a strict formula. I admire those writers that can be so organized and methodical with their schedules. It’s impressive to me, but I think I will produce a better novel doing things in a more flexible manner.
What is your approach to word count? Do you set out to write a set number each day?
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Comments
LOL, at first I thought it said ‘Gots Novel’ - like Got Milk. ;o) What can I say, it’s early for me.
I use a darker color to represent words written, so it’s easier to see against the light background. I guess it makes me feel better at the beginning.
For goals, I tried the so-many words a day thing, and it didn’t work for me either. Instead I have a goal to do writerly things for at least one hour every day. And I promised not to kick myself if I miss a day (like yesterday). It works better for me.
Congrats on getting to work on your new project. I’ll be rooting for you. =oD
Gots Novel! Haha. That’s great.
I like that idea about the colors. I think I’m going to change mine so I can see what has been completed easier.
Honestly, I just write whenever I feel inspired. There’s no set schedule. I can go for a full week without anything and then have a week where I do something every single night. I tried to set goals, but I always ended up disappointing myself, so I stopped. However, its always in the back of my mind. I came up with something new in the shower today, of all places. I figure that’s enough to make up for my occasional slacker tendencies, haha.
I’m looking forward to hearing about your progress!
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