The Pros and Cons of Counting Words
The Pros and Cons of Counting Words
Is tracking your writing a good idea?
Is tracking your writing a good idea?
Like so many others, I track my steps daily. I track what I eat on an app. And, most of the time, I track my daily word count. I’m not obsessed, though it may sound like it. I just find that tracking helps keep me aware and on task in several areas of my life.
But is it Useful?
Is tracking your words a helpful habit or a counter-productive one? Finding research on the benefits of tracking for writers is difficult, because it is apparently non-existent. Looking to other kinds of tracking sheds a bit of light, but not much. A study at Duke University found that tracking steps made people walk farther — but enjoy it less. Not terribly helpful to writers. But over and over again many different studies show that writing down your goals makes them more likely to happen. And since tracking is a form of setting and writing down goals, it follows that it is a helpful activity.
My modus operandi as a writer is to do whatever works to help me write more and write better, and I coach my clients to do the same. Of course, the tricky part is figuring out what works for you. What works great for me may just make you anxious and discouraged. But, seeing as how most writers will do just about anything to improve their output and their writing, it might be something you want to try if you’re not already doing it.
What is the best way to do it? There are several methods you can follow. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each.
Word Count
Instagram and Twitter are laden with posts from triumphant writers chortling about their word counts. This is because counting words is the most efficient and easiest to quantify. Set a word count goal, type away, check how many words you’ve written, end your session. Done and done. If you make a note on a calendar or in your journal, it’s incredibly satisfying to go back and look over your progress.
This is the method I prefer because of its ease. But I have noticed a couple of drawbacks. Desperately trying to reach your word count goal can lead to padding of sentences, and lower quality writing. Two hundred words to go? Let’s see how many extra words I can cram into this next paragraph! But that’s an extreme case. At least for most people.
Know Where Your Writing is Going
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There’s no research on this, but this method can also lead to writer’s angst. Comparing your production to that of others can make you discouraged. She wrote 5,000 words today and I only managed 500? What’s wrong with me?
To me, though, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. If you want to follow this method, a good daily word count to aim for is 1,000. That’s a solid amount to achieve in a session, and doing it daily nets you a draft in 60 to 90 days. Not bad!
Page Count
Figuring by the page is less accurate because of differences in font size, and individual preference. But if you are a writer who likes to write drafts by hand, setting a page goal is going to work much, much better for you. Even the most dedicated of trackers will not want to count each word they’ve written in a notebook. (And if your handwriting is anything like mine, its nearly illegible anyway, which makes the process more difficult.)
Taking a wild stab of a guess, 1,000 manuscript words might equal three pages handwritten. And three pages is a great amount to aim for. I’m talking standard 8.5 by 11 size paper here. If you’re using a smaller size notebook you might want to go for more.
And if three pages a day doesn’t sound like much, consider that at the end of just one month of diligent work, you’d have amassed 90 pages. That’s a third of a book!
You might also use this method when editing or rewriting. Set a page goal depending on how much work the project needs and how much time you have and go to it. Trying to use word count for tracking in this situation is an exercise in frustration.
Time Count
But maybe you find tracking word count or pages anathema to your style. Instead, you could track hours. I don’t like this method because I tend to stare off into space for periods when I’m writing. And so what if I say I wrote for an hour, when really, ten minutes of that was staring? (And thinking deep thoughts, of course.) Does that count? Only you can decide, but it makes me feel like I’m cheating.
One way to utilize the time count method is to do sprints. Set a timer for 30 minutes (or longer) and focus only on your writing for that time. When the timer goes off, take a brief break (getting up to move is good), and rinse and repeat. You can set yourself a goal of a certain number of sprints a day.
Using time as your measurement also has advantages in certain, specific situations. It can be useful if you’re in a developmental stage of your work, not working so much in a project as on it. This might be a way to track when you are figuring out plot and character arc and backstory, for instance. These activities are more difficult to quantify in word counts.
It also can be good when editing or rewriting, if you don’t want to go the page count route.
By Scene or Chapter
Maybe none of the above ideas appeal to you, but you still want to keep an eye on your progress. Another way is to set yourself scene or chapter goals. I have a more difficult time doing this, because my scenes tend to grow as I write. But often if I’m close to finishing a chapter, I’ll set my goal to simply get to the end and that works well.
When A Writer Isn’t Writing
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Other Considerations
Do what works for you! Set your goals according to the amount of time and energy you have to devote to your writing. If you are just getting back into writing, maybe you need to think in terms of baby steps. Set yourself a goal of 250 words a day, one page handwritten a day, or 15 minutes. If you are pushing to finish a project, go big. Set your goals for
I find I am more productive when I track my words, just as I walk more when I track my steps. Tracking may have the opposite effect on you. And if so, by all means, feel free to knock it off! The point of any kind of writing tracking is to improve your writing, not make it worse.