Why I’m Tracking My Fiction Writing Word Count This Year
I wouldn’t say I’m a super organized person. I mean, I have a junk drawer in my kitchen that’s filled with sunglasses, extra chargers, and loose batteries. That’s the exact opposite of super organized.
But I am a sometimes organized person. I take planning and time management very seriously because while I would someday like to be my own boss, I don’t make enough to live off of my writing yet. I fit my writing in when I can, which means I depend on evenings and weekends.
Managing my time wisely is an absolute necessity.
That’s why at the end 2019 I did some serious thinking. I looked back at everything I accomplished that year and realized that while I had a general idea of what I had accomplished, I wanted a more detailed look.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t really been tracking anything that year so a detailed look was not readily available to me.
But after New Year’s Eve, I made a pledge to myself. As an aspiring fiction writer, I knew that I wanted to do more. I wanted to write more stories. I wanted to craft more novels. I wanted to write, edit, and self publish the fiction series that had been bubbling around in my head for the past couple of years.
I decided that during 2020 I would keep a spreadsheet of every fiction word that I wrote. As far as spreadsheets go, it’s very amateur looking. But it keeps me motivated and helps me track my work and that’s what truly matters.
The first month was difficult. I got off to a rocky start because I had never been so vigilant about my writing before. I struggled because I couldn’t decide whether it was ok to be switching back and forth between different projects. I didn’t know whether it was confusing to work on more than one story a day.
But I quickly got the hang of it and started treating my word count spreadsheet like a daily journal. At the end of each evening I would update my stats and close everything out for the night, having a clearer idea of the work that I’ve wanted to do the next day.
I still haven’t quite perfected the process, but here’s what I’ve learned so far.
It’s important to start slow
You’re not just going to start out writing 5,000 words a day.
As I previously mentioned, my first month was slow. I wrote less than 20,000 words. Part of this was because I was working on a project that I wasn’t all that interested in and part of it was because it took me a week or so to really start trying to build my writing habit.
But January was a starting point. At the end of the month I looked back on my writing output and gave myself some goals to try and achieve for February.
Word count isn’t everything
You might be wondering why I decided to start tracking my word count this year. There are other metrics I could use to measure my writing. I could count the number of pages or the number of projects I’ve completed.
I decided on word count because as someone who participates in NaNoWriMo (where you attempt to write 50,000 words during the month of November) almost every year, it just made sense to me.
As I write this article in June, I’ve barely tracked anything on my spreadsheet. It’s hard to look at, but it’s ok. Word count isn’t everything because you can’t always be writing new fiction. Sometimes you have to put your editing hat on as well.
Life gets in the way
You aren’t always going to be productive. It’s impossible to get the most done all the time. Unless you’re a robot. But unfortunately, I am not one.
2020 is a learning year for me because this year is the first year that I’m attempting to track my creative writing output. Next year I’ll be able to compare 2021 to 2020, but for now, this is it.
Life gets in the way, I’m learning. Some days are stressful and after work I might just want to flop down on my couch and watch Netflix with my dog. Opening the computer might be the last thing on my mind.
And that’s ok. Getting things done is important, but taking care of yourself is also an important task.
I’m not a perfect writer. I don’t always write every day and my first drafts aren’t always prolific. But I’m building a habit. It’s a habit that will help me organize myself, evaluate my goals, and write more.
At the end of 2020, I will look back on my spreadsheet and evaluate my work for the year.
And my goals for 2021 will be all the more clear.
