So, happy Tuesday to you!
We’re just shy of three weeks into the new year and I’ve been trying to maintain my word count goal for the year of 1,500 words a day. I am slightly ahead of target (33,830 for the first 19 days), but I’ve found that it’s tougher for me to hit the specific word count goal on a daily basis, depending on what’s on my plate for the day.
Last year, with the thousand words a day, it was an easier target, and I tracked it very loosely. The one thing that’s helped this year was creating a spreadsheet to keep track of how many words I wrote on each day. The nice thing is it gives me a running total for the day as well as the year. I’ve got columns set up for up to three projects (p1, p2, & p3) and a notes column,where I indicate which projects I worked on on a given day. I’ve not done 4 different projects in a day, though I could see how I could conceivably work on four different writing items in one day. Still, that would be rare. So far, p1-p3 has worked just fine. In my notes column (following the day total), I use the notes column to indicate which projects I worked on.
The good thing is I can look at the chart on any given day and feel accountable for my writing. On days when I am super busy with other things and I feel like just going to bed, I look at the chart and feel a swell of guilt. Usually, I’ll try to write just a few words on something. And that helps to keep the word count going.
On most days, I’ve done a pretty decent job of hitting my goal, but I have hit some days of ebb. Those days have mostly been days when I’m editing. Recently, I’ve been rushing to finish a project in time for a deadline tonight, and I’ve just not had a chance to get to the writing. On those days, in the notes section, I write, “edited project NAME; no time to write.” The good news is, on days when I sit down with writing in mind, I’m able to hit or exceed the word count, which has put me in the position that I’m on pace, even though I had a day with “zero” words as the final word count.
It’s still early in the year, but how is your year going?
I’m in a huge ebb right now. 🙁
I feel you, Yvonne. The ebbs are no fun, if you want to be writing. I’m probably going to have a zero to 100 day today because I’ve got to finish editing something and the only writing I’ll be doing will be a product description. 🙁 The good news is, if you can get into a few good flow days, you can often make up for the ebb.