The Word Count Obsession

Obsessed with word counts, me? How dare you. That Post-It note seen to the left, that's just me getting some simple arithmetic horribly wrong. It's definitely not me keeping a running tally of my latest total word count on the new novel, twice a day.

Okay, I'll admit it: I use the ongoing word count on a novel as a means of gauging my achievements. And I totally write down the latest figure, using one of those antiquated old-school 'pens'. Like most habits connected with writing, it's good and it's bad.

Good, because it can be a really nice motivational tool, in much the same way as taking regular body measurements during an exercise regime. There's a sense of forward momentum, of positive demonstrable progress. And with these numbers come milestones. Every 10,000 words, you get to punch the air, puff on a great big cigar and tell everyone on social media the news. Even though no-one on social media cares about your ongoing word count, and rightly so. Not even other writers care overly much, and they understand how desperately far apart those milestones often seem to be. Imagine if someone was to write a whole blog post about word counts! That would be the very height of stupidity. What kind of twisted freak would read that?

So, the bad? Mainly the whole 'quantity versus quality' thing. Because you could spend a whole day writing one amazing seven-word sentence which hugely improves the whole novel, both in terms of quality and overall theme. You could also spend a whole day writing 8,000 words which are poorly chosen, or head off down a blind alley altogether. And sometimes a book demands that you take your foot off the gas, your fingers off the keyboard and carry out research, which can be way more important than some arbitrary word goal.

If you aim for a set number of words per day, as I do, you may also find yourself laying down tools the moment you reach that magic number. Ah great, achievement unlocked: now I can go back to setting fire to my legs and shrieking about elks. While it's good to have some signifier that you've done well and can stop, you may well have had more words in you, bursting to spill forth and delight the world.

Constantly looking at the word count total can be counter-productively distracting, too. So that's why I've started hiding the word count total in Microsoft Word.

Just in case you were unaware: you can right-click that blue strip along the bottom, then left-click the word count total to make it visible or invisible (see second pic above). And I've found it makes quite a difference.

At the moment, see, I aim for 500 words every morning (except Saturday) and another 500 every afternoon. The idea with these goals is to half-knowingly trick myself by aiming seductively low. Five-hundred words seem eminently achievable, even when they usually end up being tackled during tighter blocks of time, between 10am and 11:30am, then 2:30pm and 4:30pm. The sly hope is that I'll get into a flow, lose myself in the story and the characters and whatever music I'm playing (currently the mid-90s electro-industrial compilation Hot Wired Monstertrux and The Blair Witch Project: Josh's Blair Witch Mix, since you ask) and keep writing beyond the targets. And with the word count total off, these 'bonus words' are much more likely to happen. During most sessions, I've found this to be the case. It can be wonderful and astonishing to check the word count and discover you've written way more than you thought. I started this routine on February 1. As of today, February 13, I have 16,005 words. Bonus words have happened. Not many on a daily basis, granted, but it all adds up. 

Wake up, damn you, wake up. I'm almost done.

So if I have any kind of word count wisdom to pass on to you, it's this: hide the total from yourself, in order to stay in the zone.

Now I just need to stop checking the damn total every 15 minutes.

What are your own word count goals, tricks and foibles? Share them in Comments, or by God, I shall hunt you down and demand them.

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My novel The Last Days Of Jack Sparks is out now. This week, it appeared on Amazon's Rising Stars list of promising debut novels for 2016. Take a look!

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