How To Write Consistently When Word Count Goals Don't Work For You

A few months ago, I began learning about writing more consistently. One of the main things that kept coming up in different classes was setting a daily word count goal. My dream for a long time has been to become a full time author, so setting a daily word goal seemed like a great idea. If I started with a small goal (i.e. 50 - 100 words) I would be able to quickly write the number of words I needed everyday, and soon progress to a bigger goal. 

This, however, didn’t work the way I had hoped. Instead of focusing on my story, I began focusing on the little square on the bottom of my screen telling me how many words were in my document. Once I reached my word goal, I would go through and read what I had written. Nine times out of ten I deleted everything I had and started over. Instead of writing something that added to my story, I was writing ‘filler’ sentences that just took up space, which lead to another problem. Could I count the words I had just deleted for my daily goal, or did I have to start all over? 

Personally, I felt like I was cheating if I counted the words that were no longer in my document, but also felt stressed every time I thought about writing more that I would end up not liking and deleting. 

On top of this, I was at a point where I was spending more time editing my first novel then I was writing. During one editing session my word count would maybe change by twenty words. No where near enough to count for my word goal. 

Stressed, and unsure what to do, I went to my mom and told her how much trouble I was having with a word count goal. With the wisdom that all mothers have, my mom looked at me and said, “Then don’t set a word count goal. Set a minute goal instead.” 

This turned out to be exactly what I needed. I already tracked all of my school subjects by how many minutes I spent on them, and therefore had a system worked out I could transfer over to my writing. I set a daily minute goal, a few rules, and went to work. Now all I had to do was glance over at a clock before I began writing or editing, and work until I reached - or passed - my minute goal for the day. I didn’t feel stressed, and I was able to just enjoy creating. 

Now, by this point I’m sure you’re wondering how on earth I managed to count minutes taking into consideration how distracting writing and/or editing can be on a device connected to the internet. Couldn’t the time I counted for my goal have been wasted checking social media and not actually spent on writing? 

Well, allow me to explain how this works. 

1. You have to set an achievable minute goal.

Now I know this is probably the most obvious thing I could have said, but please bear with me on this!

The amount of time you set your goal to is the amount of time you’re carving out of your day specifically for writing purposes. If you have a busy schedule, cramming writing into that can be hard, especially if you set your goal too high. It’s not always easy to stop what you’re doing for an hour, or even half-an-hour, to work on writing. So start with a small, achievable goal. 

For me, I knew that I would be able to get at least fifteen minutes of writing or editing in a day, so that’s the goal I set. I would write a minimum of fifteen minutes, so even on the days when I didn’t want to work on my writing, I told myself, ‘You can work on it for fifteen minutes. That’s not very long.’ After I told myself this, I was usually able to spend a lot longer than fifteen minutes writing, but on the days when I couldn’t spend more than fifteen minutes writing, I was still able to count my time. 

2. You have to decide what counts towards your goal.

This is one of the easiest steps of the process. For myself, I counted writing, editing, and brainstorming. I did not count research, as I wasn’t physically writing for this, but research is definitely one that could be counted. 

While it might be tempting, I would not add watching, listening, or reading a writing related class to your time. These classes are beneficial, but it’s a lot easier to listen to classes than it is to write.   

3. Keep a visual record of your progress. 

I made myself a calendar to track my progress, and hung it up where I could plainly see it. At the end of each day, I would write down how many minutes I spent writing and/or editing, and then check a box to show that I had reached my goal. Your brain will feel rewarded seeing an unbroken line of check marks.

You can either make your own calendar, use the example provided, or use a calendar you already have. I would not recommend a planner or note book for this, as it’s too easy to close it and hide it on a book shelf where you can’t see it! 

Here’s an example of the one I made for myself:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xI6yvSrL39Rgqpbln_0wD_rfLowqwfYb/view?usp=sharing

I wrote the day of the month in one box, and a check mark for each day I reached my goal in the other. 

Here’s an example of a completed one: 

4. Have someone hold you accountable.

This is the final step of the process. If you know that at the end of the month you will be showing someone your visual tracker, you’re a lot less likely to let a day slide here and there. If step three doesn’t already help you with this, step four will keep you from missing a day because you just don’t feel like it. That’s not something you want to confess to whomever it is you’ll be showing your calendar. 

I chose my parents and an online writing community as my accountability. For the online community I told myself I wasn’t aloud to post a photo of my calendar at the end of the month unless I had reached my goal every day. One thing you need to keep in mind if you’re considering using an online community or social media as your accountability, is that this, like the planner or note book, is very easy to let slide. If you miss a few days, you just don’t post anything for that month. It’s not like anyone is expecting it. This is why you have to use a real person! Ask someone like a parent, sibling, spouse, grandparent, or friend you spend a lot of time with to hold you accountable. Only consider something online after you have a real person checking up on your progress. 

Now, with all of that said, go give writing consistently a try! 

Leave a comment below to let me know what you thought of this post!