A few months ago I started tracking my word count progress. I’m a fan of spreadsheets for their usability and the fact that I don’t have to keep track of a specific piece of paper with my info on it. It’s on a file in my computer, I just have open it up whenever I’ve written something. Easy as pie(of which I’m also a fan).
The one I’ve used for the last four(ish) months has been the one seen here:
http://jamieraintree.com/2011-writing-progress-spreadsheet
It has been a delight to use. It’s straightforward, clean, and pretty comprehensive as you can add more columns(for more writing projects) without much difficulty. I think it comes with enough rows to track four different areas of writing. And mine ended up being: My WIP novel, Poetry, This here blog, and my monthly writing prompt. Dividing everything this way, I could see exactly when I was working on what project. And how much work got done.
I am trying a new one this time around, though. Not because I’ve fallen out of love with the old spreadsheet, but just to try something different. My current word count spreadsheet was found here:
http://svenjaliv.com/category/resources/spreadsheets/
This one seems to be both more and less complex, depending on which areas you’re looking at. It looks fairly complicated, so I haven’t tried to add a new row of cells for more projects because I’m afraid it’ll collapse. So, for now, you can only track one set of word counts. This was a little off-putting at first, but it’ll help me keep focus on my main word count goal: my WIP novel.
This new one also comes with different and customize-able backgrounds so you can let your artistic side run wild. I think there was even a place where you could contribute a donation for the artist’s work and they would make one especially for you!
It’s also a word count tracker built especially for an entire year. You put in the amount of words you’d like to reach by year’s end and it churns out the numbers you need for monthly and daily goals. It’s pretty neat. I think I’m going to stick with it for now.
I’d recommend either. The first one you’ll have to email the person to receive the file. I found this new one, so I haven’t emailed yet. However, if I begin to not enjoy my current tracker as much, I’ll be contacting her directly. The one I’m using currently can simply be downloaded in any one of four customize-able skins(or you can make a donation and hammer out the details of getting a one-of-a-kind spreadsheet made).
At the end of the day, however you do it, I’d certainly recommend tracking your writing progress. How else will you know if you’re making any real progress?
Cheers.
Only ONE Today. Every Day 