Monitoring Your Progress as a Writer

by Rafal Reyzer, @rafalreyzer

The old saying “what gets measured gets done” applies to writing as much as anything else that requires consistency and perseverance. You’re probably aware that many famous writers have writing quotas. A number that is non-negotiable. It’s in the “must-do” category on the to-do list.

For Stephen King, it’s 2000 words, for Sarah Waters, it’s 1000 words, for Anne Rice, it’s 3000. So, do you have your number or not? Somewhere I’ve read that George R. R. Martin doesn’t have a number, and that’s why he’s taking so long to write a book. Then, we have outliers like J. R. R. Tolkien, who took around fifteen years to complete his famous trilogy.

So how do you monitor your progress as a writer? Do you have to count everything? After all, you’re a creative human being, not an AI robot. Let’s take a look at different approaches, and maybe you’ll find your favorite among them.

Add up the words daily

I have a Google Sheets spreadsheet, where I log the beautiful words I write each day. Only project-related words go in there – no emails or social media posts. I put a number next to each day of the month, and this automatically contributes to the “monthly goal” cell in the spreadsheet. Each time I add up the numbers, I can feel a small burst of happy chemicals suffusing my brain. It gives me the motivation to keep on going. It also allows me to see patterns over weeks and months and figure out how to do better.

Set your monthly writing goals

At the beginning of each month, count the number of “writing days” you’ll have available for you, and set your goal based on that. Don’t fool yourself that you’ll write 50.000 words if you’re also climbing Kilimanjaro this month. Be realistic and conservative about the monthly goal. You’ll hit it all the more often!

Use a habit tracker to recognize your patterns of writerly behavior

In psychology, there’s something called the consistency principle. It states that as humans, we tend to stay consistent in our patterns of action to feel more in control of our lives. This led to the development of a motivational technique known as “don’t break the chain,” where you put an “X” below each day when you hit your quota.

After being consistent for around ten days, you start to feel uneasy about “breaking the chain,” and you keep the momentum going. This is a cool technique to try out, and you’ve guessed it – there’s an app for that.

Is it only about words? Or maybe there’s something else?

You don’t have to jump on the daily word count bandwagon if you don’t want to. Many writers feel that it stifles their creativity, or keeps them in the prison of their own making. But you need to track something to know if you’re making progress or not, right? How about the number of chapters, poems, articles, or hours you’ve spent at the keyboard? Whatever it is, keep tabs on it, and you’ll see your productivity increase over the next few months.

Never get overly fixated on your numbers

Attaching your self-esteem to your productive output is like riding downhill on a bicycle hands-free towards impending doom. Why? Because there will always be a time when you slip, and if your ego is too much into it, you’re asking for trouble. You have to learn how to let go and how to enjoy life more. Meditation is fantastic for that because it teaches you how to be happy without obtaining any external source of desire.

Maintaining this balance between achievement and peace of mind is not easy, but it’s the best way I’ve found to make progress and stay happy.

Do you use any of these methods to track your progress as a writer? Perhaps you have something else on your mind? Feel free to leave a comment below!

Rafal Reyzer is a full-time blogger, freelance writer, digital marketer, editor, and content manager. He started his blog to provide readers with great tools and strategies they can use to achieve freedom from 9-5 through online creativity. His site is a one-stop-shop for writers, bloggers, publishers, content enthusiasts, and freelance editors who want to be independent, earn more money, and create beautiful things.

Photo on Visualhunt