The Dreaded Daily Word
Count
By Chris Stewart
Open any book on “how to write,” and somewhere you will find a discussion of how
many words you should write every day. Forget the struggle to get ourselves to
the paper or the computer every day, now we have to produce a certain number of
words?
Me? I don’t write every day (Quick! Call the Writer Police!), I don’t do 2,000
words, and you don’t have to either. So what's the pace you should aim for and
how do you figure that out? I’ll show you.
Rather than order yourself to write a certain number of words a day, here's your
free entry into the Design Your Own Word Count program. Here’s how to find your
daily word count in three easy steps:
1) Give yourself an easy word count limit, say ten words. Ready? Go. And… stop.
Hurray! Congratulations, you’ve met your goal. You’re free to go do the laundry
or have some ice cream. Your choice.
Seriously, note how you'd feel fairly ridiculous if you stopped there. Remember
that feeling and keep writing. Check in whenever you find yourself pausing and
see if you still feel that way (i.e., lame, lazy, if you're laughing-- picture
yourself telling a writer friend, "I wrote 27 words today, isn't that awesome?"
Picture the look on their face). Now, keep writing.
2) As long as you feel interested and excited in what you’re doing each time you
check in, keep going. Even if you’re nervous and a little scared, keep going.
Those feelings will propel you past superficial writing about how much you're
looking forward to that bowl of Ben & Jerry's.
3) When do you stop? When you first notice you're controlling word and image
choice. When you notice your thoughts turning negative. When you feel yourself
sliding downhill into the Tar Pit of Despair. Dig in your heels and turn your
eyes back to the sun (your page or computer screen). Look what you've
accomplished!
It’s important that you end the session still feeling positive and excited about
what you’re writing. Hemingway always stopped at a place where he could leave
himself something to start with the next day, something to look forward to. Do
the same. Jot down where you want to pick up the next time and stop.
Work your way up to the count that feels right, through practicing the above
exercise. The amount of time you spend lost in your enthusiasm (sometimes even
the nervousness) for what you're writing will get longer and longer the more you
stick with it.
We all really love writing. It's not the act itself, it's the fear that
everything we produce will stink and everyone will find out. Pssst, let me tell
you a secret: everybody writes garbage. I'm including the greats too. Except
maybe Shakespeare. Some publisher should dig up some of this bad writing from
the best writers of our time and publish it. It would make us all feel better.
Here's another tip-- Stop trying to impress the people in your head.
Whoever they are. Who cares what they think? This is about discovering what
interesting things you have to say, what visions are in your mind's eye. Maybe
they don't come out as polished as you'd like, but they are still important.
You're not going to write a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel right out of the gate.
Give yourself a break. Just get it on paper. You can fix it later in the editing
process. If you've got a blank page, you've got nothing. Can't give a haircut or
new hairstyle to a person who is completely bald, right?
I'm giving you a free pass to write garbage. In fact, that's your first
assignment. See what truly awful stuff you can write. I dare you.
As for writing every day: Promise yourself you'll write three or four days a
week and stick to it. If you end up not writing for a week or even two months,
and the next time you do you really enjoy it-- and end up writing for two weeks
straight before taking a break-- I'd consider that a successful writing
practice.
I believe what keeps you writing is that electric loss of self-- when you're
inside the experience, flowing with your thoughts and vision-- even if that
feeling only lasts for ten minutes.
It’s the process, not the product. Stop when you're still feeling good.
Leave yourself wanting more.
By the way, the word count for this article is 796. Not 2,000 but who cares?
What matters is: I wrote today. Did you? More importantly: did you have fun?
Good for you. Write it on a Post-it note and slap it on your computer screen.
Make sure you use lots of exclamation points. You deserve it.
Christine Stewart is an artist-in-residence with Creative Alliance in
Baltimore. She has an M.F.A. and M.A. in creative writing and poetry, is the
recipient of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize nominee, and has been
published in Poetry, Ploughshares, and other literary magazines. She mentors and
leads private workshops for adults and teens, and has taught writing in the
extension programs at Los Angeles Valley College and Pasadena City College in
California. Check out her website at:
www.therealwriter.com.
