Sunday, March 11, 2012

Word counters


Does anyone else use a word counter when working on a novel or story? If you know the length you're aiming for (in words or chapters), it's fun to watch the little counter inching along towards your goal.

I usually use Ticker Factory. It's got a lot of different styles to play with, so the counter can be customized for any setting. Here's the one for the book I'm working on right now:




Now, back to writing.

5 comments:

leegomez said...

I'm getting a word counter for my new project. It's nice to be able to see progress graphically. (Plus it makes me MAKE progress, LOL.)

Randall said...

I tried using a counter, but I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to know how long the book was supposed to be when I hadn't written it yet.

Marian Perera said...

Lee - Exactly. I like that I can see visible progress being made. Hmm, maybe I should use that for sending out job applications too, set myself a quota and keep adding to it.

Randall - I aimed for 110,000 words, which is probably 10,000 words too many. It's a good number for a romantic fantasy.

Rafael said...

I don't, because I can't stand word counts. They simply not for me.

Barbara Martin said...

I use one I got from nanowriting one November several years ago. Though I've only used it while drafting new work. If one can write or edit every day then it makes sense to use one, but if not, or when you see how little you did, it can get a bit frustrating. Though better to get the sentences as perfect as possible in the beginning rather than have to go back and edit only to find you've reduced the work count.