Yesterday I jumped right into writing as soon as the kiddo was asleep. That meant that I didn’t have the opportunity to think about tracking my word count or anything like that beforehand.
Let me be frank. Every year, I plan on doing NaNoWriMo Prep. I print out workbooks from the NaNoWriMo website and other authors about how to plan and prep, everything from plotting to meal planning to the whole shebang. Literally, anything I can think of to make it easier to actually get all the words down on the page and focus just on the writing, I plan to do.
I mean, I even wrote a post about how to prep, and it’s still one of my most popular posts.
But every year, something gets in the way. Usually, October is the month we are packing up shop at the cabin and moving to our winter abode. This year was no exception.
So yeah, this is definitely something you could/should plan beforehand, but I did not.
If you are like me and looking for ways to track your word count still, maybe this will help. Here are five ways I am thinking about tracking my writing. Something I definitely should decide today.
- The Official NaNoWriMo website. This one is a no-brainer. If you want to unlock the prizes, you need to input it into their site. They also have interesting stats with a cute interface. But did you also know you can use this tracker for just all of your projects? Year-round.
- Sarra Cannon’s Preptober Workbook. Paper-lovers and spreadsheet haters rejoice! If you want a printable, paper tracker that helps make it feel like a game, this one is a good one. I have already spent too much time stanning Sarra here, but suffice it to say that she knows a lot about creating positive momentum in your writing routine and her NaNo trackers help with that.
- Artful Spreadsheet trackers by Svenja Gosen. These were my go-to trackers for years. I love the auto-fill spreadsheets and the imagery is awesome for setting the mood. She also has spreadsheets for year-round tracking and tracking individual projects. Highly recommend.
- Word Count Tracker from the 20Booksto50k Facebook Group. If you are an indie author, this group has tons of information and resources, including a well-thought out and very easy to use word count tracker. This is the one I use to track my word counts on a daily basis. It is a lot like the group — no frills, but works.
- 4thewords. This is one I have been thinking about for a while. I am a nerd who loves the gamification of everything and this app and online writing community gamifies your word count. I mean, squee! But this is the only one of the trackers mentioned here that charges a fee. That is why, up to now, I haven’t tried it. But there is a free 30 day trial that I could use for NaNo to see if the motivation of killing those cute monsters and having quests really motivates me enough to be worth the money. Have you tried it? Would you recommend it?
How do you track your word count? Are there others I should be looking into?
And of course, I’ll be tracking my word count here, too. So you can see how it’s going.
Progress:
Day 1 Word Count: 2042
Total Word Count: 2042
Met my first daily goal! Yay! Now on to Day 2!
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