Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Word Count Calendar (of Cuteness)



Heyo, happy ... *checks calendar* ... Tuesday. So, word count calendar. This is a brilliant idea I band-wagoned onto after hearing Victoria Schwab and Erin Bow discussing it on Twitter. Victoria said something like it was the single greatest writing advice she knew, which is like a sidebar headline that screams to a writer: READ ME! I AM THE SECRET!

Like most writing "secrets," you still have to do allllll the work yourself, sigh. But would we have it any other way? The only other way I would have it is to be able to go to the future and pick up my completed manuscript from myself and carry it back in time with me :-) But I'm sure such a technology would destroy the world in too many ways to count, so let's not go there. Unless it was just me that had it. I would be mostly responsible with it. Of course, in my time-related day dreams (of which there are many), I am the only one with the gift, and the rest of you have to shift for yourselves. Sorry. 

ANYWAY. This trick is really good and really, really simple: 

  • Get a calendar, or if you're me and it's fall and you don't have a calendar, print a calendar page off the internet. 
  • Get stickers. The ladies aforementioned mostly use stars. I didn't have stars, but I did have cute animals*, and it's like I'm populating a small adorable town, adding one resident at a time. Guys, meet Chimmy, he's a drummer! And look, Geronimo is going to a birthday party!
  • When you write a thousand words (or however many you decide your goal will be), put a sticker on the day. Repeat. 



There are rules. You only get the sticker for a thousand words completed that same day. Every day you start fresh. Some of those blank dates above, I may have written 900 words. No sticker. It's a really good incentive to get in that last 100 words. I want my sticker! Many nights since I started this trick, I've bullheadishly pursued my sticker where otherwise I'd have yawned and gone to bed. Last night, I hit 2k at precisely midnight, and introduced Tiny raccoon to the community. (Hi, Tiny!)

Some of those blank dates, I may have been revising: taking apart and putting back together. I revise heavily as I go, so there will be days when the calendar doesn't show a lot of progress, and when I look at it I see glaring blank spaces, but I know why they're there. Still, the blank spaces do glare, and worse, they mope, like: Why don't I get an animal? Don't you love me? I'm so emptyyyyy... And this is the point. To create a physical, easy-to-see record of achievement. Or, you know, lack of it.

Try it. It's a good trick. Thanks for the tip, ladies!

Speaking of these ladies, Victoria's latest novel, Vicious, came out last month. It's her first novel for adults and is a completely engrossing tale of super powers -- a fascinating look at what the fallout might be if flawed, actual humans were to acquire them. Read it! And Erin's second novel, Sorrow's Knot, comes out today, and I don't have my hands on it yet, dangit! Her first book, Plain Kate, will forever live on my favorites shelf. It was, for me, a perfect reading experience: the happy, alchemical blending of gorgeous prose, original imagination, and heart. So I can't wait to read this one. 







P.S. The illustrator of the animal stickers is Marc Boutavant from France, who did the wonderful wonderful book Around the World with Mouk, and many others. And stickers!






11 comments:

Mara Rae said...

Love this idea! And I have those stickers!! I bought them in Spain and have been too stingy to use them on cards for other people bc they're all so cute. Now I have a great excuse to use them (on myself - ha!).

megwrites said...

I think that anything this adorable will definitely help me with my writing! :)

Q said...

I have been writing 750 words/day on a first draft with a little checkmark system similar to this (but less cute) since the end of August and it has been the BEST THING EVER. First drafts are hard and not very fun for me, but no makeup days and no excuses means I actually get my writing done--since I set this goal, I haven't missed a day yet, and I usually end up writing more like 800 words. Those extra fifty words/day really add up! It's an awesome system and I love it. Next time I'm drafting, I'll probably do stickers because stickers are fun.

Connie Onnie said...

Those stickers are the cutest stickers I have ever seen.

Jenn said...

I do that, but word count goals have never worked for me--the only word count related thing that works for me is a word limit--instead, I set daily scene goals. If I get through to the end of the scene I set as my goal for that day, then I get a sticker. :)

Rhiannon Nee-Salvador said...

Great idea! And the best thing about it is that you could change the target word count to suit your goals. Really hardcore writers might deny themselves a sticker until they reach 5,000 words. Plus, it's an excuse to go sticker shopping. :)

Laurence King said...

What a perfect idea! Just what I need to boost my writing...and have an excuse to go visit that cute store around the corner from me; they have the best stickers ever :)

Jillian Schmidt said...

I also just started using this idea thanks to Victoria's tweets and vlog! Nothing can beat the cuteness of your woodland creatures (Seriously, nothing. They are AMAZING! I just keep scrolling up and grinning) but I found some pretty charming cartoon monster stickers for myself, so here's hoping my calendar turns into a well-populated monster town!

Vyki @ On The Shelf said...

This is such an awesome and motivating idea! Now, I just gotta decide which stickers to go with :-)

Lee Wind, M.Ed. said...

It is an adorable tip!
thanks, Laini!

Gita said...

After a week of being sick with walking pneumonia, I finally made my way back to my desk on Monday. It was hard, though, getting back into it. You know that feeling, when you're shaking the padlocked gates that lead to your world and shouting, "Let me in"? Still, the stickerless calendar motivated me. Today when I hit word count I actually said aloud (only my cat heard), "Yay! I get a sticker!" I may also have clapped my hands.

Sometimes as a writer I feel there's not much of a sense of progress, and no one to pat you on the back for the small, important successes...this tip changed that for me! Thank you so much for sharing it and your experience.

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