The Word Count Trap

I took years to write Blood of Two.  What was the hurry?  I have a well paying job that I enjoy; writing was a hobby.  Now, I have a deadline for the follow-up (self-imposed as it is), and writing has transformed from hobby to second job (that I love).

In order to meet my deadline I should probably have a goal of where I should be at certain time; rough draft done by a certain date, first edit done by another date, etc.  Well, I don't.  Kinda.  Sorta.  Okay, I have a rough idea of where I need to be.  For example, by May I need to be working with editors on the almost finished manuscript.  By the end of July I need to be wrapping it all up in a pretty bow, and by August I should be publishing it.  Really, really, loose goals that some writer's would cringe at, while others would be like "That's about right."

In the writing world there is a lot of discussion about word count production.  Two thousand words a day!  You have to write at least two thousand words a day.  I stick my tongue out in your general direction.

I work a sixty hour week.  According to some studys, I should be getting about 56 hours of sleep a week.  Which leaves behind 52 waking hours I am not at work.  Take those hours and subtract a little thing called life.  Unclogging a drain, paying that guy named Bill, fetching groceries, eating said groceries, actually speaking with that other person who has tolerated you and your fantasy world for 25 years, and finally just a few hours of kicking back and enjoying what you have worked for.  Not much left over for a second career in writing.

I spend anywhere from seven to fifteen hours a week on writing.  Don't make the mistake in thinking that all of those hours are spent typing the next book.  I have to sell what I have already written, so a significant amount of time is spent in the marketing arena.  Then there is research, which just baffles me; I write fantasy because I'm too lazy to do research, yet I find myself looking up things like the anatomy of a sword...  And of course, there is other prep work involved with the new novel.  Maps to be drawn up, new characters to be fleshed out, etc.  All told, I probably spend around seven hours a week actually writing the book.

So word production should be a primary goal, right?  Wrong.  Granted, my initial brain purge is crap when compared to the finished product, but if I focus on that word count on the bottom left of the screen, then my focus is not where it should be.  My focus is creating an engaging story.  If you are focused on word count, then the story could very well suffer.

This is not to say that I don't track my progress by word count.  Every night, just before I close the laptop, I will write down the word count of the novel.  Sometimes I look at that notebook page and think "Damn, did pretty good last week."  I like to see that number get larger on a daily basis; it means I am moving ahead.  The number of words I write each night fluctuates between 900 and 3000.  I am happy with either number (though admittedly ecstatic with 3000).

Of course, I work in the Quality department at my regular job, so quality before quantity is embedded in my being.  Just don't get caught up in that word count trap.  If you have a smile on your face when you finish up for the evening, then I think that alone is worth 2000 words.

Shameless plug:  Blood of Two, Book One in the Drums of Rallinwar series by C. Hollis Gunter is available where e-books are sold.  Check it out at outlets such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Deisel, and Smashwords.  Read it, rate it, review it.