For those of you following this (and oddly, many of you in addition to Mom seem to be) Week 2 of trying to write more often in shorter sessions was a great success. I produced a lot (though tracking the number of words produced continues to be misleading). I wrote on 5 days this week, which was the goal, and produced a paper that (I think) is of high quality.
However, I have already figured out ways to game the system (strange how easy it is to wrap your brain around cheating yourself).
First, my goal was to write each weekday, not any five days, so that my life retains some semblance of balance (Ha!). This week, teaching took over one day so I worked on Saturday night after my daughter went to sleep. This meant movie night with Mr. Me didn’t happen. Long term, this is probably not good.
Second, the larger problem with tracking the number of words produced is that I could dither indefinitely on the same paper and still meet my goals for the week. I’ve decided, then, to set more global goals for myself. This week it was to send a paper to some colleagues for their comments, prior to (hopefully) sending it out for review. This week, I accomplished this. Next week’s goal, is to actually make the ASA submission deadline this year (though I clearly will not be spending any more time trying to cut said paper down to 20 pages).
I noticed the same problem with tracking words. It’s led to a misplaced obsession with the “tools/word count” drop-down. Sort of analogous to “Can you hear me now?”: “Did I write enough yet? Did I write enough yet? Did I write enough yet?”
Also, since I overwrite and over-explain, I’m worried that a “word count” approach alone won’t exactly encourage economy. So I need to view the word count as a single tool in a set of tools that I use only for the purpose of attaining a larger “goal,” as you’ve done.
I, too, agree with the wordcount. This past November, I participated in International Dissertation Writing Month by pledging 20,000 words. I didn’t hit my goal, but I did get a lot done. If I had stuck to focusing on words, I would have ended the month with a lot of rough draft and no finished products (editing tends to reduce the word count).
And I can’t speak for the other readers, but I diligently follow other people’s posts about their writing processes, because this is usually so secretive. People tend to carefully guard their writing until it is presentable, and heaven forbid we talk about how we go about getting things done!
Good luck with figuring this out. Getting a good writing routine makes such a difference. I have to do it first thing in the morning for a set amount of time.
A page a day, a book a year, and all that.
Trying to track words would drive me bonkers, since sometimes I need to compose & sometimes edit. For me it would be immediate goal displacement.
I think I may stop tracking words soon — it’s too easy for me to game the system and I’m a ridiculously wordy person anyway. Or maybe I’ll keep tracking it but as a quality measure (more words=worse writing). My average blog post is 3 long paragraphs, for goodness sake.
BTW, nice to hear from you, Brad. I very much enjoy your blog, especially the bucolic CT pictures.
[...] words continues to be unhelpful. It also appears to be a measure of poor writing quality, a common experience according to the comments on my last report. I’m still hesitant to stop tracking them this early on. I worry that if I just concentrate [...]