Writing Word Counts

My current individual "word" stats are listed below. Happy counting!

MARCH 2024

  • 03/29/24: 2,617 (LOI)

  • 03/27/24: 1,026 (LOI)

CURRENTLY WORKING ON:

*KEY: "LOI" = Limb of Iniquity by Deborah O'Toole writing as Deidre Dalton.

 "Limb of Iniquity" by Deborah O'Toole writing as Deidre Dalton. 

Other books in the works: Celtic Fragments (sequel to Celtic Remnants), and Spirit of the Ossuary (sequel to The Crypt Artist).

"Celtic Fragments" by Deborah O'Toole (sequel to "Celtic Remnants"). Click on image to view larger size in a new window.    "Spirit of the Ossuary" by Deborah O'Toole (sequel to "The Crypt Artist"). Click on image to view larger size in a new window.


About Writing Word Counts

If I wasn't an author, I'd probably be a statistician. It's just in my nature to organize and track data of all kinds, especially information pertinent to my writing and all else related. I'm a Virgo, which might explain the tendency.

Since May 2010, I've kept track of my writing word counts. The process was inspired by the Inkygirl Wordcount Challenge. I try not to put pressure on myself in order to keep the creative juices flowing, and always forgive myself if I fall short of the challenge.

Inkygirl Wordcount Challenge

Someone once asked me if it was time-consuming to track daily word counts, inferring it was an unnecessary task. However, the process takes mere seconds when using Microsoft Word. I can track entire documents, words as I type them or specific selections (such as paragraphs and sentences) with the click of a mouse.

For instance, the above paragraph contains fifty-three words. In Microsoft Word, simply select the text to be counted and glance at the status bar at the bottom of the page. If it's a large document but you only want to count specific text, the status bar will read "53/650" (text selected as opposed to the word count of the entire document). It's quick, easy and painless. Therefore, not time-consuming in the least.

Writers who plan to submit their work to traditional publishers typically have to provide a manuscript word count anyway, so keeping track from the get-go is a good idea.