Friday, March 9, 2012

Word Count Widgets


A while ago, I wanted to add word count widgets to the sidebar of my blog.  I saw them on other people's sites and thought it was a great way to track progress without talking about it all the time. 

I used to be a software developer.  I thought I would make my own widgets.  But it turns out the skills left me sometime over the last year.  

So I found the ones on the sidebar from someone else's blog and followed the link.  Svenja developed them for NaNoWriMo.  I've been using these for a while - and love them.  I think they're pretty and easy to update. 

The reason I write about it today?  The word count goal on the widget for my current WIP used to be 50K.  Now it's 75K.  I doubt anyone noticed, but it's a big deal for me.

This time last year I couldn't imagine writing anything longer than 42K.  The programmer inside of me likes to keep things concise and efficient, so that tiny little word count seemed perfect to me.  I whined when I realized that didn't make a novel, only a novella (unless I'm writing for the eight year old crowd, which I sometimes do). 

I will only write novellas and children's stories. It is what it is, I told myself.

Then I added some chapters to that first adult novel/novella - it needed more conflict.  The word count rose to 66K, a number I had never imagined I could reach.

By this weekend, maybe today (but probably not), I will cross the 40K word mark on my current WIP.  It will be nowhere near done at 50K words, so I quietly upped the word count goal on my cute little widget to 75K.  Only a year ago, that seemed impossible for me.

Do you have any stories of surpassing your own expectations?  Know of any good word count widgets?

20 comments:

  1. Didn't know you used to design software!
    I definitely surpassed expectations during NaNo 2010. Thought there was no way I could write fast enough to win, but I did!

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    1. I did - for more than ten years. Finishing NaNo is huge.

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  2. The one I'm soon to publish has definitely passed all my expectations. I'm still polishing it and when I go back and read certain things, I'm like 'damn girl, that's good. There's no way you wrote that."

    Smiles to you and have a happy weekend!

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    1. That's awesome! That's got to be a great feeling. I can't wait to read it. Have a great weekend!

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  3. That's an awesome achievement, I am graduating to writing novellas and novels(still dicey) from shorts and poetry. I have made some progress but a long way off...
    There are more word widgets, one fro the critique circle and one which needs a facebook login, don't remember off hand.

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    1. I think that's a logical progression - short stories and poems to novellas then novels. Each thing I write gets a little longer.

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  4. Congratulations!! I'm so happy for you that you made that leap in knowing what you have the capability to do!

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  5. The widgets are very cool. My philosophy is that you don't reinvent the wheel. If there's a good one out there, use it!

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    1. I agree, but it's fun to create something like that from scratch...if I could just remember how. Also great way to put off adding to the word count.

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  6. Excellent, Tonja. I went from writing behemoths to lowering my word count. Which was quite a feat for me...to go the other way. The sidebar thingies are cool. Have a great weekend.

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    1. I'm in awe of people who write the big novels.

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  7. I always wondered how you get that widget. Thank you for sharing. I always find that I tend to overwrite. For me it is much harder to cut back.

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    1. I wish I could remember where I saw it first. I'm the opposite - when I edit, my word count always goes up. That's how I wrote software too - basic, fundamental, functional parts first, then add the extras later.

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  8. We live in a world of widgets!!
    I found your blog listed on the A to Z Challenge. I'm trying to start visiting everyone early since there are a ton of blogs! I'm your newest follower. *smile*
    Giggle, Laugh, Cry

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    1. 'World of Widgets' would make a funny title or a web site for widgets.

      I bet there are a lot of entries by now for A-Z. I wrote 6 posts already - I think I need to back off on the caffeine. Thanks for the follow.

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  9. I had to laugh at this post. I can't imagine writing anything under 100K. It's a problem. :))

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    1. Wow. That is a lot of words strung together. :) But it seems like publishers like the big word count, don't they?

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  10. I totally exceeded my own expectations the first time I finished a book I was writing. It was about fairies and it's not something I published, but it made me believe I could actually do it. I know NOTHING about widgets and that's the way I like it! :-)

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