Happy Thursday, writer friends!
Since we just hit the halfway mark for the year, I thought I’d run some numbers to see how I’m faring on my goals.
In addition to income goals, my main focus area for the year has been to write more and be more prolific. To that end, I’ve been tracking my daily word count and, in the first half of 2023, I wrote 169,926 words, that is, an average of 939 words per day.
I didn’t write every day, however. Of the 181 days, I only wrote for 108. Which means, that on the days I did write, I averaged 1,500+ words.
I have, for a long time, shifted away from the 1,000-words-a-day standard that keeps being perpetuated in our industry. “You must write 1000 words today” is, I believe, the reason there are so many miserable writers in this world. It’s not because 1,000 words is a high number or an unachievable target. It’s because a word count goal such as this sets you up for failure. I have averaged almost a thousand words a day in the last six months, but I would have felt like a failure for 73 of those days if I had insisted that I must hit that target every day.
1,000 words a day is a fantastic way for new writers to build discipline, but it’s not the best way to build a writing career.
I love my work. I enjoy the process of writing. I can write several hours a day, every day, if I choose to. But I often don’t. “You will write 1,000 words today” sounds like punishment, and I’m not a fan of turning things I love into processes I have to endure. It has taken me twenty years to fully embrace the idea that my way is the best way and the goal is not only achievement, but happiness.
It’s why I’ve stepped away from the idea of traditional publishing for now. I no longer believe that the publishing model serves writers long term. Regular, recurring income from books in traditional publishing is an even bigger lottery win than a million-dollar book deal. Indie publishing, on the other hand, makes it very possible, as I have already seen with my own non-fiction titles.
I finished writing a new book in June and I’m hoping to wrap another one up in July/August. I feel pretty relaxed about the publishing side of things, since I’ve decided that I won’t be releasing anything until I’ve built my email list to a certain number of subscribers. So, while I implement the business and audience building, I’m also dedicating my energy to writing. Creativity. Experimenting with new genres and styles. When the time is right, I will put all my focus and energy on publishing, but for now, I’m focusing on finishing.
My goal is to write 500,000 words by the end of the year, which is 2,000 words per day on average for the rest of the year. I’m excited for the challenge.
Cheers,
Natasha