Perhaps you’re not quite as obsessive over your word count as I am. But it’s important to know how you’re doing. And I do believe seeing the numbers can help. Another tool I utilize is an ultra simple spreadsheet to track my daily word count.

This does two things. Not only allowing me to see how my book is coming, but also see how much I’m writing, on what days, and when I’m not writing. Having this data will help you over the course of your career. You’ll know not to accept any deadline at the end of December because your track record shows that you have too many obligations during that month. It’ll also let you know if you do most of your writing on the weekends or during the week. Seeing hard numbers will help you make decisions later. But you need the data first, so start keeping track.

Here’s a copy of that ultra simple spreadsheet I mentioned (in Excel format): Daily Wordcount Tracker (154) (Right click and save it to your computer.) You can also use the free Google Docs service for this. When you login to Google Docs click the Upload button and select the dailywordcount.xls file.

To extend the list of dates, simply highlight the last two dates, the click on the little square at the bottom right of the two dates and drag down. This will generate future dates.