I could—and possibly should—just leave the subject line of this post to stand for itself, because it's self-explanatory. That would make for a rather boring entry, however; so here's why I think it happens, and why writers should really, really resist the urge to inform the world how many words they've managed to get down on paper in a given span of time.
Writing is an intensely interesting—nay, fascinating—occupation to the writer, focused as he or she is on getting those words down on paper; wrestling with character, plot, setting, and description; watching as the words mount up, t
ake shape, coalesce, and eventually form a whole which will, it's to be hoped, find a home in print and delight readers. Unfortunately, writing is also one of the most intensely boring things it's possible to do with one's time, involving as it does shutting out the rest of the world and sitting in front of a computer for hours on end, with nothing to show for it day after day other than a Word file which keeps increasing in size. In days gone by one could point to a rapidly-filling notebook, or a satisfyingly thick sheaf of papers; clicking on 'word count' before saving the file isn't quite as tangible or satisfactory an equivalent.Thus it is, I think, that many writers—upon checking the day's word count—like to post the result for all to see, as if in validation: 'Look, I did accomplish something!' When I see these posts sprouting all over my Facebook wall—and as I have a lot of writer friends, they appear with monotonous regularity—I think 'Why?' I have friends who are teachers, principals, nurses, accountants, directors, waitresses, office workers; friends who work in sales, advertising, and PR; and none of them seem compelled to share the details of their working life in quite the same way writers do. Principals don't say how many in-school suspensions they handed out today; nurses don't inform us how many pills they dispensed; directors don't tell how many feet of film they managed to shoot; accountants don't tot up and then post how much in taxes they saved their clients. They know what they did, during the course of their daily round; they simply don't seem to feel the need to share it the way writers do.
It could be argued that for most people who write, writing isn't their full-time occupation; it's not a hobby, not exactly, but it isn't what they do to put food on the table. This is an even greater reason to not over-share. It's bad enough telling me how many words you got down on paper when that's what you do for a living; somehow it's worse when you're telling me how many words you wrote during your spare time. Would you be telling us how many rows of knitting you managed to finish after you'd eaten supper and cleared up the dishes? I doubt it.
The truth is, only your mother and your editor care how many words you wrote during the day; and I hate to be the one who tells you this, but your mother is lying. (She's the one who told you your first-grade paintings were wonderful, remember? Unless you grew up to be Tom Thomson or Emily Carr, she was lying t
hen too.) And your editor only cares if those 3000 words you wrote today would make Nabokov weep in joy and admiration. Odds are good that they wouldn't. Because whenever one of those 'I wrote xxx words today' posts crops up, I know that the writer is talking about raw text in a file; there's probably been little polishing, or editing, so anywhere from 25% on up of those words will not see the light of day, and what's left may end up in radically different form by the time the work is published. Yes, good for you, 3000 words in a day is great; but let me know when those 3000 words are actually publishable, and I'll be more impressed.It bears saying here: quantity does not equal quality. I'd be more impressed if that 'I wrote 3000 words today' post was followed up by one reading 'I chopped 500, my editor chopped a further 800, I rewrote 1200, and then realised that a key piece of dialogue had to be moved to earlier in the story to help it make sense.'
And I beseech you, in the bowels of the Lord, to not invoke any sort of Muse when talking about your writing. It sounds mildly twee at best, pretentious and pompous at worst, particularly when most writers aren't trying to do very much more than tell a decent story in a way that makes readers want to keep turning the page. Invoking the Muse for this process—particularly when self-aggrandisement, of the worst 'Look at me, I'm doing Important Work here!' sort lies millimeters below the surface—is rather like someone preparing Kraft Dinner and invoking the spirit of Escoffier while doing so. Whenever someone talks about being inspired by his or her Muse, I think of the Julian and Sandy skit from the BBC radio series Round the Horne in which they're running a film company called Bona Prods, and talking to Kenneth Horne about their latest production, a Biblical epic based on the story of Samson and Delilah. As Horne listens, Sandy encourages Julian to tell them about his idea for the screenplay: 'He's about to create. Look at his features; they're tortured. He's getting all worked up. Look, the Muse—the Muse is fluttering about, looking for a place to perch. There she is! Go it, girl! She's lighted on his shoulder!'
Whatever you write during the course of the day is between you and your computer. It may never see the light of day; if it does, it may bear little relation to those words you tallied up and broadcast so loudly weeks, months, or years earlier. By all means enjoy your writing, be proud of it, and feel free to let the world know when and where your words can be read. Until then, however, how many words you've written in a day is something best kept between you and your computer. And your editor, perhaps. But not your Mom. Trust me; she doesn't really want to know.
30 comments:
Thanks for this Barbara. You read my mind. xxx
Thank you Barbara for saying what I've been thinking and revealing one of the truly ugly sides of social media. (20 words)
Ha, ha, Barbara, you make me chuckle. Ever since my first NaNoWriMo experience in 2010 I don't mind reading how many words someone wrote a day, nor do I mind sharing and asking my friends for encouragement that I'll make the required 50K.
Before November 2010 nobody knew, but I averaged 500 per day, some days thousands, some times none or less than 100 for my book length projects. Articles written on assignment? Oh, well, let's not go there, I'd only bore you.
What I do mind is having to read how many words someone cut, especially when it's in several different manuscripts.
I'd rather read about plumbing problems (metaphorical or not) than that.
Hoka Hey!
I think I will leave 500 words as a comment.
Actually, nah, this just just plain awesome! (Though I got the link from a writer who is clearly kind of mad that her word counts aren't scintilating.)
We Don't Need To Know How Bitter You Are About Writer's Sharing Their Progress. Really.
I came here through someone who was annoyed by your posting. As a non-writer, I think your comment is vacuous. Those posts you don't enjoy are the modern day equivalent of ticking a line on a to-do list, running a spreadsheet to chart progress, following a pert diagram. Don't read it if you don't like it, because you are just looking at someone else's ticker and if you don't like it, you have the ability to turn it off. Or get someone who has that ability to help you.
Have a great day (from someone who posts her de-cluttering progress and cares not a whit whether anyone else reads it).
I think you're wrong about this one. Setting goals and getting validation from other writers is very important to helping me stay on task, and is to many writers I know. I care what my friends have accomplished and they care what I have accomplished. On the same topic, there's an old story that Max Perkins used to tell about seeing Thomas Wolfe walking through town one evening, singing to himself, "I wrote ten thousand words today, I wrote ten thousand words today." Validating your accomplishments publicly can be very important.
Barbara - Do those "teachers, principals, nurses, accountants, directors, waitresses, office workers; friends who work in sales, advertising, and PR" not have colleagues with whom they can discuss those work related issues?
FYI - I have directors, doctors, and teachers on my friends list who DO post things about their days, but in a format that relates to their industry(not something silly like "50feet of film used today!").
The directors post about how many SCENES they knocked over in the course of the day. The teachers talk about how many tests or assignments they have left to mark until they can switch off for the night. Doctors, about how many patients they saw (if an unusual amount) or interesting cases that crossed their desks. Editors post about how far through an edit they are.
Everyone does it.
And I would much rather read about word counts (cut or added), tests graded, scenes shot, and percentage of edit completed, than what someone had for dinner. Or passive aggressive posts of "Don't you just hate it when no one understands you?", etc.
Interesting that some of the comments from (I presume) friends of the writer mentioned above express annoyance that I'd mention such a thing. That's fine: chacun à son goût, and if you enjoy those sorts of posts, or find them edifying or interesting, then friend lots of writers on FB and have a blast. I'm more interested in reading about those words when they've been gathered together, suitably edited, and then published. You say to-MAY-toe, I say to-MAH-toe, let's call the whole thing off.
There's a difference between 'I saw x number of patients today' or 'I graded x number of tests' and 'An interesting case came up today' or 'A funny thing happened in class'. Your mileage may vary, as the saying goes, but I'm more interested in the latter than the former. Same goes for writing. (shrugs) As I said before, chacun à son goût. However, as I didn't get personal in the blog entry, I'd appreciate commenters extending the same courtesy in this direction (although as this is the Internet, the Good Ship Common Courtesy might well and truly have sailed).
And for Anonymous at 8:52: greengrocers' apostrophe alert!
I also tend to beware of people who talk a lot about their muse and needing to feel "inspired" before they can write. The more they talk about it, the more I move away quietly.
On the other hand, I'm flabbergasted at your characterization of writing as "one of the most intensely boring things it's possible to do with one's time."
Seriously? I'm not denying that some stages of writing can be boring some of the time. That's true in any job. But I have never heard any serious writer tell me that writing is a boring occupation. If it were, we wouldn't do it. The fire of a fresh idea, the delight of seeing it grow into an entirely new creation that didn't exist before, the satisfaction and pride of getting a challenging passage exactly right, and best of all, those times when the ideas or characters take over and the words pour out almost faster than you can type--all that is the reverse of boring. There's nothing I'd rather do with my time.
I'm with you on this. I find it far more interesting to read, "I managed to untangle a plot problem today!" or "Finally managed to finish the scene that's been kicking my ass all week" than "XXX words." The former two are infomative and convey something about the process and the work--something I can commiserate about, or even cheer; the later is mostly a mile marker on a trip. I don't care how many miles a trucker drove on their way to Seattle today, and I don't care how many words you wrote on your draft. Give me the occasional meaningful update over the regular taly any day.
There are a lot of inspiring things about the act of writing, and you mention most of them. However, I tend to agree with the adage about writing being 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration. Those moments when you know you've got something just right, when a piece falls into place, when you realise you've nailed a scene or character: those are indeed inspiring, and they're what keep me going when I'm writing, because most of the time it's think, type, delete, think some more, type some more, try to figure something out, delete some more, read (once again) what I've written so far to see if it all hangs together, write some more, and then repeat the whole process the next time I sit down to write. And much of it done in something like solitary confinement, inasmuch as anything more than having quiet music on in the background can be a distraction at best, an annoyance at worst (and I know some writers who can't even have music on while they write).
Douglas - Why is it so bad for a writer to do both?
I enjoy hearing about how much progress one has made on their trip, as well as any anecdotes they may have about the trip.
The people who post their word counts, or the people who are fascinated by posted word counts, are the exact same people one dreads being stuck speaking to at cocktail parties full of interesting people, or being sat next to on long plane flights.
I've never listed my word count because I find it irrelevant to anything. There have been days I banged out 5,000 or more words, other days I squeaked out 50. It matters not as long as the deadline is hit and the check clears. If it makes a writer feel better to keep score of their first draft, go for it. I personally find my daily word counts irrelevant to my final product.
At a Random House party some years ago Robert Ruark said to Truman Capote "In the time it takes you to writ one word, I could write a novel."
"Yes, Robert," Capote replied, "But it's the right word."
I wrote 0 words today.
marvelous post, Barbara. As for the bitter drivelists who replied to the negative, one can only shudder...we DON'T care if you write or not. And we certainly don't care how many words you wrote. If you're sharing, it means you're not writing. Writing is, sadly, one of the few art forms which the masses feel they can master if only they had the time. ONe wishes to reply - "and the talent".... The world doesn't need anymore writers. The world DOES need a few more good books. Anybody who does a word count isn't a writer - he/she is a bean counter with a laptop and enough money to stay in the coffee shop until closing.
btw - to "figment queen" - any director who notes how many scenes he/she has knocked off in a day is an idiot. You need to find new friends, darling.
Somewhere out there on teh internets (amongst the cats with pancakes on their heads) there is an article regarding such same topic - basically ( if memory serves ) documenting your progress is more of a motivating process than an attention getting one. If you start to log your output publicly, then the desire to maintain that is set. Kind of in the same way "Farmville" is so pointless, yet so addictive - "Hey My farm is starting to fail... and EVERYONE CAN SEE! Better do something...". Same for people who log their running, their baking prowess... whatever...
Let's face it - most Social Media is so "Full of Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing" that if someone at least gets some motivation out of it - good for them.
Personally, I don't post word counts, but as a writer, I find the word counts of others inspiring. It pushes me to write more. I also don't think writing is "the most boring thing on the planet" and it's certainly not just "typing." That would be "transcribing," not writing.
In any event, I'd rather read posts of writers' progress than posts that say "If you agree repost this." Seriously? I don't want or need to be told what to post nor do I want to recycle others' posts...
If you don't want to read word count then don't friend writers who post them. End of story.
It is a shame that you cannot appreciate that writers who share their word count are talking among their peers. I truly appreciate hearing that a professional writer gets 2000 words in a day. It is heartening to know that even with a full time job, I can match their output.
Your comments also show that you have fallen prey to the concept that a story must be edited and rearranged and totally rewritten to be any good. You just keep thinking that and ignore the many successful writers who do very little editing because they can plan the story in their head and put it down in the correct order the first time. You beleive cutting is more important than creating and that may be fine for how you write, but your way is not the only way. And before all else, a writer must write their rough draft in order to revise, cut trim, or add to it to achieve the final manuscript. It is finishing that first draft that is the unrealized goal of most want-to-be writers. NaNoWriMo has helped many writers realize that first draft. I for one applied the concept to an epic fantasy and churned out 150k words last November. From your comments you will look at that and say I must have written crap, but how can you even know. Some of our greatest writers were able to churn out large volumes in large chunks. Others take their time. I know of several writers who revise as they go and by the time they finish, they have a near final draft.
You cannot pigeon hole people into what works for you and you cannot judge the quality by how you produce quality writing.
Writing is a solitary business and social networking is the latest way for writers to network and communicate with their co-workers. Sharing word counts is a form of accountability with your peers. You may not care to hear about it, but that does not mean that it is rude or in bad taste for other writers to share their daily word count. Frankly we don't care what you think, we will share it anyway. If you were my friend on facebook (where I usually don't list my word count), your blog post would have instantly caused me to start listing it on a daily basis. Your dislike of other writers sharing that information does not make your opinion right. Show some understanding and compassion for other ways of working let people do things that interest them and help them.
I'm a peer, and I don't give a damn about other writers' word counts. Reading about them bores the shit out of me.
Anonymous at 9:47 wrote: '[Y]ou have fallen prey to the concept that a story must be edited and rearranged and totally rewritten to be any good. You just keep thinking that and ignore the many successful writers who do very little editing because they can plan the story in their head and put it down in the correct order the first time.'
I don't doubt that there are writers who are able to write a good story first time out that requires very little editing, because they've planned it out very thoroughly in their head before they begin to write. These writers are almost certainly the exception, however (as are the 'good' stories that result). Having read thousands of stories over 15 years in my capacity as editor, my own observation indicates that most writers' 'finished' stories need some editorial input, up to and including fairly extensive rewrites on occasion. (I'm not excepting my own work from this observation; I've benefited from some fine editorial input from Ellen Datlow, for example).
But wait! Two sentences later you seem to contradict yourself, by saying '[B]efore all else, a writer must write their rough draft in order to revise, cut trim, or add to it to achieve the final manuscript.' So which is it? The blanket statement that 'a writer must write their rough draft' before all else, or the observation that 'many successful writers . . . do very little editing because they can plan the story in their head and put it down in the correct order the first time.'
I do know, and appreciate, that different writers work in different ways; I don't think my original post conveyed anything different, merely allowed me to express a pet peeve of my own. And while I don't think it's rude or in bad taste for writers to post their daily word count, I do think it childish when someone announces that they would start posting that information simply to annoy someone they knew disliked it.
Congratulations on having written 150,000 words in a month; that's an undoubted achievement. I have no way of knowing - as you posted anonymously - what stage your writing career is at, but I would advise taking a look at posts that you make, and correcting obvious mistakes of spelling, grammar, and punctuation before hitting send. As a writer, all the tools of written communication are your stock in trade; try, therefore, to use them correctly in all situations (as practice for your fiction writing, if nothing else).
Sean: Heartily agree about the 'full of sound and fury' business. And if it motivates a writer to post his or her word count . . . well, okay, I guess I can see how that works. Personally, I'd sooner get flogged in the public square: just as effective a motivational tool, with the side benefit that it would be much more amusing for everyone else than if I simply posted my word count. Horses for courses, as some are wont to say.
It's a bit surprising that it took 1055 words to express such a simple and fairly inconsequential thought. There are things that annoy each of us about other people's Facebook and blog habits, but on a scale of 1 to 10, this, even as an annoyance, seems to rank around 2. If that's what it ranks with you, you need to trim some text and make your argument tighter. If it ranks higher, you need to ask yourself why.
"Colonel Colonel" (really?) your comment very likely seemed intelligent and witty at 5:19 a.m. when you posted it, but really, most of the professional writers on this thread understood exactly what Ms. Roden was saying, and why she said it, and they understood it right away.
I'm sure that to some people commenting here (especially those who think their bitchy, ill-formed, pseudonymously-expressed opinions about how a well-respected author and World Fantasy Award-winning editor and publisher expresses herself on her own blog ought to matter more than they do) the notion of posting word counts with that special "Mommy, WHAT I DID TODAY!" hubris that most people grow out of seems as natural as scratching their behinds in public.
That said, one other opinion shared by many, many professional writers is that it reeks of sweaty desperation, screams insecurity and amateurishness, and is annoying to read on social media like Facebook. Ms. Roden isn't calling for the arrest of those people, she's pointing out that obsessively posting word counts can be read as uninteresting and a little pathetic.
The fact that you didn't understand the point she was making in 1055 words (which probably seems like a very "big" number of words to you) says more about your cognitive abilities than her writing. The rest of us got it. Too bad you didn't.
For your own part, you might have tried trimming your own post and tightening it up a bit as well. Pretty much everything between "[i]t's a bit surprising" and "ask yourself why" is flabby prose, and could probably go without anyone noticing, even if you'd then have a much smaller word count to post on Facebook tomorrow.
The problem may of us have with Barbara's blog post is the bitchy nature of the comment. I know two very professional and experience authors who I follow who post their word counts. Brandon Sanderson hasn't been posting the word count, but he has been posting the percentage of A Memory of Light for each draft (as it could be guessed it would be about 300k long, it was much the same thing). So I really fail to see how this is amateurish and pathetic when professionals are sharing with their fans. Either that or writers are using facebook as a writer's group (what a way to be connected to writers in potentially every corner of the globe) and using their daily word count as a form of joint accountability.
This really isn't something to spend so much time on. If you don't like knowing that, just skip it. You don't need to read every post by every facebook friend. The perceived attitude of the blog post is the real issue here, not how many people agree or disagree. This is a complaint about something that often is of interest to many and has a valid purpose.
Everyone needs to remember that while individual opinions matter, the respect that sharing them garners is often related to how they are shared and in that I would have to say that Barbara has shown very bad judgement. She may be an editor and writer, but that doesn't excuse her from going over the line and insulting everyone who posts their daily word counts. Word counts are not a great faux pas of facebook or public etiquette. Fine, it is something some people don't care for, but I also really don't care to know that a given friends is going to business meetings to try and start some sort of business 5 time a day or that my cousin the preacher really enjoyed the soloist today when I've never heard of them and would rather listen to Madonna. So what, it is facebook. There are things these people do that I DO want to know about or I would remove them from my newsfeed or unfriend them. It isn't as if we are forced to reach each and every facbook post. It is optional and what each person puts on facebook, or their blog, or twitter, or whatever, is really up to them.
I'm just really tired of people being so bound by perceived propriety that they have to tell others how to do things. I get enough of that crap listening to the Republican candidates for president. We don't need more people dictating proper behavior, we need less. More understanding. Less insults, more cooperation.
I don't care what your pet-peeves are, just keep them to yourself and let other people make use of the internet and social media like they want.
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