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Wordcount Tracking

Of all the (very few) things I don't hate about the new NaNoWriMo website, the simple wordcount updater is one of them. I hit the plus sign, enter my new total and click update, and I'm done. I also hunted around to see where the verification widget is now. According to what I read in the forums they've done away with it. So I no longer have to cut and paste my manuscript to get the win at the end of November. I think this is going to lead to a bit of cheating, but according to the forums some people had already been cheating on the old site, so there you go.

One thing does puzzle me: why would anyone cheat at NaNoWriMo? So they can win? To impress friends? To get the t-shirt? I cannot fathom this.

Anyway, to plan and track my wordcount goals these days I use Excel. It does all the math for me, and generates a list I can print out and put on my desk if I think I need daily visual prodding. A wordcount spreadsheet is especially helpful when you're adding to a WIP that was already in progress, as I am. I've uploaded a copy of the one I made for Twenty-One here.

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nightsmusic said…
I'm terrible at anything more than adding and subtracting in math. I also don't use Excel because except for the most basic of things, I can't use that either. I keep track of word count in Word and a running total every day. That's the best I can do.

I don't know why people cheat at NaNo. Frustration? A need to impress others in a writers group? Getting to display the badge? Who knows? People do the most ridiculous things for the worst reasons.
November 6, 2019 at 8:56 AM
the author said…
I use Excel for my tax ledger and wordcounts but that's about it. I used to do Lotus spreadsheets way back in the Jurassic era when we had to back up everything on those huge floppy discs. :)

It confuses me to think that anyone would want to cheat at NaNo in the first place; I can't get past that to the why part. It's ridiculous.
November 7, 2019 at 8:57 AM
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