Where can I find a word-count tool to track my writing goals?
August 26, 2013 4:39 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for a word-count tool that will allow me to: set a goal for words written by a specific date, enter in the words I have written each day, see how many words I remaining toward my goal, and how many words I will need to average each day to reach my goal.
I participated in NaNoWriMo last year and found the tracking tool on the front page very helpful. It did what I described above but I have not been able to find anything that does exactly that. Most word-count tools I have found only let me enter the amount of words I have written, but do not put those words in the context of a particular goal in a set period of time.
I feel incredibly stupid using an Ask but I can't find anything that is exactly what I'm looking for.
I would like this to be an Android or web app, though I have access to iOS if there's something good for an iPad.
I participated in NaNoWriMo last year and found the tracking tool on the front page very helpful. It did what I described above but I have not been able to find anything that does exactly that. Most word-count tools I have found only let me enter the amount of words I have written, but do not put those words in the context of a particular goal in a set period of time.
I feel incredibly stupid using an Ask but I can't find anything that is exactly what I'm looking for.
I would like this to be an Android or web app, though I have access to iOS if there's something good for an iPad.
I can't tell for sure without creating an account, but this looks like it'll do the trick.
posted by O9scar at 5:09 PM on August 26, 2013
posted by O9scar at 5:09 PM on August 26, 2013
Best answer: This is something you could do very easily in Excel (or Google Docs)
First, make column A a list of dates from [start date] to [end date] (you can do this by putting in the first 2 dates, selecting them, and then dragging down from the right corner as far as you need to)
Leave column B blank -- that's where you'll put your total word count every day.
Then, over to the right, make a little box, 6 cells long, and 2 cells wide, for your summary. You want to label cells (in the left-hand of the 2 cells) the following:
Current Date:
Total Goal:
Total Complete:
Total to Go:
Days Remaining:
Avg per day Needed:
To the right of each, of those, you want (in order)
=TODAY() [this will put the current date in a cell -- it will update to the current date whenever you open the doc]
=[put your goal here, 50,000 or whatever]
=sum(B2:B31) [or whatever range will eventually hold all of your days of word counts]
=[total goal] - [total complete]
=[the last date on your list, which is the due date] - [the cell holding today()]
=[total to go]/[days remaining]
Then, as you update your word count every day, the other cells will automatically update with your progress, your words remaining, and the average needed per day.
Let me know if that doesn't make any sense -- I'm happy to email you a sample doc that you can modify as you like.
posted by brainmouse at 6:00 PM on August 26, 2013 [3 favorites]
First, make column A a list of dates from [start date] to [end date] (you can do this by putting in the first 2 dates, selecting them, and then dragging down from the right corner as far as you need to)
Leave column B blank -- that's where you'll put your total word count every day.
Then, over to the right, make a little box, 6 cells long, and 2 cells wide, for your summary. You want to label cells (in the left-hand of the 2 cells) the following:
Current Date:
Total Goal:
Total Complete:
Total to Go:
Days Remaining:
Avg per day Needed:
To the right of each, of those, you want (in order)
=TODAY() [this will put the current date in a cell -- it will update to the current date whenever you open the doc]
=[put your goal here, 50,000 or whatever]
=sum(B2:B31) [or whatever range will eventually hold all of your days of word counts]
=[total goal] - [total complete]
=[the last date on your list, which is the due date] - [the cell holding today()]
=[total to go]/[days remaining]
Then, as you update your word count every day, the other cells will automatically update with your progress, your words remaining, and the average needed per day.
Let me know if that doesn't make any sense -- I'm happy to email you a sample doc that you can modify as you like.
posted by brainmouse at 6:00 PM on August 26, 2013 [3 favorites]
You also may want to expand those last to to:
Days Remaining (including today):
Days Remaining (after today):
Average per day Needed (including today):
Average per day Needed (after today):
You'll want to add 1 to the original days remaining forecast to get the (including today) number. But that will help for checking early in the day (before you write, to see what you need to write) versus late in the day (after you write, to see what you need to write tomorrow).
You can also get fancy and dynamically update based on whether you have put a number in today's box or not (even if it's 0) -- again, something I'm happy to help you with if you want.
posted by brainmouse at 6:06 PM on August 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
Days Remaining (including today):
Days Remaining (after today):
Average per day Needed (including today):
Average per day Needed (after today):
You'll want to add 1 to the original days remaining forecast to get the (including today) number. But that will help for checking early in the day (before you write, to see what you need to write) versus late in the day (after you write, to see what you need to write tomorrow).
You can also get fancy and dynamically update based on whether you have put a number in today's box or not (even if it's 0) -- again, something I'm happy to help you with if you want.
posted by brainmouse at 6:06 PM on August 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
750words.com is a really cool site with tracking and data analysis.
posted by bjharl at 7:13 PM on August 26, 2013
posted by bjharl at 7:13 PM on August 26, 2013
Response by poster: Libraritarian I had forgot all about Scrivener. I'm not entirely sure that I need something so comprehensive but I'm glad to know it has that feature if I decide I need to take my story planning to the next level.
Brainmouse that's perfect. After following your instructions very carefully I was able to get it working AND I learned more about spreadsheets :D. A Google doc is perfect because I can update it anywhere and see it on my phone if I need to motivate myself while I'm not writing. I don't thin I'll need the fancier updating but if I do I'll definitely shoot you a MeMail asking for help.
posted by Tevin at 9:01 PM on August 26, 2013
Brainmouse that's perfect. After following your instructions very carefully I was able to get it working AND I learned more about spreadsheets :D. A Google doc is perfect because I can update it anywhere and see it on my phone if I need to motivate myself while I'm not writing. I don't thin I'll need the fancier updating but if I do I'll definitely shoot you a MeMail asking for help.
posted by Tevin at 9:01 PM on August 26, 2013
I came here to post the same question. I wish they would break off the very cool and graphic NaNoWriMo word count charts and graphs as a separate app.
posted by Outlawyr at 10:28 AM on November 1, 2013
posted by Outlawyr at 10:28 AM on November 1, 2013
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Scrivener lets you set word-count targets up to a deadline and/or for each session. It'll also calculate how much you need to write in each session in order to meet your target goal by your deadline. You can do this for a project as a whole, or within a specific section of a document. Here's a nice explanation of how that works. Also, if you are planning a NaNo project for this year, you can get a free trial edition of Scrivener for the month of November (right now the link goes to the trial version for Camp NaNo, but I assume it'll change over as November approaches).
posted by libraritarian at 4:59 PM on August 26, 2013