A big shout out today to long-time writer buddy Allison Pang for the release today of the third book in her Abby Sinclair series, A Trace of Moonlight. Makes me all nostalgic because it seems like just a short time ago that I was reading the first chapters of what became the first book, A Brush of Darkness, and giving her feedback.
Also, Carolyn Crane’s Mr. Real is out today! You read all about her cover trials before here.
I know a lot of you are heading into NaNoWriMo, the national novel-writing month, where people attempt to write 50,000 words in November. I don’t really like to do NaNoWriMo, because I find I’m happier if I can create and sustain a more regular writing schedule than a big one-month push. But a lot of people love it – especially the camaraderie and feeling like part of a team.
Me? I love my spreadsheets. And, because I’m sometimes asked, I decided to share a whittled-down version of my Progress Count spreadsheet. (I hope the sharing works – I *think* I uploaded it correctly.) Here it is:
Jeffe Kennedy Progress Count template
I say this is whittled down because my actual workbook has 15 tabs, with various works in progress. So, for template’s sake, I included just Rogue’s Possession, which I just finished drafting, and Ruby, which is underway.
On the first tab, the Overall page, is where I track all the words I do for each week. I recently decided to start tracking by month and year, too, just for grins. However, I just added that last week, so the October count is likely a little short. But it’s a close estimate. The Overall tab also adds in my blog post writing for each day, which I think totally counts. My minimum effort for any week is 7,000 words.
Ruby is the next tab because that’s the one actively underway. I pretty much only work on one thing at a time – unless a deadline interferes. For example, if my editor sends me edits and says “can I have these back by Tuesday?” or if Agent Pam says “they’d like to see a sample chapter.” And yes, in those cases, I absolutely move that book’s tab into the space of honor.
That’s just how I roll.
Ruby’s tab is still set for yesterday, because I haven’t dug in for today’s wordcount.Rogue’s Possession is empty because it’s done for now.
But feel free to play with this. I have lots of formulas and conditional formatting, because I love to see things turn green. Ask me questions here, if you like, and I’ll try to explain my reasoning.
Happy Word Counts!
Ooooh, I’m a spreadsheet junkie, so this made my writer’s heart go all atwitter. I love that it’s so detailed and overflowing with formulas. Thanks for sharing!
Let me know if you have other ideas, Lacey!
Oh my word Jeffe. Once my eyes stopped crossing and I started clicking around with the template, this is LOVELY. Many years ago when I was a bookkeeper for a local artist, she insisted on using Excel for her billing. I, being a total newbie at Excel, had to figure this out in a week. Good times, only not at all. D: This looks muuuch better. 😀
I’m glad you like it, Lex!
Oooh! Spreadsheets make my little heart go pitter-patter!
I know what you like!