“Words Per Day” vs. “Days of Words”
Writers love to count.
Word counts. Writing streaks. Minutes in the chair. Hours spent “researching” (an overly generous term, sometimes).
And don’t get me wrong—metrics can be useful. But some of them do more harm than good.
Take one of the most common: Words per day.
The Trouble with “Words Per Day”
On paper, it’s simple.
You write 1,000 words today. Great. You feel good. You’re a “real writer.”
But what about tomorrow?
If you only write 200, do you feel like you failed?
If you write nothing, is the whole day a loss?
This is where the metric backfires. It encourages an all-or-nothing mindset. You either hit the target or you didn’t. You’re either productive or you’re not.
The irony? Focusing on word count makes many writers write less.
It creates a false growth mindset—”I must do more, More, MORE.”
Worst case, you prioritise quantity over quality.
The Shift: “Days of Words”
Try this instead:
Track how many days you wrote. Not how much.
That’s it.
If you wrote 100 words today? That counts.
If you opened the doc, moved a paragraph around, and made a note in the margin? That counts.
Because the truth is, momentum matters more than output.
Ten mediocre writing days will get you further than one “perfect” session followed by a week of self-loathing.
You’re Building a Pattern, Not a Performance
Creative work thrives on rhythm.
Not hustle. Not sprints. Not guilt.
Consistency beats intensity.
The goal is to become the kind of person who shows up—even for ten minutes—more often than not. Because that’s what builds trust with your future self. That’s how books get written.
What does showing up look like?
Document open.
Everything else closed (or at least minimised).
Yes, that includes Reddit and Discord.
Hands on keyboard, words appearing on your screen.
That’s showing up.
How I Track It
I keep it simple:
- Wrote today? Yes or no.
- I don’t care if it felt “good”.
- If I showed up, it counts.
What I’m tracking is identity. Not productivity.
Over time? The words accumulate anyway. Funny how that works.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I track word count as well. It does matter. I compare yesterday to today; I hope for tomorrow to be better.
The spreadsheet I use also tracks a rolling 7 day average word count and a rolling 30 day average word count.
The more days I show up? The higher those averages are.
Showing up matters more.
Call to Action
Try this:
For the next two weeks, forget your word count. OK, I know you can’t do that—but at least try to deprioritise it a bit.
Focus on tracking your “Days of Words.” Look for streaks of days where you showed up consistently.
Then, look at your overall word count changes after those streaks.
See what I mean?