Word Count-O-Meter

I would like to direct your attention to my new word count-o-meter in the sidebar. I read Writing Fiction for Dummies recently and Ingermanson recommends setting a weekly writing goal and a suitable punishment for not reaching that goal.

Unemployed student that I am I’ve set the (perhaps overly ambitious) goal of 10,000 words a week. Once I finish the first draft I’ll abandon the weekly word count for editing. That’s 2,000 every weekday. Last week went very well, I finished in plenty of time and had lots of time off too.

this week however is a different story, only about 3,000 words done so far and a busy weekend ahead. Which brings me to the punishment end of things.

For every week that I don’t reach my goal I lose €50. I have to put it into a savings account that I’m not allowed touch until the whole novel is finished and ready to be sent off to publishers and agents. what better motivation could there be in a recession?