Of the myriad ways to measure your productivity as a writer, one of the most straightforward and objective is your word count. It’s also a significant metric for classification and marketing of your work, because different genres and formats each have their own traditional sweet spots. And it just feels great to tell people that your novel is more than 100,000 words, because they react as it that means it’s good. Perhaps the reaction is more properly construed as, “You must take all this very seriously,” or, “Wow, you really don’t have much of a life.” But it feels good all the same.

The danger of obsessing about word count, of course, is if the writing’s no good you’re just generating more of something no one will want. Your focus should always be on quality, not quantity. In fact, using fewer words is often a hallmark of stronger writing. Brevity is the soul of wit, or so it’s said. (Clichés count double!)

We recently celebrated the completion of the first draft of our new novel, which we accomplished faster than any of the previous ones. Practice makes perfect (remember to double that one, too) but a big part of the reason might have been Kent’s drive to “win” the word count. His claims of victory look reasonable on the surface, but he’s neglecting to include the words in the stubs, all of which go in Jen’s total.

People working together toward a common goal aren’t supposed to be competing with one another, yet they often are. If it produces conflict in the partnership, or if you’re taking the batteries out of each other’s keyboards, then it becomes counterproductive. But up to a point, some good-natured rivalry can be highly motivating. That’s how Kent sees things anyway. He knows if he can keep up with Jen he has something to feel proud of. Working by yourself, you have no one to set the pace.

How do you measure your progress? What makes you feel energized about writing?