I’ve been doing this for years, not just since writing fulltime. Over the years I’ve kept one of those desk calendars that show a week at a view. And over the years, I’ve always posted the word count for my latest WIP. It’s sometimes neat to look back five years ago and see some weeks that were empty and some weeks that were full. 

The above shot shows last week. If you’re wondering about what that calendar is, it’s from the Stephen King Library. They always have random tidbits of info on King. You can see that I’m making good progress on my WIP. 2,000 words isn’t an extraordinary amount in a given day, but the question is whether they’re good words. The question is also whether they serve the story. 

I’ve been monitoring my word counts and my progress on stories for years now–maybe for a decade or so. I do it because this is way to motivate me. When I turn a page on another week and see a completely empty week, then it forces me to get busy. On those days when I would work a long and busy week in the corporate world, I would still do this. Even if the only marking came on a Saturday. Still, it feels good to write something down. 

The other good thing is that you can see how a novel or a book does come together. It might seem like it will take forever, but the words add up. 

Find ways to motivate yourself with your work-in-progress. Set the goals but also figure out ways to achieve them. This is one I use that’s helped me keep going.