A few posts ago I mentioned that I was compelled to write longhand as inspiration had dried up and there were too many distractions… but I’ve slid back into my old type-ster ways.  It’s all because of word count.

The new Microsoft Word 2007 has a feature that displays the word count as you type at the bottom of the screen.  During Nanowrimo, of course, I am constantly keeping track of how many words I’ve typed to meet my quota for the day.  Lately I’ve been doing the same thing, although I have set myself a more reasonable goal.  1,000 words per day.  It’s about 4 pages, so it’s quite a bit but not as much as in November.  Plus I don’t always have a chance to write every day. 

It’s fun to write write write and look down and see that the word count has crossed over that 1,000 word mark.  If I started the writing session with just over 13,000 words and I find that I now have over 14,000, it’s a nice feeling of accomplishment.  Four handwritten pages, on the other hand, leave you with writing cramps, and then you type it up and it’s only two pages or something.  Disappointment all around.

I’ve been so excited with my current work-in-progress, Hitchhikers, that I’ve lost track a teensy bit with my New Year’s Resolution mission to submit like crazy to editors and agents and get something published this year.  Hopefully this long weekend will give me a chance to get some submission packages ready to mail out.