Today is a special day, as it marks a full month since I started my little writing experiment. I’ve written every single day for the past 30 days, and while I wouldn’t go as far as saying it has changed my life, it’s definitely had some positive effects.

When I started this experiment, my aim was to try to reach 1000 words per day. I’ll tell you right now, I only made it to 1000 a handful of days–less than a handful. I was actually averaging about 566. While that’s not so impressive, I’ve probably written more in these past 30 days then I have all last year.

As a result of writing everyday:

• I am up to 16,000+ words, which is far exceeds my goal of reaching 10,000 by June 30th
• I’m on the verge of finishing a second draft of a short story I’ve been sitting on for at least a year
• I’ve published 8 blog posts (not including this one)
• And I’ve been getting up on time every morning feeling excited for the day

I feel very proud of myself. Writing has always been something I’m passionate about. It’s something that has gotten me through the hard times and has helped me celebrate the good ones.

My Writing Guidelines

In case you’re interested in trying a daily word challenge for yourself, I thought I would share a few of my writing guidelines.

1. Setting and Sticking to a Daily Word Count Goal

In the past, I used to set firm goals for myself. By firm I mean specific and unwavering. For example: I will write 1000 words every day. While that sounds like a great goal, if there was ever a day I didn’t reach 1000, I would lose motivation.

That is why I set up a tiered goal system. Every day, I would try to reach one of the three word counts:

• Top: 1000
• Middle: 500
• Lower: 250

This tiered goal setting system kept me from getting discouraged from not hitting 1000 words a day, helped me maintain my daily writing habit, and kept me on track to reaching my larger goal of 10,000 words by June 30th. In addition to that, this type of daily goal setting makes it easier to account for the unexpected twists and turns of life.

I suggest trying it out for yourself. Experiment with lowering the number count of each teir (or raising it if you’re feeling spicy).

2. Keep Track of Your Word Count

Immediately after I get a little writing done, I record my word count. This helps keep me accountable and honest when hitting one of my word count levels. Plus, there is something about seeing that number go up that is tangible and motivating.

I’m sure there are thousands of apps out there to help writers do this, but I tend to stick with the tools readily available to me: Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft Loop.

As for how to calculate your word count, if you don’t know, both Microsoft Word and Google Docs have functions for doing this! For Microsoft Word, your word count should automatically be displayed in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. For Google Docs, this function can be found under tools!

3. Make Time for Editing

You may be asking where does time spent editing fit into all this. I simply convert the minutes spent editing into x number of words. Is this cheating? Maybe. But it’s my life, and I’ll do what I want with it.

You might think that this is bolsters my word count, but the way I convert time to word count is more than fair. An hour editing counts for 500 words written. For comparison, in the past 20 minutes, I’ve managed to write 412 words of this blog post. Twenty minutes spent editing would count for only 160 words.

I hope some of you find this system helpful. It has really helped me. Thank you again for following me through this month long journey. I hope you continue to follow me, as I continue to write and strive for higher goals.

If you are wanting to join me in further developing your writing practice, I would love to have you as an accountability partner. Leave me a comment if you’re interested in getting a group going.