How to Track Your Writing Progress with Word Counters (And Actually Finish What You Start)

I’ll never forget the night I almost threw my laptop out the window. It was 2 a.m., I had a client deadline in six hours, and I had no idea if the article was 300 words or 3,000. I’d been typing for hours, but the cursor just kept blinking like it was laughing at me. That was the moment I swore I’d never write blind again. Fast forward a few years, and I’ve finished two novels, ghostwritten three bestsellers, and run a blog that actually pays the bills – all because I finally learned how to track my writing progress with word counters. Not fancy spreadsheets or expensive apps at first… just a free little tool and a promise to myself to stop guessing. If you’ve ever felt lost in a draft, beaten yourself up over “not writing enough,” or abandoned projects because you couldn’t see the finish line, this one’s for you. Let’s fix that – for good.

Why Most Writers Quit (And How Tracking Stops It Cold)

Writing is brutal on the ego. One day you’re flying, the next you’re convinced everything you type is garbage. Without proof of progress, your brain fills the void with lies: “You’ve barely wrote anything.” “You’ll never finish.” “Why even bother?” I’ve been there. I’ve deleted entire chapters because I couldn’t tell if I was moving forward or just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Tracking kills those lies dead. When you can look at a number – 743 words today, 5,219 this week, 42,108 on the manuscript – something clicks. The project stops feeling endless. You see the bricks stacking up. Momentum shows up. And momentum, my friend, is the secret sauce nobody talks about.

The Tools I Actually Use Every Single Day

I’ve tried them all. Paid, free, shiny, ugly. These are the ones that survived my trash folder:

• WordCounter.net – my forever favorite. Zero ads, no sign-up, instant results. I paste messy drafts here first.
• Google Docs built-in counter – because I live in Docs anyway. Live word count in the bottom left corner is stupidly satisfying.
• Grammarly free – counts words while yelling at my commas. Two birds, one stone.
• Pacemaker.press – for big projects. You tell it your deadline and total goal, and it spits out daily targets that adjust if you have an off day.
• A plain old Google Sheet – date + word count + quick note about how I felt. Looks like a caveman made it, but it works.

That’s it. No $49/month writing software required.

How to Track Your Writing Progress with Word Counters: My Exact 5-Step System

I’m lazy. If it takes more than 60 seconds, I won’t do it. This system is idiot-proof because I designed it for my own idiot self.

1. Write first, count second Never watch the counter while drafting. It’s like weighing yourself every five minutes at the gym – you’ll go insane. Just write until the timer dings or the scene feels done.
2. Paste and record At the end of every session, copy the new words (only the new ones!) into your counter of choice. Write the number down somewhere permanent – notebook, spreadsheet, the back of your hand, whatever.
3. Add today + project total I track two numbers: words written today and running project total. Seeing both keeps short-term wins and long-term progress in view.
4. One-sentence mood check Next to the number I jot how I felt: “flow state,” “fighting every word,” “cat walked on keyboard.” After a month you spot patterns faster than therapy.
5. Weekly victory lap Every Sunday I add up the week, draw a stupid star sticker in my sheet if I hit my goal, and text a friend the total. Celebration beats motivation every time.

That’s literally it. Five minutes a day, max.

The Mistakes That Almost Made Me Quit Tracking (Don’t Do These)

• Obsessing over the daily number instead of the streak. Some days you’ll write 200 words of pure gold. That still counts.
• Comparing yourself to Twitter word-count braggers. 8,000 words a day sounds cool until you realize half of it gets deleted in edits.
• Forgetting to count editing as progress. Tightening 1,000 words into 700 brilliant ones is huge – log it.
• Using ten different tools and losing the data when the app shuts down. Pick one home for your numbers and guard it with your life.

Real Stories That Still Give Me Chills

My friend Jess was 18 months into a memoir and ready to burn the file. I made her start logging daily words. Three months later she texted me a screenshot: 72,341 total. She cried. Finished the book six months after that.

Another writer in my group went from 250 scared words a day to 1,500 because he turned it into a game with Pacemaker – every time he hit his target, a little dragon hatched or something ridiculous. Whatever works.

Me? The first time my running novel total crossed 50,000 words, I sat there and stared at the screen for ten minutes. Fifty thousand. That’s a real book. I’d written a real book, one tiny tracked session at a time.

When the Numbers Lie (And What to Do Instead)

Sometimes the counter says 1,200 words and it still feels like you got nothing done. That’s usually because those words were research rabbit holes or rearranging chapters. My fix: keep a second “useful words” column for days when you’re structuring or editing. Give yourself credit. Progress isn’t always new prose.

Your Next Move – Start Tonight

You don’t need permission or a new year or a fancy gear. Open whatever you’re working on right now. Write for 25 minutes. When the timer goes off, paste the new words into WordCounter.net or Google Docs, write the number down somewhere you’ll see tomorrow, and go to bed proud.

That’s it. That tiny act is how to track your writing progress with word counters – and how every finished piece I’ve ever loved started.

Do it for a week. Then come back and tell me in the comments what your numbers look like. I’ll be waiting to celebrate with you.