December 2015 - Word Counter Blog

31 New Year’s Resolutions for Writers

It’s almost that time again. Time to resolve to get your entire life under control, preferably by February first. Yes, it’s time for the dreaded New Year’s resolution. This year, in addition to trying to lose weight, quit smoking, save money, or give up some other addiction, why not resolve to improve a part (or parts) of your writing life? You might find that fixing up your writing life leads to improvement in other areas as you gain confidence and success in your work. And even if it doesn’t, you’ve still accomplished something significant. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Finish the Project

Whether you’re working on a book, short story, article, or poetry, finish whatever it is you’re working on. It’s easy to get sidetracked or frustrated and jump from project to project, never finishing anything. But a finished work (and by finished, I mean revised, edited, and as perfect as you can make it) is the only thing you should be submitting for publication, which is resolution #2.

Submit the Project

Just don’t submit it until it’s finished. In the rush to feel like you’re making progress it’s tempting to send things out too soon. Resist this urge and wait until it’s as great as you can make it. You might get rejected, but you might also get accepted. Submitting the work is the only way to know for sure.

Try Something New

If you normally write novels, try a memoir. If you normally write short articles, try a novel or short story. Trying new forms of writing keeps the creative juices flowing and may introduce you to something you really enjoy.

Call Yourself a Writer

Do you write? Then you’re a writer and you shouldn’t be afraid to label yourself as such. Too many of us hem and haw when asked, “What do you do?” Just own it. “I’m a writer.”

Exercise

Yes, this is one resolution that everyone makes, but it’s especially important for writers. We tend to spend too much time sitting on our butts. (Whether we’re working or mindlessly surfing the Internet and calling it “work,” the result is the same. Too much butt-sitting.) In addition to just being good for you, exercise boosts creativity and gives your mind a chance to roam free for a while. Bonus points if you can go outside and get some fresh air and new scenery.

Make Writing a Priority

Find them time in your day to write. This may mean skipping other fun activities, or letting some chores or errands pile up for another day. Do whatever you have to do to make writing a priority in your life instead of something that you do in your spare time.

Good writers read a lot. Read fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, or the back of cereal boxes. You’ll get ideas and improve your craft by studying those who do it better (and worse) than you.

Journal More

If you already keep a journal, resolve to be more consistent about writing in it. Or, start a different kind of journal. Maybe you’re keeping one that tracks your daily activities, but can you also add one dedicated to your creativity or travel? Writing about something new can open you up to new ideas. If you don’t keep a journal, start one. It gives you some writing practice and may let you see ideas and problems in ways you haven’t before.

Learn at Least One New Thing

Take a class in something or make an effort to study on your own. It doesn’t have to be writing related. The more things you know, the deeper your well of experience that you can draw upon when writing. And if you take a class, you might meet some interesting “characters” for your work.

Stop Beating Yourself Up

If you get rejected or things aren’t going as you hoped, don’t get down on yourself. Calling yourself a failure or talking about giving up (“I’m so terrible. I’ll never get published so why bother) are counterproductive. It hurts you and isn’t necessary. You don’t have to be super positive all the time, but don’t flog yourself to death. If you get rejected, try to say, “That one didn’t work out. I’ll try again.” This is supposed to be fun and if all you’re doing is beating up on yourself, that’s not fun or healthy.

Back-Up Your Data

We all know we should do this, but a surprising number of people do not. Do you really want to try to rewrite your novel from scratch, or pay someone several hundred dollars to try and recover your data in the event of computer failure? And remember: If you lose your laptop, recovery isn’t an option. A backup drive or cloud service can be had for $100 or less and is well worth it for the peace of mind.

Get Organized

This is another one that many people attempt every New Year, but you can narrow it down to organizing just your writing life. (Many people give up on this one because organizing the whole house seems impossible, but since you’re only going to organize your writing space, you’re already ahead of the crowd. Do more if you want to, but at least get your writing area under control.) Get a file cabinet, clean up your hard drive, get an in/out box, or use whatever other methods work for you. It doesn’t have to be pretty or trendy, just functional.

Set a Realistic Overall Goal for the Year

Maybe your goal is to query twenty agents or get six new clients. Maybe you want to complete a novel and a short story, or to earn 5% more than you did last year. Pick one goal for the year and then spend the year tracking your progress. Just be realistic. You probably won’t finish thirty novels this year, nor will you make 50% more than you did last year. Being realistic leads to success. Overblown goals lead to crashing and burning.

Show up Consistently

One of the challenges of writing is showing up for work every day. There’s always so much else you could (maybe should) be doing. Train yourself to show up every day. Marking a calendar with an “X” or a sticker every day that you write is a good idea. After a few days of consistently showing up, you’ll have a nice string of marks that you won’t want to break. When tempted to skip out on a day, the thought of breaking that string will get you in the chair.

Volunteer

While not directly related to writing, volunteering gets you out of the house, off your butt, and exposes you to people and events that might provide fodder for your work. And it does something good for others, which is good for your soul. You can also volunteer for causes that are writing-related. Maybe tutor disadvantaged youths or help in a literacy campaign.

Create Your Online Presence (or improve what you’ve got)

Working writers need a website and possibly a Twitter and/or Facebook account to help with promotion to connect with readers and clients. If you’ve already got something, check to make sure it meets your needs and is professional-looking. If you don’t have anything, either figure out how to do it yourself or hire someone. Your website doesn’t have to be huge or technologically advanced, but it should be professional and informative.

Talk Less, Write More

Do you find yourself talking about your work more than actually doing it? If you spend more time talking about how you’d like to write, your dreams, and your works in progress, shut up and write. Talking won’t get the work done and published. Writing will.

Enter a Contest

You might not win, but simply entering forces you to produce a work and submit it, helping you to get past the whole, “I’m afraid of finishing anything and getting rejected” hurdles. And if you do win, fame and fortune might be yours. Or you might just win $20 or a gift certificate. Either way, winning is winning.

Figure out What’s Broken

If you’re having trouble even getting to the chair and producing anything, something’s broken. Maybe it’s your routine. You might be better of writing in the morning rather than in the afternoon or vice versa. Maybe your writer’s group isn’t fun anymore and they’re dragging you down. Maybe you’re feeling negative vibes from your significant other that he or she doesn’t like the time you spend writing. Maybe you don’t like the type of writing you’re doing anymore. Evaluate everything and everybody in your writing life to figure out what’s broken and then figure out how to fix it.

Sleep More

When you’re well rested, your brain just functions better. You’ll make fewer mistakes in your work and your ideas will be clearer and more numerous. It’s hard to get more sleep when you have other things to do, but you simply have to make it a priority.

Support Other Writers

Most writers won’t admit to being jealous of more successful writers, but the ugly monster is there. Instead of thinking, “She’s so lucky. She only got published because she knew someone who knew someone,” and seething over her good fortune, try being more positive. Try, “Hey, it’s great that you got published. I’m so happy for you.” Success for one person doesn’t mean there will be none for you. It’s not like grabbing the last TV at the Black Friday blowout sale. Be kind and encouraging to others. You might find that you receive support in return instead of negativity. Plus, you’re just gaining good karma points. Who knows? That person who knew someone who knew someone might share that information with you, too.

Learn about Self-Publishing

Even if your goal is to be traditionally published, learning about self-publishing can come in handy. It’s a growing market with lots of opportunity for all forms of writing. Done well, it can lead to success. Done poorly and hastily, however, and you can end up being the guy with 1,500 one-star reviews on Amazon. Don’t be that guy.

Have More Fun

If writing is becoming something you dread, you need to find a way to make it fun again. No, it’s never going to be a laugh-a-minute job, but it shouldn’t be something you hate, either. Maybe you need to try a new form or genre, or just stop taking everything so seriously.

Stop Procrastinating

There are lots of ways to conquer writer’s procrastination. Before you let it eat away your productivity, figure out why you do it and then get over it. Every day that you don’t write is another missed opportunity. This is the easiest way to find more time to write.

Conquer Your Fear of Revision

Too many writers have bunches of first drafts littering their hard drives, yet they never send them out because revision leaves them cold. The first draft was fun. Revision feels like drudgery. Get over it. Read books or take a class in editing and revision. You cannot succeed as a writer unless you’re willing to revise (often) so the sooner you beat this fear, the better.

Act Professionally (even if you don’t feel professional)

This is sort of like faking it till you make it. Even if you don’t have work or a publisher/agent yet, act as if you do when contacting people. Be confident (but not arrogant) and treat everyone with courtesy and professionalism. If you look like a slob, talk in slang, miss deadlines, or submit work with mistakes, people aren’t going to work with you.

Limit Non-Essential Internet Surfing

The Internet is a fabulous invention, but it’s also a massive time waster. You can recapture a lot of time in your day if you limit your Facebooking, Tweeting, and mindless surfing.

Stay Informed

No, you don’t have to commit to watching two hours of CNN every night. But a good writer is informed, not only about things related to writing but also about world events. Sometimes your best ideas will come from what’s going on in the world. And don’t limit yourself to learning about just one side of an issue. Seek out balanced coverage and form your own opinions.

It’s easy to cocoon yourself in your house with your manuscripts, but you need the input of other people to make your work better. Sure, you think you’re a genius, but what do other people think? Sharing is scary, though, because it feels risky. “What if they hate it? I’ll have wasted all this time.” Get past the fear. Find people you trust to give you good (not necessarily positive) feedback and share your work with them. You’ll get a more realistic picture of how you’re doing.

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Some people make a boatload of money. Others make a more modest amount. Some writers are on TV all the time while others are virtual recluses. No one way is right for everyone, so stop wasting time comparing your career with everyone else’s. Every career moves at its own pace and is subject to a variety of factors and influences. Figure out what you want and then go for that, not what you think everyone else is doing.

Improve Your Vocabulary

Work on bettering your writing by improving your vocabulary. This is an easy way to improve your writing (and yourself) in the New Year.

You don’t have to tackle everything on this list. That would ensure failure before you even get the holiday decorations packed away. Just pick one or two that motivate you and then pace yourself so that you spread the effort out over the year. It’s a New Year’s resolution, after all. It’s supposed to be good for the whole year so there’s no need to freak out if you haven’t finished it by Valentine’s Day.

(Photo courtesy of Kat)

How to Proofread Your Writing

For many people, one of the most difficult aspects of writing is the proofreading process. If you have been working on a paper or a writing assignment for a long period of time, it’s easy to read words into your writing that aren’t there and accidentally miss grammatical mistakes within the writing. One of the best ways to prevent this is to get someone to proofread your writing, since they look at it from a completely fresh perspective. The issue for many, however, is that there often isn’t someone around who’s willing or able to proofread your writing. If you find you often miss mistakes when proofreading and can’t get someone else to proofread it, there are a few steps you can take which will give you a better chance of catching your writing errors.

Walk Away

One of the best steps you can take when proofreading your own work is to take some time away from it, even if that is only for an hour or two. A full day or two is even better and one of the reasons you should learn to not procrastinate. When you try to proofread as soon as you finish writing, you still have it in your head what you meant to say, and this can often overwrite what’s actually on the pages. Taking some time away will allow you to read your writing with “fresh eyes” and will make it much more likely you’ll spot errors.

Listen to Your Text

If you don’t have time to walk away for a bit of time, listen to your writing instead of reading it (you can use the proofread tool available on wordcounter). Switching things up so you listen to what you wrote instead of reading it will again will make it more likely you will catch your mistakes rather than if you reread the text.

Print and Read

Another way to increase the chances of catching mistakes is to print out your writing instead of proofreading it on the computer. Trying to proofread on your computer makes it easier to miss mistakes than when you proofread with the writing physically in front of you.

Read from Bottom to Top

An effective way of proofreading which forces you to look at the writing from a different perspective is to proofread from the bottom to the top. Instead of proofreading as one would normally read the writing, start at the bottom and read towards the top. It won’t make any sense, but that’s the point. It will force you to look at the individual words written, rather than skimming over sentences.

Read It Out Loud

Another way to increase your chances of finding mistakes when proofreading is to read your writing out loud instead of silently in your mind. Reading silently increases your chances of inserting skipped words that aren’t on the paper but you meant to write. Audibly saying the words makes it much more difficult to skip over these types of mistakes.

Don’t Do Everything at Once

When you do sit down to proofread, don’t try to correct all the problems in a single read through. Instead, concentrate on a specific aspect you want to make sure is correct. For example, concentrate on word choice for the first read through. Then concentrate on finding grammatical errors and sentence structure mistakes on the second read through. For the third reading, look specifically for spelling mistakes. Yes, this means you are going to have to read through your writing several times instead of a single time, but that will also make it much more likely you’ll find all the mistakes you may have made.

Use Spellcheck and GrammarCheck

Using a spell checker can help you spot words which have been repeated, words which have reversed letters and other common spelling mistakes, but you should never rely on it as the only proofreading you do. While a spell checker is great for its specific job, it fails at a lot of other things, especially when it comes to grammar. “There” is spelled correctly, but it’s still wrong if the proper word for a sentence is “their.” A grammar check can help out with these mistakes. Both are tools which can help you find errors you may miss on your own, but they don’t replace actually rereading your writing and looking for mistakes.

Make a Proofreading Checklist

You know your weaknesses better than anyone else, and you should make a checklist of these weaknesses. This will allow you to double and triple check these areas of your writing when you proofread. If you don’t currently know your writing weaknesses, begin to pay attention to the remarks when you get assignments back so you can create the checklist. By paying special attention to the writing areas where you tend to be weakest, you’ll improve and make sure you aren’t consistently making the same writing mistakes on your papers.

(Photo courtesy of With Associates)

How to Increase Your Essay Word Count

When you have an essay assignment with a minimum word count, one of the worst feelings is when you believe you have finished only to find that you’re still well below the minimum you have to reach (as opposed to having too many words). Many students try to solve this problem by rewriting the essay’s sentences to make them wordier or splitting contractions. While these do increase word count, they usually make the essay weaker in the process. It doesn’t have to be that way. If you ever find yourself in a position where you need to increase the number of words for an essay, below are some simple techniques which can help you add to your writing while improving it instead of writing unneeded filler.

Add Examples

Skim through your essay looking for any place you have used an example to make a point. In most cases, you should be able to provide additional examples which will make your essay stronger by showing your understanding of the topic while also increasing the word count. You can also go through the essay and look for statements made where inserting an example would be appropriate to help support the statement.

Address Different Viewpoints

An effective way of increasing word count and improving your essay at the same time is to address different viewpoints to your own. You have the opportunity to discuss how these alternative viewpoints differ from the conclusions you have made, and it gives you an opportunity to explain why you believe your conclusions are superior. This shows you have considered a range of different opinions while coming to your conclusions, and in doing so make your essay stronger while adding more words.

Clarify Statements

When you find the statements in your writing, if inserting an example doesn’t make sense, then clarifying the statement may be appropriate. This can be achieved by inserting one or more specific statements to clarify the original one. A common way to do this is to follow the statement with, “In other words…” It’s important not to over-clarify statements or use this for every statement you write as it will begin to look like filler, but using it sporadically throughout your essay can increase the word count and show you perfectly understand the points you’re trying to make.

Find Additional Sources

Another way to improve your essay and increase word count is to find additional sources you haven’t previously mentioned which support the statements and conclusions you have made. The more sources you have, the stronger the essay will be in most cases. Spending some time searching for additional sources to add to the essay can be a great way to add quality content to it.

Use Quotations

Chances are you already have appropriate quotations in your essay, and if that’s the case, skip over this suggestion. Adding more will likely not add to your essay. If you haven’t used any, however, finding appropriate quotations from experts in the field that support your statements can be an excellent way to add words to your essay while improving it at the same time.

Rework Introduction and Conclusion

If all of the above haven’t enabled you to reach your word count minimum and you need some filler, look to put it in your introduction and conclusion rather than the body of the essay. Most teachers give more leeway with the introduction and conclusion to be wordy than the guts of the essay. This is something you should try to avoid if at all possible (it’s never good to be wordier than you have to be), but if you tried everything else, it’s better to do it in these two places than in the heart of the essay.

Page Count

If you’re writing an essay which has a minimum page count instead of a minimum word count, the above suggestions will work, but you have a bit more wiggle room as well. You can make slight adjustments to the font and font size you use through a Words per Page Counter. As long as you don’t go overboard, this can be a relatively easy way to increase page count while not taking away from the essay.

(Photo courtesy of Caleb Roenigk)

How Many Words Are There in the Bible?

When it comes to calculating the number of words in the Bible, it’s not as straightforward as it might first appear. The problem is there are hundreds of different translations of the Bible, and each one has a different number of words, so the answer depends on which bible you’re actually referring to. That being said, if you are looking for a general answer, it’s probably best to use one of the most common versions, such as the King James Bible.

How many words are there in the Bible?

The King James Authorized Bible has 783,137 words. How many words is that? If you can type at 60 words a minute, it would take you just over 217 and a half hours to retype the entire Bible. Can you imagine how long type-setting must have taken in the early days of printing?

As for the number of letter characters in the Bible, the total count is a staggering 3,116,480. Small wonder that in the days of movable type a lot of printing errors were made. In the notorious “Wicked Bible'” the word “not” was accidentally omitted from the commandment “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Three little letters can make a huge difference in meaning.

While 783,137 words and 3,116,480 may seem to be a lot, there are others with even more. The Catholic Bible has an even higher word count because it has seven books more than the protestant Bible. Are you wondering why?

Martin Luther felt that seven of the books accepted as part of the Old Testament at the time were not quite up to scratch since the 90 AD Jewish Council of Jamnia had rejected them. Luther reasoned that the Old Testament was Jewish, and, therefore, shouldn’t include anything that Jews didn’t accept.

Chapters and verses: finding your way around

There are 66 books in the Bible, and before the 12th century, they weren’t divided into chapters. This innovation was brought about by a man named Stephen Langton, and it made finding your way around a lot easier. All in all, the Bible has 1,189 chapters, but it was still quite difficult to get “on the same page” when studying the Bible. So in 1551, Robert Estienne came up with the idea of numbering verses. There are 31,102 of them, and the shortest one is John 11:35 “Jesus wept,” while the longest is in the book of Esther and consists of 78 words.

What’s in a name?

A lot of the names we give to children have biblical origins. How many people named “Mark” or “John” do you know? Now think of all the “Marys” you’ve met in your time. Of course, some names have fallen out of grace for good reasons. Being called “Judas” would be a bad start in life for any boy. “Mahershalalhashbaz” is the longest name in the Bible, and fortunately for us, it has fallen out of fashion.

Some more wordy facts for fun

There are, of course, only 10 commandments which Jesus neatly summed up into two really comprehensive ones, but if you count commands instead of commandments, you’d come up with a total of 6,468. Is anyone in the mood for checking this fact? There are even more predictions – 8,000 of them – and a sum total of 1,260 promises.

Questions are certainly asked. If you were to flip through your Bible counting question marks, you’d find 3,294, but now that I’ve told you how many there are, you can save yourself the trouble.

The Bible has one Central Character, who is referred to as “God” 4,094 times and as “Lord” 6,781 times.

Looking for the longest book in the Bible? Look no further than Psalms, a book that also includes the longest chapter in the Bible: Psalm 119, which has more words than any other chapter. For those who are looking for a lot of information in a very short book, 3 John is recommended reading; it has the lowest word count of all the books in the Bible.

So who wrote all this in the first place?

Christians believe that the Bible was inspired by God, but if you would like to find out how many human authors were involved, you will find that there is some debate as to who actually wrote what. In general, authorities believe that the Bible was written by 80 authors.

How many copies of the Bible have been printed?

Nobody really knows the answer to this question, but the Bible Society estimates that since 1812, over 5 billion Bibles have been printed. Other experts differ, but one thing is for certain, saying that “a lot” of bibles have been printed over the years would be an understatement.

Would you like to guess which country prints the most bibles? China comes in at number 1. There’s only one publishing house that’s allowed to print them, and in 2012, its 100 millionth Bible rolled off the presses.

A remarkable book

No other book in history has been as influential as the Bible. From its fascinating history to the debates around biblical matters that rage today. Whatever your opinions, one thing is absolutely certain: the King James Authorized Bible has 783,137 words.

(Photo courtesy of Robert)