Word Count Widgets... Wahoo!

 Well, if you're at all like me, you might be lazily (or reluctantly) turning over in your mind a few ways that you'd like to improve something in the next twelve months... and if you're exactly like me, you might be thinking along word and word-creating lines.

  Writing can be wonderful and brilliant and great bursts of fun...

   ...But it can also be a desert of despair in which we weep fat, salty tears and pound rocks together in frustration.

  Taking a cue from my November post, I've been thinking that maybe the desert parts aren't as wide as they seem, they only seem that way.
 If this is true, than actually tracking those monsters would be a good way of cutting their fearsomeness down to size, and thus reducing their mastery over my poor emotions. (Which are sometimes over wrought... yes, they get that way.)

 So, implementing one step in this grand scheme, I set forth in search of word count trackers, progress bars, or things otherwise known as Word Count Widgets.

 Lucky for me, I quickly found a nice collection, all sweetly compiled by the very thoughtful blogger at Writing For Your Supper- 13 Free Word Counters

 This list was made in 2011, but the comment section show how grateful people still are to find them! (Be advised, some may no longer be extant.)
 So, to pass along this little nugget of helpfulness, I've linked to her post and hope anyone in search of Word Count Widgets can find exactly what they need!

   Do you know of more widgets, or have any advice concerning them? Let us know!

Quitting? Maybe something you should consider.

 Well, it's January again.
   December, the supposedly restive "Month After NaNo", has faded too fast, and we're looking at the whole of 2014 stretching out like a road that will be traveled much too fast.

   It's always a good idea to take some thoughtful time in the middle of winter, when things have cooled between the craziness of autumn windup and the rush of spring bursting forward. In the brief lull between, thoughts turn to assessments and future strategies... something that is often on my mind, but not often so very clear as I'd like it.  *Wink*

  Kristen Lamb posted about a very apt idea for the coming year, Learn To Be A Quitter. Think about it: everybody always says "Winners never quit." But what nobody can do everything, and sometimes good enough is the enemy of perfect. And if something good is standing in the way of something better, than quitting the good thing is important. Right?
  I really appreciated what she had to say on the subject, and the way she said it. I'll have to think on that, and see if there are a few things to be quitted in my life.
 
 Are there things you should quit, but haven't?