Sunday, January 19, 2014

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!


2 comments:

Unknown said...

I find the whole concept of word count interesting. Sarah often talks saying things like, " It's about 5000 words long" and I used to be, like, " Wow, how can she count so fast?!" Now I understand the computer helps her in the counting part. :) That sounds like it's a great way to help writers crunch events into place and get their stories finished...no dawdling! :)

E. KaIser Writes said...

Haha! ;-) Yes Hannah, it is a great help to have a computer to count it quick for you! ;-)
Though, once you've spent a long while working with our program, one does get a rough feel for how a certain length of passage will translate into word count. In a day without paper pages to stack up, it's a fun way to remind oneself that progress was actually made!