Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
One of the goals I attempt every year is to write one million words. In the grand scheme of things, a million really isn’t all that many. In fact, I used to write more than twice this amount back in the day. However, it’s not my primary goal.
I focus more on self-improvement. So, I will still count and strive to hit that mark, but the actual objective is to simply write more than I did in 2021.
You can have high aspirations. Just make sure you’re realistic when it comes to your absolute goals.
How Hard Is it to Write One Million Words?
In general, writing a million words isn’t all that difficult. Though, it really depends on keeping yourself driven and motivated.
Although I am keeping track of a million, my actual goal is to write more than 730,000, as that’s what I wrote in 2021.
In reality, not everyone can sit and crank out thousands of words per day. This is why I suggest setting goals to surpass what you did before.
Take how many words you wrote yesterday, and then add one more today.
Breaking it Down By Day
One million might sound like an awful lot. But when you break it down per day, it’s only 2,740 words. For some people, this is still a pretty high number.
Thanks to the number of goals I have set up for 2022, especially working on publishing three books, I’ll probably hit far more than this on a daily basis.
I might actually hit the one million mark.
Using a Monday through Friday Writing Schedule
I usually try to stick to a Monday through Friday work schedule. This is partially because of how I used to work in the past. At one point, I worked every day for almost four years putting in more than a hundred hours per week.
Nowadays, I try to make time for people in my life and strive to keep my weekends open.
This means I need to write 3,847 words every day as there are 260 workdays in 2022. Again, keeping with my writing goals and self-publishing more books, it shouldn’t be all that difficult.
Motivation to Write One Million Words
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of cranking out so much content is staying motivated throughout the year. When you try to push too hard, it’s easy to get burned out.
In order to produce so much work, you need to find things that motivate you to keep writing.
For me, it’s all about the books, blogs, and video content. I have a lot of things planned for this year and am truly excited about what is to come.
What Do I Count when Writing One Million Words?
Not everything I write is counted in my daily totals. For example, I don’t count emails, social posts, or other small communications.
Overall, there are only five major things I keep track of on any given day.
Novels
Obviously, I keep track of all the words I write per book. As I plan to publish at least three this year, it should account for more than a third of one million words.
That’s because I am estimating each book at around 120,000 words. Then again, I write until the story is done, so this is sure to change throughout the year.
Blog Posts
One of my goals is to create a few websites that are helpful to others. This entails writing a bunch of content that those audiences appreciate and enjoy.
This year, I plan on doing far more with the blogs. In fact, I have a lot of reviews for writing apps planned for WriterSanctuary in the coming weeks.
YouTube Scripts
I don’t necessarily use scripts when making the YouTube videos. I hash out a series of bullet points to make sure I remember to include everything I want to record.
Since the videos are part of building my brand, I count the words in the bullet points as well. If you think about it, it’s really not much different than blogging. Well, other than recording video instead of publishing a text piece.
Blogging Sites
I’m not just writing content for my own blogs. I plan on writing more articles for Vocal, Hubpages, and Medium this year. For one thing, I want to see how viable it is to make money writing for those websites.
The hardest part is coming up with the time as I have a lot on my plate. I also keep thinking that I could spend that time writing on my own and potentially making more money.
Client Work
Lastly, I always count client work. Nowadays, the words I write for GreenGeeks contribute quite a bit to the one million goal. Though, I tend to do more editing than anything.
Still, client work has always been a no-brainer when counting how many words I write in a day. In fact, it’s one of the things that made me such as success on Textbroker.
I was always trying to surpass the weekly total words while writing for clients on content mills.
Keeping My Primary Goals Realistic
Would I love to hit one million words in 2022? Sure. But I am also one who keeps goals realistic. There’s nothing wrong with swinging for the fences, as long as you’re sure of your footing.
In other words, I am aiming for one million, but my primary goal is to simply write more than I did last year.
Keeping goals realistic can help you build confidence. That’s because every time you accomplish something, you get a boost to your self-esteem and pride.
The more confident you become, the more effort you put into reaching even further.
Of course, you don’t want to set goals so low that they’re easily accomplished. After all, the purpose of a goal is to focus on improving yourself.
And even if you only write one more word today than you did yesterday, it’s still a win. Any victory is still a victory, no matter how small. Relish in those accomplishments and strive for a better tomorrow.
How Many Words Are You Looking to Write?
I’ll still put the tracker widget on MichaelBrockbank.com for one million words. However, my spreadsheet puts emphasis on just doing more than 730,000 words.
Keep in mind, these are my goals. You don’t need to compete with me, as not many can. Just focus on yourself and what you need to do to improve. It’s not a competition.
Do what you can to improve yourself and your abilities. Make this year something epic for yourself.
- How to Write, Edit, and Publish a Decent Book for Free - December 2, 2024
- Breaking My Record of 95,393 Words in a Single Month - November 29, 2024
- How Long Does It Realy Take to Write a Good Book? - November 27, 2024