5 Reasons to Love Word-Counts by Tammy Cohen

Let’s make one thing clear. I’m not a natural goal-setter. I don’t write lists. I never made star charts for my kids when they were younger, to hang proudly on the fridge. Yet I’m a convert to a daily or weekly word-count. Here’s why:

1.     There’s no time to stress about getting things perfect. If you know you have to write a thousand or two thousand words before you go to bed at night, you know that the longer you spend staring at the blank page waiting for just the right word or sentence, the later you’re going to have to stay up. You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it down, and that’s liberating.

2.     Because of this lack of perfectionism, you’re forced to pay much more attention to second and third drafts, which can only be a good thing.

3.     Word-counting can be as flexible as you like. Some people prefer a strict daily count. Others who, like me, struggle to stick to a routine, prefer a weekly count which allows for flexibility while still getting the job done. I aim for 10,000 words a week, and tally up on a Monday, so if it gets to Friday and I’ve done my quota, I can give myself the weekend off. Well, that’s the theory…

4.     Really organised people get their word counts done first thing in the morning and have the rest of the day to themselves. Stephen King famously writes two thousand words a day, every single day, but is often done by 11.30am.

5.     Word-counting is great for people with day jobs or kids or, basically, you know, lives. Work out roughly how much you’re capable of writing in, say, a forty-five minute spurt or two sessions of twenty-five minutes, and set that as your daily word-count. Even just five hundred words a day adds up to a whole book at the end of six or seven months. And what’s not to love about that?

About the author

Tammy Cohen (who was previously published under her formal name, Tamar Cohen) is a freelance journalist. She has written several acclaimed novels about family fallout: The Mistress’s Revenge, The War of the Wives and Someone Else’s Wedding. Her first psychological thriller was The Broken, followed by Dying for Christmas. Tammy lives in North London with her partner and three (nearly) grown children, plus one badly behaved dog. Find her on Twitter: @MsTamarCohen. 

About First One Missing

 There are three things no one can prepare you for when your daughter is murdered: 

1. You are haunted by her memory day and night. 

2. Your friends and family fear you are going mad. 

3. Only in a group with parents of other victims do you ever find comfort. 

Welcome to the club no one wants to join. 

It has been four years since seven-year-old Megan Purvis was found murdered on Hampstead Heath. Her mum has set up a self-help group for families who have been through the same ordeal. 

The group provides solace for the families of Megan (who disappeared from the playground), Tilly Reid (who never returned from a trip to the shop), and Leila Botsford (who failed to meet her mum, after school). 

Now, Poppy Glover is missing, after vanishing from the queue for the ice-cream van. Meanwhile, as the bereaved parents gather to comfort each other, a crack appears in their group that will change their lives forever. 

Links: Goodreads - Amazon US - Amazon UK

Author Links: Twitter - Facebook