Hit 50k words on my WIP and realized the 'milestone habit' is overrated

I mean, everyone talks about hitting word counts like 10k, 30k, 50k as if they mean something on their own. I passed 50k on Thursday night, my third draft of a sci-fi thing set in Reno, and honestly it felt more like a trap than a win. The number made me think the story was further along than it actually is, but then I re-read the last 5 chapters and saw I'd been spinning my wheels on a side plot for 12k words. Maybe it's just me, but the real milestone should be when you cut something big and the story gets tighter, not when you add more. Has anyone else ignored their word count goals and focused on deleting whole scenes instead?

2 comments

2 Comments

tara_jones941mo ago

Gotta disagree with you there. Hitting 50k still means something to me because it proves I can push through the ugly middle and actually finish a draft, bad parts and all. Cutting is satisfying, sure, but without the word count race I'd never get far enough to know what needs to go.

ben_ross511mo ago

Question whether a number on a screen really measures anything about your writing though... like, you could bang out 50k words of pure garbage and feel accomplished about it, but that's not the same as finishing something good. The ugly middle is tough, sure, but maybe the point is learning to work through it without needing a finish line to keep you honest. I dunno, seems like a lot of pressure to put on a word count when the real win is just sitting down and doing the work at all... that's not something a number can prove to you.