I have a spreadsheet set up to track how much I’m writing. I’m a little obsessive like that, and it’s a way to procrastinate whilst pretending to be productive. It tracks the word count on my current projects- there’s room for three, but I’m currently concentrating on one in particular- and works out how many words I’ve written per day, the average for the last thirty days and the average for the year to date.

As of yesterday the thirty day average is 312.27 and the year average is 293.41.

These are not the numbers you are looking for.

I want to be hitting a higher average. 1000 is desirable, 500 would be acceptable. The average has been trending upwards recently, as I’ve spent more days writing, after a fortnight in January where my muse and mojo had both deserted me. And I am getting more words down than the contemporary average on most of the days that I do apply finger to keyboard.

But I have spent my whole life being my own worst enemy and mastering the art of creative procrastination (Exhibit A- I’m writing this post rather than any of my current works-in-progress). So I have to force myself to write. Which is what I shall go away and do now.

After I’ve bought myself an Earl Grey.

And checked my email.

And Facebook.

And……….