Life Hacks To Meet Your Word Count

If you are struggling to meet your word count, try…

Spelling out contractions.

Works very well for academic writing. Not so much for dialogue in stories. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Spelling out numbers.

One thousand four hundred and sixty eight. Seven words right there. I can count.

Use five dollar words. 

This goes against everything you know? Well, that’s life for you.

Use five cent words.

Every word is another word. But remember, not all words are equal.

Open a thesaurus.

Then proceed to replace one word with two, three, ten even.

Keep the thesaurus open.

See how many synonyms you can string together in a sentence.

Do not hyphenate.

Rebel. Refuse. Resist.

Do not combine words.

Rain bow. Snow man. Sun shine.

Forget you read any of this. Forget I even wrote it. Forget about my blog.

How I Meet My Word Count And How You Can Too

Meeting a word count is very much a writer problem, especially during November.

Here’s I do it:

• I repeat myself. I say something two or three times. I am very redundant. I make one point using different words over and over again.
• I do not use contractions. I may sound stiff and awfully formal, but it is what it is.
• I keep writing. I don’t let my fingers stray from the keyboard until I hit a certain number of words or write for a specific amount of time.

I expect a dozen thank you’s in the comments section below.

Not really. I don’t even expect one.

I take no responsibility for any adverse effects as a result of following my advice.

Besides I hate repeating myself, I use contractions, and my fingers stray when I reach for my lovely mug.