Typing Log
geralt / Pixabay
How many words do I typically type in a day?
How many days would it take me to write a 350 page novel?
My publisher wants me to write my next novel in two months. Is that realistic?
I’ve typed for weeks now. How more days will it take me to finish by 120,000 word novel?
I need my teeth cleaned. Which day of the week is usually my least productive so I can use that day to visit the dentist?
The downloadable typing log can help you answer these and other similar questions. This simple Excel spreadsheet allows you to enter the number of words in your manuscript file at the end of each day. That’s the only entry you need to make each day, but the spreadsheet calculates many useful statistics that you may find beneficial.
[image error]
Typing Log Spreadsheet
1 file(s) 20.20 KB
Download
Statistical Information
As you enter each day’s word count the file begins to calculate the following information:
The total number of words you typed that day (Log Table column)
An estimate of the number of printed pages you typed that day (Log Table column)
An estimate of the number of eBook document locations you typed that day (Log Table column)
The number of words you have typed since starting the log (Typed Words Sum)
The number of estimated pages you have typed since starting the log (Typed Pages Sum)
The number of estimated locations you have typed since starting the log (Typed Locations Sum)
The number of days you’ve typed more than zero words (Days)
The average number of words you type per day (Average Words/Day)
The average number of pages you type per day (Average Pages/Day)
The estimated number of days remaining before you reach your Word Goal (Days Remaining)
The estimate percent of the manuscript completed to date (% Complete)
The above values are all found on the Data sheet. There are two more sheets you’ll want to check. The Instructions sheet has instructions for using the spreadsheet. They’re similar to the instructions below, but they’re worth a quick review to make sure you haven’t overlooked anything.
The remaining sheet is the Analysis sheet. This has information about the number of words you’ve typed each weekday. You might find you type about the same number each day, or you might find you type fewer words on Tuesday than any other day of the week. These values have no specific use other than to let you know when you are most or least productive as a writer.
Usage Instructions
To begin, you save the file with a unique name for the manuscript you are working on. That way you can use the template for several books over time. Next you enter the following constants into the spreadsheet:
Book Title – the title of your work
Book Subtitle – any subtitle for your work
Start Date – use the date selector to enter the start date of your manuscript. Ideally this would be the first day you start typing, but you can start recording information later in the writing process too.
Words Goal – The expected final word count for your manuscript (a reasonable estimate is fine, you can refine this number over time).
Words Per Page – This is useful for printed books and is the number of words you normally type per printed page. You’ll have a better idea about this number as you gain experience. Initially you can simply use the default number. Refine the number periodically as you gain experience.
Words Per Location – This is useful for eBooks and is the number of words within a typical eBook location. For Amazon Kindle, this is typically 23 words per location. Change the number if you have a more refined value.
The above constants need only be entered once, but you can modify the values as you gain more information about your work or your typing behavior.
Once you enter the date you will see the Date column in the Log Table update with the date for the following 90 days. The day of the week (DOW) for each date is also displayed. These DOW values let you later decide which are your most or least productive work days. You can add more days to the Log Table as needed by selecting the last row and dragging it down as needed.
Now move to the Log Table and enter the beginning word count. If you’re typing a new manuscript you’ll likely start with a Word Count of zero. If you’ve typed for a while, enter your current manuscript’s word count as your starting point. That’s all you type in the log initially.
With each successive day you return to the Log Table and enter your manuscript’s word count for that date. Do it for every day. If you did not type anything on a give day, simply repeat the Word Count from the previous day.
Beneficial Uses
You may find the spreadsheet beneficially in several ways.
It takes the guesswork out of how many words you normally type in a given day.
It will help you estimate how many days it will likely take to write a manuscript of a specific length. This can help you:
Determine when you are likely to complete a full first draft.
Determine how you are doing with respect to a deadline commitment.
Determine if a proposed delivery date is realistic. If you type 3,000 words per day on average, delivering a 150,000 word manuscript in 30 days is quite unrealistic.
It helps you estimate what percentage of your manuscript is complete so far. This information is useful when someone inquires about your progress.
It helps you estimate how many more days it will take to complete your first full draft. This may help you determine when you need to get other processes underway, such as arranging for a book cover, contacting a publisher, or selecting an artist.
It can help you identify how many words you need to reach a specific page count or number of eBook locations. You need a reasonable amount of data to do this, but after you’ve typed for a couple of weeks you can update constants (such as Words Per Page) to make a realistic estimate.
You can determine which are your least or most effective writing days of the week. It can help you plan writing sessions or identify your best “out of the office” day.
The spreadsheet can help encourage you to write every day. It is often disheartening to have a zero in the Words Typed column. The spreadsheet can help encourage you to write at least something every day.
Non-beneficial Uses
It is easy to use this spreadsheet in non-beneficial or unproductive ways. Here are some things you’ll want to consider.
If you are using the spreadsheet to demonstrate how many words you can type in a day then you may miss the point. The goal is not to see how many words you can write in a day. Anybody can write “and and and and and and and and” to achieve a large word count. It doesn’t mean what you’ve written is useful. The spreadsheet is a useful planning tool. If you artificially inflate your actual writing statistics then the spreadsheet has little planning value.
Don’t use the spreadsheet to gauge how you write in comparison with someone else. You are unique and so your writing behavior is unique. If you write 1,200 words a day, but someone else can write 4,000 words each day, that’s completely irrelevant. All you want to establish is your production rate. You can then make realistic plans about your writing. There is also the issue of quality. If you write 1,200 quality words in a day, but someone else writes 4,000 words that need heavy editing, who is coming out ahead. Don’t sweat the word count – simply use it to aid you in your realistic planning.
Don’t rely on the spreadsheet too heavily. If you’ve typed for some time and the estimates show that your manuscript will be complete in 11 days, you might not want to commit that date to your publisher. Things happen. Files crash (shudder), writer’s block sets in, family emergencies occur, the weather can ruin your day. Use the spreadsheet only for your planning purposes. You might not want to use it as a way of making firm commitments to others.
