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Manoj Kumar

Does word count help you… or pressure you?

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I intentionally removed word count from featureless because I noticed it changed how I wrote - I’d optimise for numbers instead of ideas.

For you, does word count feel motivating, neutral, or stressful?

I’m genuinely curious how different writers experience it.

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Christopher Kilpatrick
The writing flow I like is: 1. Write a first draft with no word count. 2. Turn on word count, and try to decrease the count by ≈25%. I find that allows me to flow naturally in the initial draft, and then I have a loose target to help me make my writing more concise.
Manoj Kumar

@kilpatrick That makes a lot of sense. Separating the generative phase from the editing phase feels like a healthy way to work - flow first, constraints later. Thank you so much for your comment and support!