Whether you write professionally for a living or just trying to get an A in an English composition class, you need some word counting method. In content writing, word counts are crucially significant for several reasons.
First off, depending on the type of content writing you are engaged in, platforms have specific strict parameters for word counts. For example, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter all have severe character limitations in any particular kind of post volume. With blog writing, you are often getting paid to hit a certain number of words and, in many cases, can’t charge a client unless that number is satisfied.
Word counting helps you know how much you can publish, but it helps hone in on what you post. Repetition is king, and writing is just like any other skill. It takes a lot of practice to get better. One of the areas in which writers grow is their ability to interact with their word count.
Becoming proficient with creating content in writing means knowing exactly how much content you need to pump out. So when you are familiar with a particular word count, you can immediately start to structure your outlines to reflect that volume best. This takes some time, but it has big payoffs as you can more quickly and with better quality create content at a specific word count.
If you have been wondering how to improve your writing skills in word counts, here are three ways you can improve your ability to use word counts to your advantage.
- Don’t OverThink It
The beautiful part about learning how to write well is that it’s a journey. This means that you just have to start. When you write content for various sources, you will most likely have a couple of different word counts, if not several, that you are working with. For example, learning how an 800-word blog post feels instead of a 1500-word post just takes experience. So don’t get caught up in the analysis of paralysis. As a writer, you’ll develop your unique outlines for each word count that works for you, primarily experience-driven.
- Get The Tools That Push You Forward
Writing is a trade that has been around for thousands of years. As long as civilizations could communicate through written form, there has been a need for writers. That being said, using the trade tools is a necessity to create the best content possible.
There’s a lot of free online services like Word Counter. It has an intuitive, in-depth word count and grammar evaluation tool and can provide analytical data about your writing. It also has a built-in character counter for platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
The great thing about using a tool like The Word Counter is that you can not only hone in your word count precisely, but it simultaneously performs an in-depth grammar check. This is great for correcting your writing as you produce it because it goes further than the typical spell check. While having spell check turned on is always a good idea, having another method of grammar check is great; spell check can be notorious for either obvious missing errors or correcting what doesn’t need correcting.
- Check Your Word Count Often
Lastly, the best thing you can do is get familiar with how a specific word count feels to develop a great outline. An effective way of doing this is simply staying in touch with your word count as you write. The goal is to understand certain word counts so well that their volume can become second nature to you.
Conclusion
Writing content is a job that you will always get better and better. It takes a lot of time and practice. Learning how to invest in tools that help you understand word count, and allow you to correct your writing, is worth your time and effort.
