I use word counts a lot in my writing, or at least, developing my website or framing my writing practice.
On my site, I created a little calculator for "reading time" based on two different extremes of the reading-speed-spectrum. I want to try and manage expectations correctly and a singular time doesn't provide the preciseness I like for the vast variables that influence reading speed:
- reading in one's non-native language;
- reading a technical thing that may "math" quickly but take time to digest;
- reading in various contexts (on the go, at the desktop, on the phone);
- reading as a disabled human (from dyslexia to blindness to just not having the spoons to process); and
- one's own attention, interest, focus, and time.
I use word counts as a proxy of progress towards writing books. In my first two newsletter iterations—500 Words and 500 Characters—word count was the inspiration of Naming.
I use word counts as a way of understanding potential speaking time. At some point, I plan to create a podcast or YouTube and it's good to know speaking-time of the written word when planning productions.
But, there's no tool that does everything I want, like, or use things for.
So, why not build my own?
Others: