A common concern for the Word Count Pledges is what words count for GYWO. The bottom line is that GYWO intends to support your writing life. If counting or not counting a certain kind of word supports your writing life, follow your heart. The guidelines listed below are designed to explain the intentions of GYWO and what we recommend. You’re welcome to use them to help make the best decision about your project. If you have a question about the guidelines or what counts, you may ask a moderator, but we trust you to make the best decision based on the guidelines provided.
All fiction counts, both original and fanfic, no matter the length. If you can call it a scene or a character sketch, a short story or novella, a novel or epic trilogy: IT COUNTS.
Scripts (screen, stage, comic, or graphic novel), poetry of all types (including nonfiction poetry), and song lyrics all count. No matter what you do with it: publish it, share it, keep it private—it all counts.
All nonfiction writing counts. Personal essays, memoirs, and travel writing; journalistic nonfiction such as reviews or newspaper, magazine, or blog articles; meta that is researched and polished for publication: IT COUNTS.
Morning pages or other writing you use to warm up for your writing day also counts! Use your best judgement to decide if what you’re writing counts.
If you’re revising something you wrote before 2023 or editing something you’ve already counted for this year, you are welcome to count new words or estimate a count of new words. Whether you’re doing a few line edits or rewriting an entire scene, you may count any new words.
We recommend using Track Changes to help keep track while editing, or using other methods of striking out/highlighting or cutting and pasting your new words into a separate document. For estimating, you might use the number of words you normally write in the amount of time you spent editing, or ballpark how many words it feels like you added to the document.
A shared project is still your project, and you are welcome to count the words you write. Whether you work with one, two, or a whole group of additional authors, make sure to keep track of the pieces that are yours, even if they get edited out of the final result. (And of course you can estimate the number of words you contribute, if that’s easier than meticulously tracking them.)
The language in which you’re writing doesn’t matter. Words are words, and if you feel more comfortable writing in your native tongue—or if you want to give yourself practice in a foreign language—we encourage it.
You’re welcome to count the words you write in a roleplaying game, but if you’re counting it, please consider how roleplaying fits into your writing life.
Thesis work and works produced for a creative writing class absolutely count. If you work for a magazine or blog professionally, as a freelancer or staff writer, your job writing likely also counts. We recommend NOT counting work you were assigned that will not aid your writing life, such as a paper for a class outside of your field, or writing documentation for your day job unrelated to your writing career.
Why do we apply these restrictions? Because we want you to count things you write creatively and things you want to write, not things you have to write to pass a class or stay employed.
If you prefer to write by hand and are concerned about typing up all those thousands of words, never fear—your words do not need to be electronic. You will never be asked to submit your words for any sort of count validation, so you can keep your words handwritten all year, if you like.
All writers are allowed to estimate word counts. Sometimes estimating is easier than rigid tracking or counting hand-written work. For longhand writing, our guidelines recommend counting an average page and then multiplying by the number of pages written.