We’ve all been there. The times when we work for so long on a big paper or maybe our very first novel. Then there’s a dark cloud looming in the back of our minds. That number no one wants to see, but we tend to check just as our fingers leave the keyboard.
Although it may feel like that’s something only us mere muggles deal with, that’s not quite true. It can even happen when you’re J.K. Rowling.
Image Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly
The novelist went on Twitter this morning to share her distress about the number that must not be named. She tweeted again shortly after to respond to a follower’s question about having one too many words. But her reaction for that is totally us and we absolutely get it.
Word count is a great and terrible thing and should be used with extreme caution.
Why did I check, when I was happy?
✂️— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 29, 2017
Yes and I need ALL of them. (Still in denial. Anger soon.) https://t.co/rBel4Dwzb9
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 29, 2017
Any good writer knows that feeling when you have to decide what to cut and what to leave. Rowling’s response to her follower is real, passionate, creative, and relatable. No one wants to cut ideas out. We need them! But if we are faced with this dilemma, don’t forget it happens to the best of us. That little devil of a number is always there whether it’s a tedious research paper or a short story. As you can see, it can appear for even the most magical of writers.
Image Courtesy of Rolling Stone