I’ve never liked numbers. Throughout my school days, math was the only academic class I really had to study for. Numbers are impersonal. They’re the opposite of words. I love words. I can relate to them.
Now, I’ve become surrounded by numbers. How many blog subscribers do I have? Have many Twitter followers? How many Facebook friends? How many books have I sold this week? Counting, counting, counting. And for what?
I am a writer. None of those totals makes me a better writer. In fact, obsessing over those numbers hurts my writing. Numbers have kidnapped me from words.
Lately, I’ve let too many of my days be ruined by numbers—the lack of them, the loss of them. The only numbers I need care about are word counts. Even then, I can’t obsess. Twenty words today, two thousand tomorrow, it all adds up to writing.
Words are my life’s blood. Numbers? Well, they’re the vampires.
[tweetmeme source=”cassidylewis” only_single=false]
Linda Cassidy Lewis 
Numbers schmumbers. I’m much better at ignoring them these days, but there was a time…. And, your post is a good reminder for me that when I am “published” (thinking positive here), I will have to work hard to ignore those numbers again. For the most part. Well, maybe I’ll check them just once a day. Okay, twice, but that’s it. Oh boy, I’m in trouble already.
LikeLike
I have a feeling your numbers will always be positive, Christi. 🙂
LikeLike
i agree that numbers are the thieves of words. But as a newbie I can’t help looking at the stat count and I am thrilled when the count nears 7,000 in 10 weeks but then I hear of people getting 500,000 hits in a month.
But what does it all mean anyway. I started to write my daily blog as a discipline and I am ever grateful that people are stopping by to read and comment.
LikeLike
Well, Judith, if you have 7,000 hits in 10 weeks, your blog is doing far better than mine, so you have nothing to worry about. I think you’d probably have to be famous, very controversial, or a huge business to get 500,000 hits a month.
LikeLike
You do well on the numbers of comments, Linda. I’m sure your book numbers will rise in turn. And going back to your previous post, I am heading over to Amazon to click some tags and mess with a few more numbers.
LikeLike
Thank you for the vote of confidence, Ms.Flynn. If you clicked the tags on my Kindle book, I never got to see them because Amazon has discontinued their use as of today. But thank you for the support.
LikeLike
I. Hate. The numbers.
LikeLike
Well, then, V.V., here’s to words! 😉
LikeLike