On one hand, of course it is. A blogger strings words together just like a fiction writer does. The words add up if you’re writing in a blog or a story or a novel.

But if you’re counting words toward a goal, I always wonder if I should have blogging in a different category as those other projects. One thousand words toward my blog, especially like I’ve been posting lately, could give me over a week’s worth of small blurbs. Usually it’s only two if I write them ahead, but it gets away from me.

So if it doesn’t count, how do we keep track of it? One of my friends is really good at quantifying goals: she’s always commenting about how you should make a goal and know how you’ll attain it with specifics. IT’s not enough to lose weight as a goal; there should be a target weight, a date when you think you’ll get to that target, and some sort of tracking so you can see your progress.

Seems a little hard core, right? Except that when I try her methods, I get things done. The mental list in my head that nags me about the dishes and stops when they’re clean isn’t as satisfying as crossing that item off my written (on paper) list. It’s a similar feeling with a digital list, but I haven’t found the handy device to cart with me around the house in orer to house this list. Sure, I have a laptop and a netbook and my husband’s iPod Touch is hanging around, but I generally eschew those distractions when I get to my house cleaning.

I find it best especially because a blank piece of paper is inviting enough to put notes for a story on, or even little snippets. An entire digital device? Too tempting to quit my thoughts of tidying the house and get lost in a book.