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Word Count Tracker Template

Pseudocode and logic for building a word count script tailored to a book manuscript in Obsidian.

Purpose

Count words in your manuscript, excluding metadata, diagrams, and reference sections that inflate the count.

What to Exclude

Content Why
YAML frontmatter (--- to ---) Metadata, not prose
Mermaid diagram blocks Generated visuals
References sections (## References to end) Citation listings
HTML comments (<!-- ... -->) Internal tracking notes
Empty lines Not words

Core Logic (Pseudocode)

def count_words(file_path):
    content = read_file(file_path)

    # Strip YAML frontmatter (first block only)
    content = remove_between("---", "---", content, first_only=True)

    # Strip Mermaid blocks
    content = remove_between("```mermaid", "```", content)

    # Strip references section (## References to end of file)
    content = remove_after("## References", content)

    # Strip HTML comments
    content = remove_between("<!--", "-->", content)

    # Count remaining words
    return len(content.split())

Output Formats

Per-Section (verbose mode)

Chapter 6: [CHAPTER TITLE]
  6.1 [Section Title]              1,187 words  (target: 1,200)  [OK]
  6.2 [Section Title]              1,243 words  (target: 1,200)  [+4%]
  6.3 [Section Title]                892 words  (target: 1,200)  [-26%]
  ...
  Chapter total:                   6,412 words  (target: 6,500)

Per-Chapter Summary (default)

Chapter  Title                        Words    Target   %      Status
1        [Chapter Title]              6,234    6,500    96%    [OK]
2        [Chapter Title]              6,891    6,500    106%   [OVER]
3        [Chapter Title]              4,102    6,500    63%    [SHORT]
...
TOTAL                                78,122   78,000   100%

CLI Interface

# Default: all chapters, summary view
python scripts/word_count.py

# Specific chapter with section breakdown
python scripts/word_count.py --chapter 6 --verbose

# Specific draft
python scripts/word_count.py --draft "Draft 2"

# JSON output for tooling
python scripts/word_count.py --json

# Combined
python scripts/word_count.py --draft "Draft 3" --chapter 12 --verbose

Color Coding

Status Condition Color
OK Within 10% of target Green
OVER More than 10% above target Yellow
SHORT More than 10% below target Red

Key Features to Build

  • Exclude frontmatter, diagrams, references, and comments
  • Per-section breakdown with --verbose flag
  • Per-chapter summary as default view
  • JSON output with --json flag
  • Filter to specific chapter with --chapter N
  • Draft selection with --draft "Draft N"
  • Color-coded output for at-a-glance status
  • Read word targets from each file's frontmatter target_words field

Dependencies

  • Python 3.8+
  • pyyaml -- frontmatter parsing
  • rich (optional) -- colored terminal output