Measure progress you can’t put into numbers

What is qualitative progress?

Qualitative progress describes how you do something or a quality of the result. A text becomes easier to follow. You can explain why you chose a color. You spot a mistake before finishing the whole piece. You can describe these changes without claiming they represent exactly a twenty percent improvement.

That doesn’t mean they’re impossible to observe. “I feel like I’m getting better” expresses a general impression. “I can explain the connection between the two parts of my story” offers a more precise indicator. The description is still open to interpretation, but it gives you something to compare and a starting point for a useful conversation.

Both approaches can coexist. The guide to defining what success looks like for a goal helps you choose what’s truly worth tracking. A simple number can be useful as long as it doesn’t replace the experience you want to understand.

How can you measure qualitative progress without making up a score?

Start by choosing just one dimension. If you want to improve a story, you could look at clarity of point of view, consistency over time, or precise descriptions. Focusing on one at a time keeps every reread from becoming an overall assessment of your writing. You can switch dimensions after a few tries.

Next, describe what you would see if that dimension changed. For consistency over time: the reader knows when a scene takes place, flashbacks are signaled, and details about timing don’t contradict one another. These are suggested criteria for working on your text, not universal standards of literary quality.

The meta-analysis by Harkin and colleagues focuses on goal monitoring and suggests that making progress visible may be broadly useful. It does not specifically validate this article’s qualitative framework. Applying it to a personal journal is a practical suggestion: keep records to help you choose what to do next, without promising an automatic effect.

A four-part method

1. A modest starting record

Keep a sample, sketch, private recording, or dated description. You don’t need to choose your worst attempt to make your progress look dramatic. An ordinary piece of work will be more honest and often more useful. Note the conditions: approximate duration, help received, instructions, and materials.

This detail helps you avoid misleading comparisons. A text you spent an hour preparing can’t be compared directly with a five-minute improvisation. A drawing made from a reference and one drawn from memory involve different things. Your skill learning journal can preserve these contexts in a few lines.

2. A consistent question

Frame a question that the record can answer. “Does the character want something identifiable in this scene?” is more useful than “Am I talented?” The first opens the door to a possible revision; the second calls for a sweeping judgment that one excerpt can’t answer.

For a less visible activity, describe a situation. If you’re learning to explain a topic, ask yourself whether you can give an example and answer a simple question. If you’re working on organization, notice whether you can find the next step without rereading the whole file. The criterion should stay close to how you’ll actually use the skill.

3. A comparison with context

After several attempts, take a new record under sufficiently similar conditions. Read both without immediately looking for which one is “better.” First describe the differences: the second has fewer characters, the explanation starts with an example, the materials you need are already gathered. Then ask yourself whether those differences serve your intention.

You can notice a gain and a loss at the same time. A clearer text may have lost an image you loved. A faster method may leave less room for exploration. Progress doesn’t have to be a line that rises on every measure. You can keep an improvement while bringing back a quality that had disappeared.

4. A decision for the next session

End the comparison with one small choice. Keep the structure, rework the transitions, or ask for feedback on a specific passage. Without this decision, tracking can become a collection of archives. The guide for breaking a project into milestones connects your observation to a practical next step.

Don’t correct everything at once. If the comparison reveals five difficulties, choose the one that gets in the way most or the one you can understand right now. You can leave the others in a note. A useful measure helps direct your effort; it doesn’t require you to produce a perfect version right away.

Example: improving at describing a place

At first, you write: “The room was beautiful and pleasant.” A week later, you describe the light on the hardwood floor, the sound of the street, and the empty space by the window. The second text contains more observable details, but that alone isn’t enough to declare it better in every context.

If your intention is to create a mood, these details can be useful. If you’re writing a very short note to find an address, they may be unnecessary. The right choice depends on the project. Our exercise for describing a place with the five senses offers an exploration; you can then choose what serves the text.

You could write: “I find it easier to replace a general adjective with a detail. I still include too many elements in one sentence.” This observation recognizes a change and names work that remains. It doesn’t need a score out of ten or a comparison with an experienced writer.

What role should other people’s perspectives play?

Outside feedback can reveal what you no longer notice, but it reflects a particular perspective. Does the person know the prompt? Are they part of the intended audience? Are they talking about a difficulty understanding the text or a personal preference? Ask for feedback on a specific criterion using the guide for asking for feedback on a creation.

Avoid collecting opinions until you get one that reassures you. Two contradictory responses may simply point to different uses. You can make the final decision, explain your choice in a decision journal and then test the version with the audience it’s actually intended for.

Consent matters, too. Don’t share a recording or document containing information about other people just to measure your progress. An anonymized excerpt or an invented example is often enough. The quality of your tracking doesn’t justify neglecting privacy.

When progress is still hard to see

A lack of visible difference doesn’t automatically mean you haven’t learned. You may understand the task better without yet being able to perform it consistently. Conversely, one isolated success doesn’t prove you’ve mastered the skill in every situation. Note what you actually know and what needs another try.

Check your criterion, too. “Sounding natural” may be too vague to guide a comparison. Rephrase it as an observable behavior: finish an explanation without losing your train of thought, choose a suitable example, or find information without help. You can adapt the goal when conditions change instead of forcing a measure that’s no longer relevant.

Finally, allow for periods without evaluation. A solo creative session can exist simply for the pleasure of exploring. Not every hobby needs to become an improvement program. Tracking is an option that should serve your project, not a condition for being allowed to practice.

For a complementary perspective, watch this video from Julia Ravey.

Sources

• Harkin B. et al. (2016). Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence.
• American Psychological Association (2015). Overview of the meta-analysis on goal monitoring.

The suggested exercises are editorial adaptations, not individually validated protocols. The example situations are fictional.