The words on the page are the only things that count. (See “It’s the Writing, Stupid,” below.)
That’s all well and good. But novelist Debra Galant poses an interesting question: what about those non-writing writing days? Does it count, for example, if you’re sketching notes about a character, doing historical research at the library or online, or creating an outline for the story? Does it count if you’re mulling things over while washing the breakfast dishes (what if the secret the brother is hiding from the family involves the mysterious neighbor; what if it turns out, in fact, that he is intimately involved in the mystery…) or taking a brisk walk?
Deb says, “I always keep a process journal for whatever novel I’m working on. Today I did a tarot reading for my character Hugo. Took notes, thought about him, mused a bit, saw the need for new character to be developed. But no pages added to the manuscript. I’m at very early stages. What do you think? Does note-taking count as writing?”
Well — since you asked! — here’s what I think. For me, note-taking does not count. It’s a necessary part of the process, of course – like research and planning and ruminating in the shower. All of it is part of creating a novel. But it’s not writing.
In order to get those words on the page, I have to remind myself that I can fill notebooks with musings about my characters’ motivations; I can research the history of the orphan trains until the proverbial cows come home; I can plan and strategize and plot. But none of it actually means anything until it becomes part of the story.
In her masterful guide to narrative craft, Writing Fiction, 
Today, for example, I am at a Verizon store unraveling the mysteries of my new Blackberry. A hip young sales associate named Dawn has been dispatched to teach me how to download ring tones and other “apps.” Part of my brain is paying attention (as much attention as is possible for me ever in these situations, which is to say not much), but mostly I am focused on other things. What brought this girl to this particular Verizon store in a strip mall on Route 3 in Clifton, New Jersey? Is she really passionate about electronics? Was it a bond she shared with, say, her gay older brother or alcoholic ex-boyfriend? What does her tattoo of a purple rose signify? How does she manage to keep her fingernails so long and yet manipulate the tiny keypad so well?
A novelist friend has an index card with these four words on it taped to the wall above the computer in his study:
