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Words per day calculator

Turn a word count goal and a deadline into a daily target, a weekly target and a finish date.

Plan by

The last day you can write. The plan spreads the words evenly over your writing days.

Writing days
Days off (optional)

Holidays, trips or anything else. A day off on a writing day moves that day's words to the others.

Words per writing day1,231
Per week
6,155
Finish date
Dec 29
Writing days
65
Words to go
80,000
    Your writing calendar91 days, 65 of them writing
    Week by week
    Week ofDaysWordsTotalDone
    Sep 2833,6933,6935%
    Oct 556,1559,84812%
    Oct 1256,15516,00320%
    Oct 1956,15522,15828%
    Oct 2656,15528,31335%
    Nov 256,15534,46843%
    Nov 956,15540,62351%
    Nov 1656,15546,77858%
    Nov 2356,15552,93366%
    Nov 3056,15559,08874%
    Dec 756,15565,24382%
    Dec 1456,15571,39889%
    Dec 2156,15577,55397%
    Dec 2822,44780,000100%
    Hit today's words with a sprint timer

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    Short answer

    Subtract the words you have from your target, then divide by the writing days left before your deadline. For 80,000 words written Monday to Friday from Mon, Jan 4, 2027 to Fri, Apr 2, 2027, that is 65 writing days and 1,231 words a day, or 6,155 a week.

    How to use it

    1. Choose Deadline if you have a date to hit, or Daily goal if you know how much you can write in a day.
    2. Enter your target word count and any words you have already written.
    3. Pick the start date and either the deadline or your words per writing day.
    4. Tick the days of the week you write, and add holidays or trips as days off.
    5. Copy the plan, download it as a CSV, or copy the share link to come back to it.

    How it works

    The calculator counts every date from your start date to your deadline that falls on a writing day and is not a day off. Then it shares the words still to go evenly across those days.

    Words to go = target - already written
    Words per writing day = words to go / writing days, rounded up
    Words per week = words per writing day x writing days in a week

    Worked example: 80,000 words, nothing written yet, writing Monday to Friday from Mon, Jan 4, 2027 to Fri, Apr 2, 2027. That span has 65 weekdays, so 80,000 / 65 = 1,231 words a day, rounded up, and 1,231 x 5 = 6,155 words a week. The last writing day is Fri, Apr 2, 2027.

    With a daily goal instead

    In Daily goal mode the calculator walks forward from the start date, adding your words on each writing day until the draft is done. At 500 words every day of the week, 80,000 words takes 160 days and you finish on Sat, Jun 12, 2027.

    The progress plan

    The week by week table shows how many writing days each week has, the words for that week, your running total and how far along you are. The calendar strip marks the dates you pass a quarter, half and three quarters of the draft.

    Reference

    Words per day for an 80,000 word draft, by weeks to the deadline and writing days a week.

    Weeks7 days a week5 days a week3 days a week
    8 weeks1,4292,0003,334
    12 weeks9531,3342,223
    16 weeks7151,0001,667
    26 weeks4406161,026
    52 weeks220308513

    Questions authors ask

    How many words a day do I need to write a novel?

    It depends on your target and your deadline, not on a fixed number. 80,000 words over 65 weekdays is 1,231 a day. Writing every day at 500 words, the same draft takes 160 days. Enter your own target and dates to see your number.

    What counts as a writing day?

    Any day of the week you tick. Untick the days you never write, such as weekends, and add holidays or trips as days off. The daily target only spreads over the days you actually plan to write.

    What happens when I take a day off?

    The words for that day move to your other writing days. In the example, taking two Mondays off turns 65 writing days into 63, and the daily target goes from 1,231 to 1,270 words.

    Should I count words already written?

    Yes. Enter them in Already written and the plan only covers the words still to go. Halfway through the example book, with 40,000 words done, the same deadline needs 616 words a day.

    I missed a day. How do I get back on track?

    Update Already written and set the start date to today. The calculator spreads what is left over the writing days still before your deadline, so you see the new daily target at once.

    How long does a novel need to be?

    The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association counts 40,000 words or more as a novel for the Nebula Awards. Most publishers and agents expect more than that for adult fiction. Our novel length checker shows the typical ranges by genre, with sources.

    Does it save my plan?

    No. Nothing leaves your browser and nothing is stored. Copy the share link to keep the plan: it holds your numbers and dates in the address, so opening it later shows the same plan. Download the CSV to put it in a spreadsheet.

    Before and after this step

    Related tools

    Sources

    Last verified against the SFWA Nebula Award rules for the novel length in the FAQ. The plan itself is plain arithmetic on your own numbers. Adjust the plan whenever life changes it.

    Length categories