How this calculator works
There are two questions every writer working toward a deadline needs to answer: how many words per day do I need to write, and when will I actually finish at the pace I can sustain. This tool answers both.
Deadline mode takes your total word goal, subtracts anything you have already written, and divides the remainder by the number of days between today and your deadline. That gives you the words per day you need to hit your target. Toggle "skip weekends" if you only write Monday through Friday.
Pace mode takes your daily word count and tells you the date you will finish. This is useful if you know your sustainable pace and want a realistic finish line, rather than a wishful one.
Daily word counts to finish a novel
Common targets for context. These assume you write every day. If you only write on weekdays, multiply by 1.4 to get a per-weekday target.
| Total words | 30 days | 90 days | 6 months | 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50,000 (NaNoWriMo) | 1,667 / day | 556 / day | 274 / day | 137 / day |
| 70,000 (short novel) | 2,334 / day | 778 / day | 384 / day | 192 / day |
| 80,000 (typical novel) | 2,667 / day | 889 / day | 439 / day | 220 / day |
| 100,000 (long novel) | 3,334 / day | 1,112 / day | 549 / day | 274 / day |
| 120,000 (epic) | 4,000 / day | 1,334 / day | 659 / day | 329 / day |
For a longer breakdown of realistic finishing timelines and the math behind them, see How long does it take to write a novel?
Why a daily word goal works
Big targets feel impossible. A 90,000 word novel sounds like forever. A daily target of 300 words feels like an evening. The same project, framed differently, becomes manageable.
Splitting a long project into a daily commitment is the single most reliable productivity move for writers, because it removes the daily decision of "how much should I write today." The calculator already answered. You just sit down and hit the number.
The catch: the daily number has to be one you can actually sustain. A 2,000-word-a-day target you hit twice and then quit is worse than a 400-word-a-day target you hit for six months. The realistic test is "could I do this on my worst Tuesday." That is the number to plan around.
Common writing schedules
- Full-time writer: 1,500 to 3,000 words a day, five or six days a week. Most working novelists fall in this range.
- Day job, evenings: 500 to 1,000 words a day, five days a week. Sustainable for long drafts. An 80,000 word novel finishes in 16 to 32 weeks.
- Parent or caregiver: 200 to 500 words a day, four to six days a week. Small numbers compound. 300 words a day for a year is over 109,000 words. A full novel.
- Weekend writer: 2,000 to 4,000 words on Saturday or Sunday, rest during the week. Harder to keep momentum between sessions but doable with a visible streak.
For more on picking a goal you will actually hit, see How to set realistic writing goals you will actually hit.
Beyond the calculator
A calculator gives you a number. The hard part is hitting that number day after day for months. That is where a tracker matters: it shows your real pace, projects an updated finish date based on what you actually wrote (not what you planned), and surfaces the patterns that keep you writing or quietly stall you out.
Authorlytica does the math from this calculator automatically, every time you log a session. Your project page shows the required pace, your current pace, and the projected finish date side by side. When you fall behind, the numbers update so you can adjust without lying to yourself about a deadline that has already slipped.
The free plan covers the full calculation, charts, and streak tracking for up to three active projects. No card, no signup wall. Just a place for the daily number to live.