Word Count Calendars: What They Are and How They Help Writers

Word count calendars are one of my favorite physical writing tools. These calendars have served me extremely well when pursuing the completion of a story on a deadline or when procrastination brings my progress to a standstill. 

This tool is exactly what it sounds like: a calendar page where you can track your daily/weekly/monthly word count goals.

These calendars are customizable, flexible to work with your small and large goals, and they’re just plain fun! That’s why I’m so excited to share them with you in this post.

Below we’ll discuss: 

• The word count calendar’s inception in my writing life.
• Recent uses I’ve found for a word count calendar.
• How a word count calendar can help you.
• And where you can download FREE word count calendar templates today!

The Calendar’s Inception

During the last days of October 2019, NaNoWriMo stared me down. NaNoWriMo is the annual challenge for writers to write 50,000 words within the thirty days of November. Having committed to undertake this challenge with one of my friends, I couldn’t back out despite the doubts which haunted me.

Being my first time participating in NaNoWriMo, it was natural that I was nervous. What if I couldn’t reach that 50,000 word count goal within the thirty days? After all, up to November 1st, 2019, I’d never succeed in finishing any of my big writing projects by a predetermined deadline.

Bottom-line: I didn’t want to fail, but I was scared that I would. Afraid that December 1st would roll around and I’d discover I’d petered out at 15,000 words. I didn’t want to experience that shame.

So, in a way, the inception of the word count calendar in my writing life was brought about by fear or, rather, in the pursuit of solving my fear. The calendar was my action plan to keep anxiety at bay, my head screwed on tight, and my fingers at the keys. 

Just days before November 1^st, the annual kickoff for NaNoWriMo, I created my first word count calendar. 

I threw it together quickly using a calendar template from the Numbers application on my MacBook. After brightening it up with fall themed colors, I got to work on my master plan. 

• Monthly Goal: 50,000 words 
• Daily Goal: 1,667 words (1,667 x 30 = 50,010) 
• 10 Checkpoints: Sundays, Wednesdays, and every other weekend. (Ex. Checkpoint #1 have 5,001 words completed, checkpoint #2 have 10,002 words done, checkpoint #3 have 16, 670 words written, and so forth.)
• Reward System: For each checkpoint reached I designated a reward, such as the option to unlock my Netflix account for an evening. 
• Print the calendar, pin it to the wall, and get to work. 

I followed the plan, and on November 30, 2019, I finished my sprint with 50,037 words written. I was one happy writer!

Since Then…

The next appearance writing calendars made in my writing life were in January 2021-April 2021. It was time to edit the last 40,000 or so words of the fourth draft of my novel The New Dawn. I’d been working on this draft since the summer of 2020 and decided it was high time I got it finished. After a little math, I set April 17th as my deadline.

But considering that line editing takes me much longer than drafting, I chopped the NaNo 1,667 daily word count goal down to a manageable 556 words edited a day (excluding Sundays).

I also made a few changes to the calendar. Since this would be a much longer sprint than thirty days, I scheduled checkpoints on Sundays and Wednesdays but didn’t bother to figure the exact word count I’d need completed by each checkpoint.

This calendar was less official, you might say. I filled in how many words I wrote each day and kept track of my total word count. This time I reached my goal before the April 17th deadline!

How You Can Apply a Calendar

Any writer can use a word count calendar to achieve self-imposed deadlines or outside deadlines. A calendar can be used to track your daily practice with flash fiction prompts, keep you on schedule with a short story contest, or finish the next draft of your novel within the next few months. 

Personally, I decide to use a calendar when: 

• I have a tough goal like NaNoWriMo and need to be sure I stay on track each week. 
• My previous attempts to write every day or reach weekly word counts fail and I need a little extra accountability. 
• I feel that seeing my progress recorded on a calendar will motivate me to keep writing on the tough days.

Adapt the calendar to fit your own challenges and have fun with the creative aspect. If the project is going to be a big one, I encourage you to add a reward system.

Related Reading:

• A Step-by-Step Guide to Plan Writing for Productivity
• How to Make Attainable Writing Goals Daily and Kill Your Writer’s Guilt

Try a Word Count Calendar For Yourself!

Now, I’ve tried using spreadsheet tracking systems on my laptop or marking the word count on my phone’s calendar app, but it’s not the same as having a physical, beautifully designed calendar to fill in. After a day or two of using these less intentional methods, I end up quitting.

But printing off a calendar and pinning it to the wall or keeping it somewhere in sight helps me to remember how important the project is to me to complete. Plus, there is something so fun and satisfying about logging your work each day and watching the small word counts mount to big numbers. You’ve got to try it at least once! 

To make starting as easy was possible, I’ve designed some calendar templates (January-December) which you can download for FREE and print yourself!

These calendars are housed in my Resource Library alongside the workbooks, cheatsheets, prompts, and e-book. By submitting the form below you will receive the Calendars, access to my Resource Library, and bonus content + updates via my weekly newsletter—all for free!