[Adapted from a message to one of my writing mentees]
Today, I’m sharing the method I’ve created and used to help calculate your daily word count goal for your writing.
I believe having a daily word count goal is important to have in the drafting process of your writing as it gives you a daily minimum to shoot for. Now, having a daily word count goal does not mean that you have to write every day, although I do use it as a motivator to write in my work-in-progress every day. It merely is a bare-minimum goal that you set for yourself each time you sit down to write a particular project.
Here are the steps to creating a word count goal that works for you. There is a written explanation first, then a condensed version below it:
First, I evaluate how many words a day I am already writing on a certain project comfortably and consistently. Then I find out how many days a week I’m writing on that project. Then, I get the end word count goal for that book, then I set a reasonable and achieveable deadline.
Using this information, I take how many days are between now and the deadline. (If you are writing less than 7 days a week, I’d subtract accordingly.) Then, using the number for the of days I now have after doing the math, I take how many words that are currently in that project (I usually round down to the nearest thousandth), then I subtract it from the word count goal.
With the number I have after having subtracted it, I divide it by the number of days I’m writing until the deadline. The total that comes out is the word count that I have to write every day on the days I’m writing till the end goal.
Bullet List:
1: Evaluate how many words a day on average you are writing in your WIP. (I usually average and round down)
2: If you’re not writing seven days a week, find out how many days you want to write a week
3: Find the end word count goal
4: Set the deadline
5: Know how many days you have between now and the deadline by subtracting. (Change math accordingly if you’re not writing every day)
6: Take how many words you have in your current work-in-progress (round down to the nearest thousanth)
7: Subtract the word count goal from step 3 from how many words you have in it right now
8: Then divide that number (from step 7) by the number of days you’re writing (from step 5)
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