Free novel writing planner. Convert manuscript word count into a personalized daily writing target, deadline, and estimated print page count across formats (5×8 paperback, 6×9 hardcover, standard Kindle). Includes weekly-schedule customization for NaNoWriMo and serial authors.
Built and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software
Use when starting a novel, planning a NaNoWriMo run, or recalibrating mid-project after a hiatus. Switching between deadline and daily modes shows you both views.
Spreadsheet-based planners cover similar math but require setup. This tool fits the same workflow into a one-screen calculator.
Writing 1000 words on 7 days/week finishes your 80,000-word manuscript around 2026-11-25.
Word counts are converted to print pages using genre-standard words-per-page (300 for 6×9 trade, 350 for mass-market, 250 for Kindle).
In deadline mode the target daily rate is computed from days remaining; in daily-target mode the finish date is projected from your sustainable rate.
Reading time is estimated at 250 wpm — a generous "average adult".
Industry averages: ~300 words per trade paperback page, ~250 for Kindle, ~350 for mass-market paperback. Real layouts vary with font and margins.
Not necessarily. Pick your real schedule — the planner adapts the daily target to your selected days.
Deadline mode overrides the daily target with the rate needed to hit the deadline. If you can't sustain that, switch to daily mode and accept a later finish.
Input
Target 80k words, current 12k, writing 5 days/week at 1,000 words/day.
Output
Finish in ~14 weeks. Estimated 267 print pages.
68,000 words remaining ÷ 5,000 words/week = 13.6 weeks. 80,000 ÷ 300 words/page = 267 pages in a standard 6×9 trade paperback.
The presets are publishing conventions rather than rules: 3,000 words for short fiction, 30,000 for a novella, 80,000 for a standard novel, 120,000 for an epic. Those figures reflect what acquiring editors expect by category, which is why they matter commercially even though nothing enforces them.
Adult genre fiction clusters near the novel figure, with fantasy and science fiction running longer and category romance shorter. The number that matters for a submission is the one for your specific category, and a manuscript far outside it is the most common structural reason for an early rejection.
The projection is remaining words divided by your daily rate, and it defaults to 1,000 words a day. That figure is achievable and is also roughly double what most working novelists average once revision, research and days off are included.
The projection assumes you write every day at a constant rate, which nobody does. Use it to compare scenarios — what a 500-word day does to the finish date against a 1,500-word one — rather than as a delivery date. Enter a realistic rate rather than an aspirational one, or the tool will quietly tell you what you want to hear.
It also counts drafting only. Revision is not a fixed fraction of drafting time and is frequently longer.
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