BYTETOOLS

Manuscript Word Count Planner

Turn a target word count and a deadline into a daily writing schedule, with days off, the pace you need and a cumulative table you can export as CSV.

Days off

Struck-through days are skipped. Highlighted days count towards your pace.

Set a start date and a deadline above to build your writing schedule.

Dates are treated as plain calendar dates, so the plan is identical whatever time zone you are in. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is saved or uploaded.

What is the Manuscript Word Count Planner?

A deadline on its own does not tell you what to do tomorrow. This planner turns a target word count and a finish date into a concrete daily pace: it counts the calendar days you have left, subtracts the days you have marked off, and works out how many words each remaining writing day has to carry to get you to the finish line.

  • Words-per-day pace from your target, your progress and the days left
  • Weekday toggles so weekends or any other rest days are skipped
  • Cumulative schedule table with a running total for every writing day
  • The last day absorbs the rounding, so the plan lands exactly on target
  • CSV download and one-click copy of the summary
  • Plain calendar dates, so the plan is identical in every time zone

How to use the Manuscript Word Count Planner

  1. 1

    Enter your target word count and how many words you have already written.

  2. 2

    Set the start date and the deadline, or press Start today to fill in today's date.

  3. 3

    Toggle the weekday buttons to strike out the days you will not be writing.

  4. 4

    Read the words-per-writing-day pace and check the cumulative schedule underneath.

  5. 5

    Copy the summary or download the whole schedule as a CSV file.

About the Manuscript Word Count Planner

A deadline on its own does not tell you what to do tomorrow. This planner turns a target word count and a finish date into a concrete daily pace: it counts the calendar days you have left, subtracts the days you have marked off, and works out how many words each remaining writing day has to carry to get you to the finish line.

It also accounts for progress you have already made, so entering the words written so far recalculates the pace instead of starting from zero. The cumulative schedule below the summary lists every writing day with its word target and a running total, and the final day absorbs the rounding so the plan lands exactly on your number.

Everything is worked out in your browser with JavaScript — your target, your dates and your progress are never uploaded, and nothing is stored between visits. Dates are handled as plain calendar dates rather than timestamps, so the schedule reads the same whatever time zone you are in, and the page keeps working offline.

Frequently asked questions

How many words a day do I need to write to finish on time?

Divide the words you still have to write by the number of days you will actually sit down and write, not by the raw calendar days. This planner does that for you once you mark your days off, so the pace it shows is the one you have to hit on the days you work.

Does the planner count weekends?

Only if you want it to. Saturday and Sunday are marked as days off by default, and you can toggle any weekday on or off, so the pace is spread across the days you really write rather than every day on the calendar.

What is a NaNoWriMo pace?

Fifty thousand words in the thirty days of November works out at about 1,667 words every single day with no days off. Enter 50,000 as the target with all seven weekdays switched on and the planner will show you that figure and the running total you need to hit each day.

Why does the schedule say I would finish early?

The daily pace is rounded up to a whole number of words, and those fractions add up over a long project. If holding the rounded pace exactly would clear the target before the deadline, the planner tells you how many writing days you would save.

Is my writing plan saved or uploaded anywhere?

No. The whole calculation runs in your browser and nothing is sent to a server or stored between visits. Download the CSV or copy the summary if you want to keep the schedule after you close the tab.

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