Final topic in my NaNoWriMo Prep series is WORD COUNT. Before we jump into that topic, I encourage you to read 4 Tips for Surviving NaNoWriMo by my wonderful writing buddy, Shy Olafsson.

NaNoWriMo Word Count Goal

The goal of National Novel Writing Month is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. Depending upon the genre, that’s a major part of a first draft for an adult novel. That might be the entire novel for a middle grade or young adult novel. For my POISON PEN FRIENDS, I’m estimating the finished novel will be in the 80,000 – 90,000 word range.

A little math confirms that with 30 days in November, 50,000 words means a minimum of 1,667 word every day. It’s doable, but it requires commitment. Realistically, there are some days that are not going to be productive. For instance, I’m thinking Thanksgiving is a 0 word count day. That means, the daily target should be something higher, such as 2,000 words daily.

Tracking Word Count

The NaNoWriMo Web site allows you to enter your daily number of words written. It creates graphs so you can track your progress. Depending upon what app is being used to create the text, a writer can track current word count while typing. Both Scrivener and Word (the two systems I use) have this feature.

Increasing Rate of Word Count

One way to prep for NaNoWriMo is to do writing sprints prior to November. Rather than trying to reach the daily goal in one long session, break the work sessions into shorter sprints with time in-between sprints for stretching, eating, conversation, etc… During October, do practice sprints to determine your typical writing rate. That will help you determine how many sprints to plan for each day. In my first 20 minute sprints I produced 300 words, then worked up to 400 words, and finally to 500 words. I hope to maintain a rate of 500 words per sprint during NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo Prep

Here are the links to all the parts of the NaNoWriMo Prep series:

• Intro
• The Idea
• Characters
• Plot
• Word Count

Final Thoughts

I’ve never reached 50,000 words in my past attempts at NaNoWriMo. Maybe 2020 will be the year I make it. If not, I’ll have taken a good start on POISON PEN FRIENDS. Thanks for joining me as I prep for November.

I wish you much writing success if you are participating in NaNoWriMo. Regardless of the number of words you finish, I encourage you to write in November. Be part of the fun!