Hiya Novel Writing Month people! While the official NaNoWriMo organization has closed, I'm told there is still demand for word counting calendars so I'm going to continue producing them.
This calendar is designed to show progress by filling in blocks that represent 250 words every day; as the days go by, the overall pattern will give you an idea of your progress at-a-glance!
Interim Version
This year I'm writing custom software to generate the word counting calendars more easily, but this is going to take at least a few days. In the meantime, I'm providing a placeholder version based on the November 2014 edition which happens to match November 2025. Unfortunately, I didn't make color variations back then so we're stuck with the "classic green" layout until I get the software working. If you're interested in following the story, you can follow along on my new website at dsriseah.com.
How to Use the Calendar
The calendar is designed for US 8.5 x 11 inch paper. However, it will also print on A4 if you use the “scale to fit” option when printing. The layout is designed to look pretty good on both sizes.
If you don’t have a color printer, grab the multiple colors archive and use the monochrome version. This is designed to print clearly on black-and-white printers.
I recommend using the actual Adobe Acrobat Reader software for printing PDFs, as some third-party utilities have trouble with certain line styles (dotted lines tend to disappear) See the sidebar to the right for the download link.
Tracking Your Progress
DAILY WORD COUNT
Fill-in the word count box for each day in the box next to the date. Color the pyramid of boxes, starting at the bottom. Each box corresponding to 250 words.
Every day you write some words, fill-in the word count by writing a number, and color-in the boxes. I used to use a regular pencil, but you could use a fancy pen if you like. You need to write around 1667 words a day to meet your 50,000 word count if you’re maintaining a constant pace, but if working in spurts works better for your schedule just do that!
WEEKLY WORD COUNT
At the end of the week, sum up the daily word counts and enter them into the box.
The last column helps you track your pace. You can compare the number of words that you might have achieved if you were keeping a regular weekly pace. If you’re hitting the minimum weekly word count, you’re probably doing OK! If you’re not, then you can see how much you are ahead or behind, and plan your coming days appropriately.
Use the calendar as a tool to see the progress you make! It’s here to help you measure your awesomeness, word-by-word. If you don’t make your full count you still have acquired many words that you didn’t have before :-)
EXAMPLE USE
In this example from 2012, you can see how each day has a pyramid of filled-in word count blocks. Each is 250 words. Over time, you can see it forms a pleasing pattern.
The calendar is free to use for non-profit purposes! I’d love to hear about how you’re using these if you are part of a group or organization if you found these useful. I hope you find them useful!
I recommend using the official Adobe Acrobat Reader for printing the calendar, as many PDF readers do not render dotted lines correctly.
Having trouble saving the file? On Windows, right-click the link above and choose “Save Link As”. If you’re using a Macintosh, option-click the link instead.
Download 2025 Word Counting Calendar
Download All Color Variants
Currently the color variants are not available. If I can get to them, I'll post them here later!
