In 10 days, writers everywhere will be starting their journeys to 50,000 words or more! Now is the time to plan out your word goals. How many words are you going to write each day? You would think that there was only one answer to this question, right? Are you thinking “Oh, it’s so simple, I’ll just divide 50,000 by 30; that gives me about 1,667 words to write each day.” Uhh, do I need to mention Thanksgiving? What if you can’t write one day? or two? Let me just say that the phrase “I’ll catch up tomorrow” is you’re WORST enemy during the month of November. The further behind you get, the more there is a chance of you not being able to catch up. So, how are you going to defeat these no-write days?

There’s a couple of ways to do it. The first is to obviously write more than 1,667 words a day. If you have the time and the inspiration to write more than your set word count, do so! That padding can help keep you on track if you miss a day of writing. But writing more isn’t always the best solution. If you’re a slow writer or you’re still working out the finer points of your plot, writing more is just not possible sometimes. You could also try not to skip any day and write every single day of the month; which to be honest, isn’t such a bad idea. Rain or shine, 5 words or 5,000 words, write everyday to keep that story moving in your head.

Many writers find or create their own Calendar during NaNoWriMo to keep a visual of where they should be at the end of each day of writing. Below, I’ve embedded one I found on Deviant Art that I just love! It’s got the basics for a NaNo Calendar: dates and word count goal for each day, but what I love so much about this one is the witty comments on each day and how exactly they correspond to the general feelings of WriMos as they progress through the month.

NaNoWriMo Calendar 2009 by ~Rayviathae on deviantART

Try using a calendar for your writing or create something similar that will work as a visual aid to keep that word count of yours climbing!