Book Writing Calculator

This calculator tells you how long (roughly) it might take you to finish your book or novel.

Your daily writing average 500,000 words
Planned length of your book 5 words

Current progress (current word count) 5 words

Number of drafts 5

Your daily editing average 5 words

Holidays/Days not spent writing 5%
Draft
$18,200
Days
$21,000
Book Finish Date
Disclaimer:This is just a rough guide and is not meant to be taken as gospel. The actual amount of time it will take you to write a book depends on many factors, including how fast you can type, how much free time you have, and how well you organize your thoughts. This calculator is simply meant to give you a ballpark estimate.

How To Use This Calculator


Option 1: Calculate Total Days

This will calculate how many days it will take to complete your book based on the number of words you plan to write per day. The calculation considers the following:

  • Your daily writing average
  • The planned length of your book
  • Current progress (your current word count)
  • Number of drafts you plan on writing (it will work out separate dates for each draft)
  • Your daily editing average
  • Holiday days (realistically, you will take some days off!)

Daily writing average:

This is the number of words you think you can write per day. This can be a rough estimate.

If you don't know, try 1,000 words per day. This is the average for a full-time author and it allows a realistic amount of time for editing, research, and breaks.

The planned length of book:

This is the number of words you want your final book to be. It should be a pretty solid goal that you are confident you can achieve. You can take a look at the average book length by genre below to gain a better scope of what is considered average.

Average Book Length By Genre Table

Current progress:

This is your current word count. If you have not started writing yet, simply leave this field blank.

Number of drafts you plan on writing:

This is the number of drafts you think you will need to complete before your book is ready for publication.

A first draft can often be the roughest and usually takes the longest to write, but each subsequent draft usually gets shorter as you fine-tune your work.

Daily editing average:

This is the number of words you can realistically edit per day. Editing can often take longer than writing, so make sure to give yourself enough time.

A good rule of thumb is to edit for two hours for every hour you spend writing.


Holidays:

No one can write 365 days a year! Make sure to give yourself some time off by inputting the number of days you plan to take off per month.

The calculator will automatically space out your holidays so that they don't interfere with your writing schedule too much.


Option 2: Find Out How Many Words You Need To Write Per Day

This will calculate how many words you need to write per day in order to complete your book by a certain date. Simple!

The calculation considers the following:

  • The planned length of your book.
  • The date you want it completed by

It will then break down how many words you will need to write per day, week, and month in order to complete your book on time.

Why You Should Use a Writing Calculator

When you have a writing project, whether it's an essay, book or letter, it can be difficult to know how long it will take you to finish. This is where a writing calculator can be useful.

By inputting the number of words you plan to write and the amount of time you have available, a writing calculator can give you an estimate of how long it will take you to complete your task.

This can be helpful in two ways:

a) it can help you to break your writing task up into manageable chunks.

b) it can help to ensure that you allocate enough time for each stage of your writing project. So if you're looking to improve your writing productivity, this writing calculator could be just what you need.

Book Writing FAQs Answered!

How Long Does It Take to Write a Book?
How Long Does It Take to Write a Short Story?
How Many Words Should I Write a Day?
How Fast Can You Write a Book?
How Many Hours Does It Take to Write a Novel?
How Long Does It Take Authors to Write a Book?
How Long Does It Take to Write an Ebook?
How Long Does It Take to Write a Nonfiction Book?
How Long Does It Take to Write a Fiction Book?
How Long Does It Take to Write a Chapter Book?
How Long Does It Take to Write a Comic Book?
How Long Does It Take to Write a Good Book?
How Long Does It Take to Write a Self-Help Book?
How Long Does It Take Someone to Write a Book?
How Long Does It Normally Take to Write a Book?
How Long Does It Take to Write a Poetry Book?
How Long Does It Take to Write a Textbook?

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