Writing Goal Tracker Template

Setting a word count goal takes a minute. Keeping it takes a system.

Everyone knows the number: 50,000 words, 1,000 a day, one chapter a week. What goes wrong is never the arithmetic, it is day nine, when you have no idea whether you are ahead or behind and no appetite for finding out. This tracker puts the goal where the writing is. Five checklists sit on your Board, your draft is beside them with a live word count in the footer, and ticking a box takes one click.

What’s in the writing goal tracker

Five checklists, ready to use as they are. Change the numbers if your goal is different and leave everything else alone.

- Plan before you write: premise, ending, acts, turning points, scene cards, characters and research, so day one is writing rather than deciding.

- 50,000 words in 30 days: eight checkpoints from day 1 to day 30, at 1,667 words a day, with the halfway mark called out where people usually stall.

- 1,000 words a day: the lighter version, 30,000 words, one box a week, for a goal you can keep alongside a job.

- Finish the draft: nine story milestones from the opening chapter to the final read through, because word counts measure effort and this measures the book.

- Revise the draft: eight steps in order, big problems first and sentences last, so you do not polish a scene you are about to cut.

Who is this writing goal tracker for?

- NaNoWriMo and Novel November writers running 50,000 words in 30 days.

- Novelists on a deadline who need the month broken into checkpoints.

- Writers with day jobs working to 1,000 words a day rather than a sprint.

- First drafters who would rather track chapters and turning points than word counts.

- Writers in revision who need an order to work in.

- Writing groups and challenges running a shared goal with a shared structure.

Pick the goal, then tick the first box

Drop the tracker on your Board, change the numbers to match your goal, and start today rather than Monday.

Open Writing Goal Tracker Template