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Word count

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Word count is the most important part of the NaNoWriMo experience and the bar by which Nanoers measure their progress. Because the primary goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a novel of at least 50,000 words, participants must write at least 1,667 words per day in order to reach this goal. For some sessions of Camp Nanowrimo and other months with 31 days, it is 1,613 words per day. In FebNoWriMo (Spin-Off Event) it is 1,785 words a day during Non-Leap Years and 1,724 words a day during leap years.

Word count is the only measure of "success" on Nanowrimo; quality is irrelevant. There is a forum dedicated to tips and tricks on reaching higher word counts, as well as another forum dedicated to celebrating word counts. There are often multiple tools focused around word count, such as calendars and word count widgets. While some may measure wordcount by the day (which is tracked by the stats page), some may set hourly goals or smaller goals during word wars. Wrimos may also set challenges such as "Double your wordcount weekend" or use alternate daily goals such as Reverse NaNo which starts at a higher daily goal and gets progressively lower until it ends at a daily goal of 1.

Throughout the month of November, Wrimos update their unofficial Word Count by entering the amount of words they have written in to the box at the top right corner of the page, or by using the word count validator on the "Edit Novel Info" page of their profile. This box can be seen no matter where you are on the website. A Wrimo's word count is displayed in their word count bar, which shows up above their username when they post on the forums and in their profile.

The maximum word count one could enter has changed over the years. From 2002 to 2006 the maximum word count one could enter was 200,000 words. This limit was upped to 999,999 in 2007 until being reduced to 500,000 in 2010 and increased to 1,000,000 in 2011. Wrimos may still write more words than the word counter can handle, and a few overachievers do.

Starting with the 2013 sessions, Camp Nanowrimo participants have the option to set their own word count goals, ranging from 10,000 to 999,000 words. In 2016, the minimum goal became 30 to allow for non-wordcount goals, such as hours of editing or pages of scripts.

In 2015, a lifetime wordcount was added to profile pages, showing the total words logged in current and previous NaNoWriMo main events. It does not include Camp attempts and Camp NaNoWriMo currently does not have this functionality.

Word Count Chart

NaNoWriMo Word Count Chart
DAY DAILY REVERSE 75 K 100 K 150 K 200 K 250 K 300 K
1 1667 3346 2500 3334 5000 6668 8335 10000
2 3334 3216 5000 6668 10000 13336 16670 20000
3 5001 3101 7500 10002 15000 20004 25005 30000
4 6668 2986 10000 13336 20000 26672 33340 40000
5 8335 2872 12500 16670 25000 33340 41675 50000
6 10002 2757 15000 20004 30000 40008 50010 60000
7 11669 2642 17500 23338 35000 46676 58345 70000
8 13336 2527 20000 26672 40000 53344 66680 80000
9 15003 2412 22500 30006 45000 60012 75015 90000
10 16670 2298 25000 33340 50000 66680 83350 100000
11 18337 2153 27500 36674 55000 73348 91685 110000
12 20004 2068 30000 40008 60000 80016 100020 120000
13 21617 1953 32500 43342 65000 86684 108355 130000
14 23338 1838 35000 46676 70000 93352 116690 140000
15 25005 1724 37500 50010 75000 100020 125025 150000
16 26672 1609 40000 53344 80000 106688 133360 160000
17 28339 1494 42500 56678 85000 113356 141695 170000
18 30006 1379 45000 60012 90000 120024 150030 180000
19 31673 1264 47250 63346 95000 126692 158365 190000
20 33340 1150 50000 66680 100000 133360 166700 200000
21 35007 1035 52500 70014 105000 140028 175035 210000
22 36674 920 55000 73348 110000 146696 183370 220000
23 38341 805 57500 76682 115000 153364 191705 230000
24 40008 690 60000 80016 120000 160032 200040 240000
25 41675 576 62500 83350 125000 166700 208375 250000
26 43392 461 65000 86684 130000 173368 216710 260000
27 45009 346 67500 90018 135000 180036 222045 270000
28 46676 231 70000 93352 140000 186704 233380 280000
29 48343 116 72500 96688 145000 193372 24715 290000
30 50010 1 75000 100020 150000 200040 250050 300000

Page count

Scripts are typically counted by page count rather than word count, so Script Frenzy's equivalent to the 50,000 word goal was 100 pages. The validator for Script Frenzy required a submission in PDF and counted pages from that. Since the discontinuation of Script Frenzy, no validator for page count is available. Camp Nanowrimo does offer the option to set a script as your Camp project, but suggests a wordcount equivalent in lieu of pages.