Is it possible to write a good book in 30 days? According to some experts, it can take four to 12 months to write a book. A lot of factors come into play, such as typing speed, available time, research needs, editing, and much more. But is it possible to crank out a decent book in a month?
Of course, a “good” book is subjective. What one person thinks of a best-seller may be trash in the eyes of another. Nonetheless, you still want to craft something ideal for your target audience.
If you’re willing to put in the effort and limit distractions, writing a decent book in 30 days is quite possible. However, there is more to putting out a good book than just being able to type wicked fast.
How to Write a Book in 30 Days
There really isn’t a trick to writing a book inside of 30 days. It mostly comes down to time management and how well you can put the story together. Of course, there are elements that are going to slow you down some. But the biggest thing to keep in mind is time.
So, what can you do to crank out a novel inside of a month?
Establish the Book
First, you’ll want to establish the book as a whole. This means you want to have a clear idea of what you want to write and the style you want to portray. How long do you want your novel? How much research are you going to need? What is the premise of the plot?
You might want to consider average book lengths for specific genres. It’ll give you an idea of how long a typical book in a specific genre is, but these are more guidelines than rules.
Perhaps one of the more important facets of a good book is the research. This is especially true if you’re writing non-fiction or have elements of your book that are based on real events, people, places, or things. Research is going to slow you down if you want to deliver a realistic tale.
No matter how you go about it, though, have a solid plan of how your book is going to unfold and its estimated length. This will help you set goals, which I’ll talk about in a moment.
Let’s say that I want to write one of my dark fantasy books. It’s going to follow a new character in a new location that is totally made up. So, the research time is going to be somewhat low and I am aiming at 80,000 words for the first draft.
Outline the Novel (optional)
Something else you might want to consider is outlining your novel. It can help keep the flow of the story while reducing the chances of getting writer’s block. It takes a bit of time to set up, but I found that it makes everything so much easier in the long run.
Now, I’m not saying that you can’t write a book in 30 days if you don’t outline. There are plenty of pantsers out there who can easily and quickly whip out a novel in short order. However, there is a lot of merit to outlining, especially if you’re putting time constraints on yourself.
There are a lot of ways you can outline a story. Some authors will only use a single sentence per chapter while others will note every scene and piece of dialogue they want in the book. It really depends on what works best for you.
In my case, I’ll outline the major parts of the book and then fill in some of the smaller things that I’d like to convey. This often includes snippets of conversations or specific actions that I think would be cool in the story.
To write a book, I’ll usually spend a day plotting it out. This often involves going on walks (where I often think of scenes) or tinkering with the outline while sitting at my desk.
Setting Goals
One of the most important factors in writing a book within a month is setting goals that you fully intend on keeping. In this case, you’re trying to type a certain number of words within that specific time frame.
Remember when I said you should have an idea of how many words you want to write? This is where that number comes into play.
Take the number of words you want to write and divide it by the number of days you plan on writing. That is your daily goal for writing the book.
This means you need to give yourself adequate time to reach your word count goals. And for some people, that is going to require several hours of writing each day.
Because I’m a dork and track every piece of content I create, I know that I average around 1100+ words every hour when writing fiction. You’ll need to keep your own pace in mind when determining how much time you’ll need every day.
Reedsy Studio can help you set deadlines and goals. By entering the days you plan to write, Reedsy will show you how many words you need per day to succeed. If you don’t want to use Reedsy, find another writing app that has a similar function. It’ll help.
To write my book in 30 days, I’ll need to crank out 2,759 words per day. That’s because I spent day one outlining the book and building its backbone. So, we take 80,000 words / 29 days. This should take me about two and a half hours per day to write.
Write Light
I write light in the first draft. This means that I am focusing more on the story than the details. During the first round of edits, that’s when I’ll go back in and flesh out scenes and characters.
In other words, I don’t strive for perfection. I’m merely writing to get the story out of my head.
There’s nothing wrong with adding all of the details and nuances to your story as you write. But doing so is going to slow you down. And there is nothing you can’t add to the story once the first draft is complete.
While writing the story, I’ll add pertinent details that come up. But my primary focus is to finish the first draft, which often means skimping out here and there. By the time the book is ready to publish, I usually add around 5,000 words worth of description and development during the edits.
Consider Premade Book Covers
Book covers can take an exceptionally long time to finalize. Some designers are not as fast, and you might change your mind several times for the perfect artwork.
Premade book covers can be a massive timesaver. These covers are uniquely designed and can run between $50 and $800, depending on the design and the artist. However, the turnaround time is vastly superior because you may not need much changed on the cover.
Pick a design, contact the artist for font and wording, and you’re good to go in most cases. Though, you may want to sift through the book cover design site to find the perfect layout for your story.
The time invested by you is literally minutes, depending on how long it takes you to decide on a font and other minor adjustments you want.
I like to design covers myself. However, if I were to push to have a book written and published in a short amount of time, I’d use a site like The Book Cover Designer and find one that closely matched the plot or main character.
Don’t Edit Yet
Lastly, don’t try to edit while you write. While there are some authors out there who can do this with ease, a lot of folks can’t. When you try to edit as you write, you wind up getting stuck in an endless loop of perfecting the manuscript instead of finishing it.
I personally know someone who has been “writing” their second book for several years because of going back to make edits.
The first draft isn’t meant to be perfect. It’s going to be a trainwreck of thought and form, which is why editing can take so long after the fact. In reality, a lot of those changes you think you’re going to keep will get wiped out during the editing phase anyway.
Get the story out of you first, and then go back to fix things.
To hit my word count goals for the first draft, I don’t do much editing while I write. Sure, there will be a few things here and there that just make sense to fix as I go. But for the most part, I’m focusing on merely getting the story out of me.
The Stigma Behind a Rushed Novel
Some think that rushing to write anything reduces its quality. While that may be true in some cases, there are plenty of people who are capable of just producing great content at a rapid pace.
In other words, not all rushed stories are going to be bad. Some of us are just better at putting things together than others. That’s not to say that you’ll produce a worse product if you try to write a book in 30 days.
This is partly why I said “write” a book and not publish one. The editing process itself is going to take a fair amount of time. After all, you want people to enjoy your book, and editing helps you polish up the manuscript.
Publishing is not a race. Sure, it would be nice to make money sooner rather than later. But if it costs you the quality of your work, then it really doesn’t matter in the long term because you’ll earn a reputation for shotty workmanship.
On the other hand, you could be one of those authors who can whip out a great story in a short amount of time. You just don’t know until you try.
My suggestion would be to practice more. It can help you develop writing strategies while finding the best flow for your own needs and wants when writing a novel.
Practicing with Submission Sites
One of the biggest reasons why I like submission sites like Wattpad, Inkitt, or Archive of Our Own is because it gives you a chance to practice writing while receiving actionable feedback. In my experience, there just seem to be fewer trolls on these sites, and most readers want to see you succeed.
Plus, it gives you a chance to build up a community of fans before you start professionally selling your books on sites like Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
As most readers understand that books on these sites are not completely polished, you can easily practice your prose and writing habits to produce stories people want to read. You’re less stressed about the editing process and can focus more on story and character development.
Even after publishing a few books, I plan on doing more with these sites. I also have a penchant for writing fan fiction without getting sued, so I am a bit biased. Nonetheless, free book sites like these are great for a variety of reasons, especially if you’re relatively new to self-publishing.
How Fast Can You Write a Novel?
I often don’t get a chance to crank out a lot of books each year for a variety of reasons. From things that happen in my personal life to addressing client needs so I can pay the mortgage, it’s simply too chaotic for me to whip out five books every year.
However, I am relatively certain that I can write a decent book within 30 days. Of course, it’ll probably take me six months to edit the damn thing, but it’s completely possible.
One of these days, perhaps I’ll prove to myself that I can put together a decent story in a month. But that won’t be until I finish the next three books I have planned for this year.
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