Can You Write a Novel or Nonfiction Book in Four Months or Less?
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September is my favorite time to take a look at my goals and whether I'm on track for reaching them this year. In past September posts, I've written about financial goals. This year, I'm discussing writing goals.
Did you set any writing goals for 2022? Have you always wanted to write a book I thought 2022 was the year you'd do it?
There are a little under four months left in the year. If I told you it's possible to write a book in four months or less, would you believe me? It might sound crazy, but it's true. You can write your book in four months or less, and in this blog post, I'm going to show you how.
Determine Your Starting Point
I want to be clear that writing a book quickly isn't for everyone, and that's fine. You can still use the steps in this post to finish your book, no matter what speed you plan to go. The key in finishing your book is finding a process that works for you!
The first step is determining your starting point. If you've never written a book before, you're going to have more work to do than someone who has already written one or someone who is in the middle of their draft. But don't worry, either way, it's possible to finish a book in four months or less.
Once you know where you are in the process, you can easily determined how much of your book you have left to right. Think in terms of beginning, middle, end for now. If you are a pantser, it might not be clear exactly how much of your book you have left to go, and that's okay. If you've never written a book before, you may not have a sense of how long your book will be when your finished, and that's okay too.
There are some general guidelines regarding book length. These are great goals, but if you're new to writing, you may find it difficult to know how to hit these word counts. For now, just work towards finishing your story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Then, if you find your word count is too light or too heavy for your genre, you can fix that while editing. That's what editing is for!
Figure Out How Much Time You Have
When it comes to writing a book, setting a schedule is crucial. Whether you want to write for two hours every day or for four hours every other day, make sure you put it in your calendar and commit to sticking to your plan. If you don't set a schedule, it's too easy to let your writing fall by the wayside.
You need to be realistic here. Don't say you're going to write for four hours if you know you have other commitments that day which will prevent you from writing. This includes holidays. Look at the calendar from now until the end of the year and determine exactly how much time you have for writing. Cross off any days where you have appointments or other plans that will get in the way of your writing. Remember to factor in holidays and family time!
Calculate How Much You Will Write During Each Session
Now that you know how much of your book you have left to write and how much time you have to write it, you can determine if it's feasible for you to finish by the end of the year. If not, determine a more appropriate date to finish your draft. Remember, the key is figuring out what will work best for you and your situation.
If you've determined you CAN finish your book this year, figure out how much you will need to write during each writing session. This can be a word count, a preset amount of time, or even a certain section of your book. I often get stressed out by word counts, so I prefer to break my novel down into sections. For example, I might set a goal like: In my next writing section I will write from this event to this event. Alternatively I might decide to write three chapters.
Tips for Writing Quickly
Now that you have a plan, you need to make sure you stick to it in order to reach your goal book completion date. We all know that life happens, so here are some tricks if you get behind, or just some fun things to test out and see if they work for you in your writing practice.
For Nonfiction Authors
Outline
When it comes to nonfiction, many books follow a pattern where step one leads to step two, etc. Depending on your subject matter, this can help you create an outline. A solid outline will help you write your book faster, ensuring you don't get sidetracked when you're writing. An outline will also help you hit all the important points in your book.
Start by brainstorming all the points you'd like to make about your topic. Then you can look for patterns or a particular order that would work nicely for your book. You may want to add examples and stories to illustrate your points. People always love a story, even in a nonfiction book.
Dictate
Once you have your outline, start talking and recording yourself. This can help you get the ideas out of your head quickly and can also help you stay on track to finish your book in your timeframe.
If you're worried about how you'll sound, don't be! Once you start dictating, you'll get used to hearing yourself talk, and you'll become more comfortable with it. You can always go back and edit your book later to make sure it sounds the way you want it to.
I dictated my first nonfiction book Keep More Money a chapter at a time using the Rev.com app and my phone. Be sure to speak slowly and clearly to save editing time after your dictation is transcribed.
This one might seem a bit out there, but sometimes when I'm writing nonfiction, I get stuck on how to explain things that I take for granted. For example, I was a CPA before I started writing. When writing Keep More Money, I had to be very careful not to take it for granted that everyone knew Canadian tax lingo. Sometimes I would Google things when I got stuck just to make sure my explanations made sense.
For example, when explaining the Goods and Services Tax I googled "What is the Goods and Services Tax" just to see how Google explained it compared it to my explanation. This usually gave me a boost of confidence and helped me keep going. I sometimes do this with my fiction writing too to help me come up with better descriptions of things.
For Fiction Authors
You've likely heard that there are two main types of writers when it comes to writing novels: planners and pantsers. I'm not going to get into planning vs pantsing in this post as there are any number of in-between writers too, and I believe everyone should do what works best for their creative process. I will say, if you've only ever tried one method, try another one and see how it works for you.
Focus on the Fun Parts
Regardless if you plan your novel ahead of time, you likely have an idea of the scenes you will include. I used to try and write my novels from beginning to end but found I would start getting bored. Once I started skipping around to the scenes I was excited about, I could keep going and continue making progress. Don't be afraid to write out of order. You can always place the scene in the correct spot of your book even if you aren't writing it in the order it will happen in your story.
For All Authors
Research
In a perfect world, you would get all your research done ahead of time. If you're a subject matter expert writing a nonfiction book, you may not need to do much research. Likewise, depending on the genre your novel falls into.
If you find yourself wanting to research while writing, use a symbol that is easy to find later in your work (such as XX) and make a note about what you want to research. If you are writing by hand in a notebook, try flagging that section with a sticky note. Then keep writing!
There are times when I find I just can't keep writing until I look something up, so I sometimes research when I'm supposed to be writing. (Shhh, don't tell anyone.) Just be careful not to go down any rabbit holes, and know your process so you know if you can get away with researching during a writing session. Some writers find it completely derails their progress others (like me) can't continue until they know the detail they need to research.
Skip the Sticky Parts
This is a bit like focusing on the fun parts. If you find yourself stuck to the point where you are unable to move forward, flag that section and move to the next one. By the time you come back to it, I bet you'll know what to write there.
Again, use a symbol that is easily searchable (such as *** or even the same symbol as what you used to denote research needed) if you are using a computer, or a sticky note or highlighter if you are writing by hand.
Try the 10-Minute Method
My friend Nicole Johnston of The Writing Tribe developed this amazing way to write called the 10-Minute Method. It's helped me so much when I'm having trouble getting started or feeling stuck.
Basically, you set a timer for 10 minutes and start writing. The goal is not to write something perfect, but just to get words on the page. Focus on writing and nothing else (no research or editing). Once the timer goes off, you can stop writing or keep going if you're on a roll.
The great thing about this method is that it takes away the pressure of having to write a certain amount or worry about how good it sounds. You can always go back and edit later. For now, just focus on getting your ideas down.
Sprint for It
Writing sprints are another tick that can be used for fiction or nonfiction writing. Similar to Nicole's 10-Minute Method, the goal is to see how much you can get done in the time you set for your sprint. I like to do twenty minute sprints followed by a five- or ten-minute break.
Try combining several ten minute sessions with breaks to form a longer writing sprint session!
Writing a book can seem like an insurmountable task. But if you break it down into manageable steps and try some of the tips above, it's actually quite achievable—even if you're working full-time or have other commitments. So go ahead and give it a try! Who knows? You might just finish your book this year. I'm cheering for you!
