How To Write A Book In 30 Days
How To Write A Book In 30 Days
Writing a book within a month’s timeframe is a challenging but achievable goal. Here are some tips on how to write a book in 30 days but it will take strict time management and a lot of discipline.
Research
Do your research before taking on the 30-day challenge. Have your research information at your finger tips.
As you do your research take note of your source material and document this. You will need to acknowledge the sources and then list them in your Bibliography at the end of your manuscript.
If your book requires further research, set aside a specific time to do this. Avoid getting caught up in excessive research during your actual writing sessions.
Word count
Decide on the total word count for your book. Then work out how many words you need to write each day.
Make a decision on how long your book is going to be. If crafting a book for the first time consider writing a straightforward, short book. It could be just 10,000 words.
If typically a non-fiction book is 60,000 to 80,000 words and you want to write a book in 30 days then make it a short book.
An A4 page can easily fit 200 words so a 10,000-word book is 50 pages.
But if you factor in the size of the font, the physical size of the book – the trim size – adding illustrative matter, and the book’s layout it is possible that a 10,000-word book can be as long as 100 pages.
Set milestones
Decide when you plan to complete your manuscript and make a commitment to have it finished within a 30-day timeframe.
To help you reach that deadline decide the length of your book and then a daily word count. It could be 500 or 1000 words a day.
For a 10,000 word manuscript if you produced 500 words a day your first draft could be completed in 20 days. By increasing your daily word count to 1000 words your first draft would be done in much less time.
Outline
A non-fiction book consists of an introduction, a number of chapters and a conclusion, so create an outline for your book.
Create chapter headings. Think in terms of 10 chapter headings and allow 1000 words for each chapter. Break the manuscript down into even smaller units with sub-headings under each chapter heading.
Once you have a rough outline, set out the book’s content in the form of bullet points. Estimate the number of words you will need for each bullet point.
So if you have 5 sub-headings in the form of bullet points each sub-heading could be 200 words. That will give you a 1000-word chapter.
Spend time outlining the content of your book. This will give you a clear structure and a direction to follow during the writing process.
Writing Schedule
Establish a daily writing schedule. Decide the best time of day for you to write and stick to that time.
Consistency is key to completing your book on time so aim to write your quota of words each day. If you write approximately 1000 to 1500 words a day you should complete a first draft within a couple of weeks.
When I’m writing a book I write every morning seven days a week. Each writing session is about 3 hours and I do this each day before breakfast.
It is simply amazing how if you consistently do a quota of writing each day, how you can move forward exponentially. My daily word count goal was approximately 1500 words.
Writing
Once the planning has been done start writing the first draft. This first draft can be very rough.
Embrace imperfection. Give yourself permission to write badly and trust that you can refine your work later. Refrain from editing your writing; that comes later.
Consider doing timed writing sprints. Set up a timer for a specific amount of time. This could be 25 minutes. Write as much as you can during that time and take short breaks between each sprint to recharge.
Minimise distractions. Put your phone away, and focus solely on your writing during your scheduled writing times.
Next draft
Once you’ve created that first very rough draft plan some time for editing, revising, and refining your manuscript. You have a couple of weeks to do this.
Writing a book in 30 days is an ambitious endeavour, so be kind to yourself and celebrate your progress along the way.
The key is to stay focused, motivated and committed to the process.
By maintaining a strict schedule there is then time each month for the rewriting and reworking of the manuscript.
These steps may seem very mechanical, even mathematical, but as an author who has produced many non-fiction books I find it an excellent method to achieve productivity. It is far less overwhelming to do your planning and then chunk the contents of your manuscript down into small bits.
Will this method work perfectly for you? Maybe, maybe not?
The important take on this is to have a plan of action that will help you focus and provide you with direction.
Sure, you may not be perfect and you may deviate at times from the plan. But this gives you a course to follow, and like a sailing boat, the sails can always be adjusted.
To learn more about writing and publishing your book access my free, live class. Get your free ticket by clicking the green button below.
Marji Hill
Author and Coach
