Finding Time to Write Your Book
It’s really about inspiration and structure, not time.
So, you started writing a book, did you?
That’s something a lot of people never do.
But now that you’re a couple thousand words in—or a couple paragraphs—and you’re beginning to see how long a book takes to write.
That’s why a lot of would-be authors never finish their books. They die with their wisdom unexpressed, and their ideas atrophy into oblivion for lack of expression. But that’s my dramatic side coming out.
According to one source, the average office worker sends 40 emails per day. If each email has the equivalent of a small paragraph in it (about 50 words), then the average office worker is writing a book’s worth of content every 30 days. The good news I take from this is that you do have enough time to finish writing your book, you just need to find that time. Let’s get down to business and help you do just that.
How Long it Takes to Write a Book
Based on the three full-length books I’ve published to date (and the others I have not published), my average book-writing timeline is 1.5 months. This assumes an average-length book of 30,000-60,000 words. That’s with me writing an average of about 3-4 hours per workday. I find that while I can occasionally get into the groove and write for longer periods of time, four hours a day is typically my limit.
Now to be fair, the time I just described pertains to drafting the book (getting semi-organized words on paper). Editing is the next phase. If you do the editing yourself, plan for it taking about 10%-30% as long as it took you to write the book, depending on how clean your first draft is.
PRO TIP: Hire an editor. Even if you’re a great writer and have made multiple editing passes through your book, there will errors that you’re blind to—something about looking at your own writing makes some mistakes invisible, probably because you’ve already stared at that page for hours. I may have the skills of a professional writer, but I’ll never publish another book of my own without one (or more) skilled editors going through it first. The editing process doesn’t need to take months, either. An editor on my team, for example, can edit your book in a matter of weeks, and for a price that matches the real amount of work your book needs.
Many authors take years to draft their books. A few take as little as two weeks. Which approach is better depends on the purpose of the book, the maturity of the message within the author, and the circumstances in the author’s life generally (most of us can’t afford to lock ourselves away and write for 40 hours a week).
In all, if you’re confident in your ability to consistently put words on paper, a realistic timeframe for completing your manuscript is two to four months.
If you’re busy or the material in your book takes a long time to compile, then plan on around six months.
But because you and your book are unique, to really know how long it’ll take you to write your book, you’ll have to actually write it.
How to Find Time to Write
“I only write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes at nine every morning.” ~ William Faulkner
There are two sides to the coin of writing a book. The first, is capturing inspiration when it strikes. The second, is creating structure in your life so that you write consistently (even when inspiration doesn’t abound).
In my experience, one without the other leads to a long, draw-out, difficult writing experience. Inspiration without structure creates an endless pile of notes. Structure without inspiration eventually leads to a draft so dry it makes the Sahara thirsty.
The more inspiration you have, and the better your writing structure is, the faster you’ll complete your book. Here are my top suggestions for moving speedily through the drafting phase of writing your book:
1. Schedule consistent time to write. If you don’t make time to write, chances are you won’t. The most important part here is that you write consistently, but be smart about the times you choose—if you have the most ideas at a certain time of day, use it to your advantage.
2. Write without interruption. Insofar as it’s feasible, turn off your phone, close your email tab, and do nothing but write when you’re supposed to be writing.
3. Try writing to instrumental music. I have a horrible ability to multitask, so I typically write in silence (err, to the inner symphony of my mind, of course). Other writers can’t focus without something in the background. Do what works for you. If writing something inspirational or anything fictional, music can even be effective for people like me.
4. Think while you walk your dog. Taking time to think about your book while you’re doing something that doesn’t require brainpower. Your dog will love you for it. Other mundane opportunities for masterminding content include washing dishes, folding laundry, and mowing the lawn.
5. Write, don’t scroll. Even if you don’t use social media, you might be in the habit of periodically scrolling through news sites, YouTube, etc. Promise yourself that you won’t check [insert your favorite time-sapping app/activity here] until your book is drafted. The world will still be falling apart when you finish your book.
6. Keep a “notebook” with you at all times… and use it. I use the notes app on my phone. If you prefer paper, more power to you. Whenever an idea comes to you about your book, write it down. This will give you something to start with during your next scheduled writing session. I often have phrases for the book I’m writing come to me randomly throughout the day, and I find that as I jot them down, I often catch a wave of creativity that carries me through a paragraph or two. Those notes add up. What’s more, they’re typically the most poignant pieces of content that I publish.
7. Get accountability. Goals are a lot more real when you tell other people about them.
8. Stop hitting the backspace key. If you struggle with perfectionism in your writing, put some tape over the backspace on your keyboard. It’ll be ugly for a while, but I guarantee that you’ll get more words on paper. Yes, it’ll need editing, but there’s plenty of time for that later.
Focus on Quality, Not Speed
In our line of work, my team and I see a lot of books. Most of them are genuinely good books; some are excellent. All mean something important to their authors.
The problem (or the opportunity, depending on how you see it), is that Amazon alone has tens of millions of books for sale, with more being published every minute. While there are many ways to benefit from a book besides selling a million copies (see my post about how to boost your career by writing a book), if you do want to make a splash, your book needs to stand out.
A great cover will help you get eyeballs on your content, but it isn’t enough. The world isn’t hungry for “good” content; it’s hungry for relevant, transformative, polished content.
So take your time and focus on creating a masterpiece. If you prefer to get a MVP of your book out there as fast as possible, do it—but remember that in the book world, an effective MVP has to at least be valuable enough for people to read it all the way through. After you’ve gotten feedback from your initial readers, take the time to make any updates necessary.
Set an ambitious goal for completing your book and use the tips above to reach it. But don’t become discouraged if it takes longer. Creating a legacy is worth a few extra weeks and a few extra dollars.
July 21, 2021
Founder, HBC
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