How Long Does It Take to Write a Book for First-Time Authors?

Are you a first-time author and wondering how long it takes to write a book?

This is a good question to ask, because time is precious.

Thankfully, you can cut down the writing time, if you have the right information, tools and techniques.

So, if you dream of writing your first book, but worry it may take too long, this article will help.

We’re going to delve deep into writing a brilliant book, in the shortest amount of time.

And no, we won’t compromise on quality, just to rush and get it finished.

This guide is going to show you the little-known steps, taken by famous authors to write a book fast, that sells.

What is the Average Time to Write a Book?

It takes the average author 6 months to one year to write a book.

Although, this will depend on the length of the book, the genre, your experience and the time you have to dedicate to the writing process.

Extra factors that could affect the completion of your book include:

• How much research is needed for the book?
• The number of words you write in each session
• Your typing speed
• How much revision and editing is needed at the end
• Any personal or professional obligations you have

To sum up, the time it takes to write a book depends on the individual.

Margaret Mitchell famously took 10 years to finish her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gone with the Wind.

But apparently, she was hiding the fact she was writing the book from everybody and had no intention of publishing it when she began.

It was just something to do to relieve her boredom while recovering from an injured ankle.

If you’re serious about getting your novel to print (of 50,000 words or more) and have a dedicated writing schedule, an average finish time would be 5-12 months.

How Much Should You Be Writing Each Day?

How much you write each day depends on the person and how much time they have available.

But, if you’re a beginner wanting to finish your book in 5-8 months, a good aim is 3-4 writing sessions weekly, finishing at least 500 words each time.

Some dedicated authors might aim for 500 words every single day. And some might even get 1,000 words completed daily.

While more is great and will get you to the finishing line quicker, it’s important not to let yourself get overwhelmed. If you push yourself too much in the beginning, the quality of your writing may suffer.

Start off with a steady 3-4 writing sessions a week, 500 words at a time and when this feels easy, up your word count and session goals.

Based on these guidelines, here’s how long it should take to finish a book of varying word counts:

• 5-8 months for a 50,000-word book
• 8-12 months for a 75,000-word book
• 1-1.5 years for a 100,000-word book
• 5+ years for a 125,000 or more-word book

How to Set a Book Writing Deadline

Setting a deadline for finishing your book is essential.

Without a set finish time, it’s so easy to put the work off and before you know it, years have passed!

Of course, if book writing is just a hobby for you, take as long as you want.

But if you want to get to the sales stage and start making money for your efforts, a deadline is recommended.

How to set a book writing deadline as a new author:

• Establish your writing pace. It’s important to find a writing pace that suits you. Every writer has a varying rate of output and it’s important not to compare yourself too much. Test the waters by writing 500 words on any subject. How long does it take you? Once you know this, you can multiply the time and establish a deadline for a completed book draft.
• Talk to established authors. Talk to other authors who have completed books similar to yours. While you may have different writing speeds, this gives you a general idea of how long it should take.
• Consider personal and professional commitments. Finally, take into account what you have going on in your calendar. Unless you plan to be a hermit until the book is finished, you may have many family, friend and work commitments on the horizon. While finishing the book in a good time is important, allow yourself time to still have a life.

So, when setting your deadline, aim for happy medium between pushing yourself and having time to get important things done.

How Many Pages Should a Book Be?

When writing a book, it’s normal to think in the form of word count. But how do you work out how many pages a word count relates to?

On average, 500 words equals about a page and a half. This of course can vary depending on the visual content and typesetting of your finished book.

There is no right or wrong page count for a book. But, if we use the 500 words equals a page and a half benchmark, finished page counts should work out like this:

Example Page Counts for Fiction Books

• Sci-fi or fantasy book containing 100,000 words has around 300 pages
• Historical fiction book containing 90,000 words has around 270 pages
• Romance novel containing 80,000 words has around 240 pages

Example Page Counts for Non-Fiction Books

• Biography book containing 150,000 words has around 450 pages
• Business book containing 70,000 words has around 210 pages
• Self-help book containing 40,000 words has around 120 pages

Another way to check the average word count of books in your niche is to research competitors on Amazon.

Your book doesn’t have to be exactly the same word count as everyone else. But knowing what’s out there, gives you a benchmark to work towards and gives you an idea what your readers may expect.

Effective Strategies For First Time Authors to Write a Book in Less Time

As a beginner, it’s entirely possible to write your first book in a six-month timeframe.

But with the right strategy and discipline, your time spent writing can be cut by almost half.

If this sounds good to you, read on for some pro tips to speed up the process:

1. Create an Outline

Working from an outline speeds up the writing process. It’s tempting to just get writing, but you may find yourself stopping and starting, deciding what to do next.

An outline is like a framework, guiding you through the important bits that need to be included. And it should prevent you from writing too much irrelevant stuff, which can be a huge time waster.

Write a chapter by chapter outline containing a plan for each character. It may seem more effort upfront, but you’ll be thankful when you start sailing through the chapters instead of staring at a blinking cursor.

2. Schedule Extra Writing Time

Could you fit in an extra hour a day to write?

If you struggle to find extra time, think about any wasteful tasks you take part in like scrolling social media or slumped in front of Netflix.

While some chill time is necessary, to speed up the book writing process, there has to be some level of sacrifice.

By taking a long, honest look at your schedule, you could likely could spare another hour a day.

3. Set Tougher Deadlines and Track Progress

Having an outline and writing more isn’t enough. If you don’t set yourself deadlines and track progress, it’s easy to fall off the wagon.

Work out how long you plan each chapter to be (2,000 to 5,000 words is average) and give yourself a realistic timeframe to finish one.

This could be 1 -3 weeks for each, depending on length and how much pressure you want to put on yourself.

If you really want to speed up the writing process, increase your word count target.

Remember – pressure creates diamonds, so you might be surprised what you achieve when pushed!

4. Get an Accountability Partner

Getting an accountability partner is one of the best ways to improve productivity.

If you struggle to stay accountable, having another person or a writing coach checking up on you could work wonders.

An accountability partner can be a friend, or a stranger from a writing community, even in another country.

Using someone you don’t know might work even better, so you don’t use the ‘I’m your friend and need a break card.

The key to make this work is to be clear about your goals and objectives and to stick to a weekly contact time.

5. Improve Your Typing Speed

To write your book faster, work on improving your typing speed. If typing isn’t your strong point, take time practice typing on free platforms such as KeyHero or 10FastFingers.

While this does take effort, you will be rewarded down the line when you shave a few months off the book completion date!

6. Avoid Editing as You Go

A key to writing faster is to kill the inner perfectionist and refrain from editing as you go.

Once you find a flow, keep going, letting the words spill out onto the page.

Try not to stress about the quality of your work in the first draft.

The goal here is to get words down onto the page and stick to deadlines. Once you’ve achieved what you set out to in the timeframe, this is where you can cut and polish.

7. Find Your Ideal Writing Conditions

To write a book in the shortest time possible, it pays to find your ideal writing conditions. Every writer will have a favourable time of day where they write their best stuff.

This could be morning, afternoon or evening depending on the person.

Another thing to look at is where you write. Do you thrive in a busy coffee shop or need quiet solace in a home office? Find what works for you and use these ideal writing conditions to get more done.

8. Use Google Voice Typing

Advancements in technology now allow anyone, whether writing a text or a book, to use talk to text. Voice typing in Google Docs is free to use. Just ensure your microphone is working properly.

If you struggle typing or just get tired of typing so much, Google Voice Typing is a way to write more in a shorter amount of time.

9. Join Twitter Writing Sprints

Writing sprints are a great way to challenge yourself to write faster.

Many authors write their whole books using writing sprints.

To get inspired, search the hashtag #WritingSprint on Twitter. Here you’ll be encouraged to set a time on the clock like 10, 15 or 25 minutes and write as quickly as you can for that amount of time.

The aim is to refrain from pausing to read what you have done so far. But, to keep writing for the allotted time with zero breaks.

Best Tools to Increase Writing Speed For First-Time Authors

There are a ton of great tools and technology to help you speed up the book writing process. Some of these include:

• yWriter is a great free novel writing tool designed by an author. It breaks your novel into chapters and scenes, helping you keep track of your work and your mind free to write.
• Novelize is a top paid tool created by writers for writers. It allows you to write anywhere, on any device and has a free 17-day trial.
• FocusWriter is a book writing software helping you to stay focused. While the platform is simple, it offers multiple features such as daily goal setting, timers and alarms, customizable themes and more.
• FastPencil calls itself the leading all-in-one solution for creating, distributing and selling your book or eBook. This smart software helps you to write your book in an organized manner.
• Scrivener is a paid writing tool jam packed full of features. Inside the platform you can set targets, organize your manuscript and easily flick between parts with ease.
• Ulysses offers a ton of features that boost productivity throughout the whole writing process. It’s compatible with Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Mistakes First-Time Authors Should Avoid When Writing a Book

As a new author, there is a lot to learn. Get to know what the most common mistakes are, so you can avoid them. Here’s what not to do:

1. Write Sporadically

Sitting down to write the first sentence of a book is the hardest step.

But the work doesn’t stop there. Once you get started, you need to keep the momentum up, especially if you want to finish in a good time.

Set yourself a book writing deadline and weekly quota of words that need to get done. Sporadic writing is the easiest way to never get to the finish line.

2. Overdoing the Clichés

Too many clichés can make the reader feel like they’ve read the same book before. T

he obvious ones are ‘kiss and make up’, ‘sick as a dog’ or even phrases like domestic bliss. Use an online thesaurus to find synonyms that could replace well known phrases and keep your content unique.

3. Starting off Too Slow

The beginning of your novel is where you draw readers in.

If it isn’t exciting enough, the book may never get opened again.

Spend extra time on the first part of the book creating a hook, that keeps readers coming back for more.

4. Creating Boring Characters

Time should be taken with character development.

Have a think who your characters really are and spend time creating interesting backstories for them.

Whether they’re love interests, bad guys or the main hero, great characters are what bring the narrative to life.

5. Writing the Same as Everyone Else

While it’s good to research competitors writing in the same niche as you.

It’s not a great idea to copy someone else’s writing style.

Have a think about how you can bring something different to a similar story or subject. Building your own writing style is what separates you from the rest and keeps fans coming back for more.

6. Have Long-Winded, Clunky Sentences

Long-winded sentences? Huge blocks of text with no punctuation?

Thanks to free spellcheckers and editors, this shouldn’t happen these days.

But if you plan to write and launch a book on your own, take time to proofread and edit, so readers don’t get put off with clunky, hard-to-read sentences.

7. Doing Everything on Your Own

This ties in with point number six. While it is possible to do everything on your own in the book-writing process, it’s not recommended.

After an initial spellcheck yourself, the manuscript should be handed over to a pro editor who can go over it with a fresh pair of eyes.

You’ll be surprised at how much you miss.

8. Let Rejection Get You Down

Facing rejection as a new writer is part of the process.

Even famous authors such as J K Rowling faced rejection and she’s now sold over 450 million books and is worth over 1 billion!

Whatever you do, don’t let rejection stop you. Keep contacting new publishers, consider self-publishing and continue developing your writing.

9. Give Up After a Few Chapters

Got writer’s block? It’s okay… Know that this is common problem.

Get up, go for a walk, change the scenery for a while and get back to writing when you feel ready.

Never throw in the towel, because you have one bad writing session. Always keep in mind why you started writing your book in the first place.

Should You Hire a Ghostwriter to Help Write Your Book?

A ghostwriter is hired to write books, speeches or other content that are credited to another person.

So hiring a ghostwriter means you still get your name on the book, but they do the work.

It seems like a perfect solution. Here are the benefits and a few downsides to help decide if it’s right for you:

Benefits of Hiring a Ghostwriter

1. It Will Actually Get Done

Maybe you’ve wanted to write a book for years? But it never gets past the idea stage.

This is where a ghostwriter comes in handy.

They will get those ideas down in writing, without spending too long procrastinating.

2. Get Finished Faster

If this is your first book, it’s likely you don’t have much experience writing.

A professional ghostwriter knows how to write and will finish the first manuscript faster than a novice.

3. Frees Up Your Time

One of the greatest benefits of hiring a ghostwriter is freeing up your time.

On average, a book can take from 100 to 500 hours or more researching, writing and editing.

A ghostwriter can do all this for you and may only need 20 or so hours of your time for interviews and discussions about revisions.

4. You Can Skip the Learning Curve

While writing a book is a rewarding experience, it also takes a lot of trial and error.

Hiring a ghostwriter allows you to skip the process of learning how to write a book and have an expert do it for you.

Downsides of Hiring a Ghostwriter

1. Comes at a Cost

Hiring a ghostwriter comes at a cost. The charge will vary wildly, depending on how much experience the ghostwriter has and where you find their services.

For example, a ghostwriter found on a freelancer marketplace may be inexpensive, but a well-known celebrity writer could charge six-figures.

2. Can Be a Risk

Hiring a ghostwriter can be a risk. You hand over a sum of money, without knowing what the result will be.

It pays to do your research and only work with a ghostwriter that comes with recommendations and that has previous work in print you can check out.

3. Fee Only Covers the Writing

The ghostwriting process only includes the writing of your book.

You will have to pay for and work out how to design the cover, print, publish and market the book. If this scares you, there are end to end providers taking care of the whole process. But this will come at a cost.

Famous Authors and How Long It Took to Finish Their Books

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien – 16 years to write.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling – 6 years to write.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – 1 year to write.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin – 5 years to write.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – 2.5 years to write.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – 10 months to write.

Twilight by Steven Meyer – 3 months to write.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne – 3 days to write.

As you can see, how long it takes to write a book is different for everyone.

The best way to get finished as fast as possible is to get started today or hire a ghostwriter to do the work for you.

Final Thoughts

Writing your first book is a huge task. The time it takes depends on the length, research needed and how much help you get along the way.

Creating an outline and setting yourself a weekly word count goal will speed up the process. And, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Talk to successful authors, get an accountability partner and if you have the budget, employ the services of a ghostwriter. Having a pro doing the writing may come at a cost, but the benefits are well worth it.