How to Write a Book in Seven Days

Writers: Start your engines!

In 1994, BBC Books published "100 Recipes in No Time At All". This aptly named release—clocking in at 64 pages—was written in less than 48 hours as part of a challenge by British TV producer Anneke Rice. Just imagine what you could achieve yourself if you had five extra days and nothing else to distract you (including sleeping). Before you leap to your computer and start typing, however, it's essential that you already possess excellent writing skills and know your subject well enough to bypass the need for outside research.

Things You'll Need

• Word processing software
• Calculator
• Calendar

Instructions

1. Choose a subject for your book, identify your target demographic and estimate how many pages you're going to shoot for. The less complex the topic, the narrower the focus and the younger the reader, the easier the task of writing your book in a week. A children's picture book, for example, is much shorter than an epic novel that rivals Michener.

2. Calculate a daily writing quota for your project. If, for example, you're going to write a 70-page book, you'll need to write a minimum of 10 pages a day in order to reach your goal. Quotas can also be determined by word count. If you're writing a children's picture book, for instance, you're not likely to have more than 20 words per page. Assuming the book is 20 pages, you only have to come up with 400 words to fill it. That's either 57 words per day or dashing off the entire thing in an afternoon.

3. Put your benchmark quotas in print on your calendar as a reminder of how much you're supposed to accomplish. This can either take the form of jotting down your defined minimum for each day or summarizing as follows:

   Day 1: Introduction

   Day 2: Chapters 1 through 4

   Day 3: Chapters 5 through 8

4. Write your book straight through without pausing to edit any of it. Whether they're taking seven days or seven years, aspiring writers often spend way too much time trying to find that perfect word or coming up with the best opening sentence. When you're on the clock, it's critical to say what you want as fast as you can and only revisit your content after you've reached the end.

5. Recruit an enthusiastic support network to keep asking you how the book is coming along. Writing is a solitary craft. But if you don't tell anyone that you're writing a book, it becomes tempting to let deadlines slide and get farther behind. If your family, friends or coworkers are brought into the loop, they can push you to stay on track. Just make sure you don't get distracted too much by talking about the book with them during the time you should be knuckling down and writing it.

Tips & Warnings

• To get a sense of just how much can be said in a relatively short space, study some of the short stories posted at flash-fiction websites. Many of these provide exercises and speed-writing advice in addition to mini tales in all genres. You can also find helpful tips at the National Novel Writing Month website, an annual competition in which participants have 30 days to write a 50,000 word book. (See Resources.)

• While you'll find no shortage of experts who insist that a book should never be started without an outline, this approach doesn't work for everyone. If you know what you want to say and how to say it, there's no reason you can't jump right into it. Nora Roberts, who typically produces five new books a year, told the New Yorker in an interview for an article published in 2009 that she never outlines her elaborate, multi-threaded romances and thrillers. If, however, you feel you do need the structure of a formal outline to keep you focused, it's up to you whether the clock starts ticking with beginning work on the outline or the first page of the book.

• If you're simply engaging in this challenge to see if you can do it, the quality and length are not as important as if you want to pursue professional publication. The publishing industry has strict definitions of what constitutes a novel, a novella, a booklet and a short story. Read submission guidelines carefully to determine whether your finished product meets these requirements. If it doesn't, you still have the option of publishing it yourself and labeling it whatever you'd like.

• If you decide to seek contributors rather than having to write all the content yourself, always give your participants a shorter deadline than what you actually need. Otherwise, they're very likely to turn in everything at the end of Day 7 or ask you for an extension.

References

• "The Fastest Way to Write Your Book"; Dave Haslett; 2005
• "How to Write Fast Under Pressure"; Philip Vassallo; 2009
• "Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed"; Jeff Bollow; 2004
• "Writing Under Pressure: The Quick Writing Process"; Sanford Kaye; 1990
• "Real Romance"; Laura Collins, The New Yorker, June 22, 2009

Resources

• Flash Fiction Online
• Writing-World.com: Flash What? A Quick Look at Flash Fiction
• National Novel Writing Month