If You Are Starting to Write a Novel Today

Every November, thousands of writers embark on a month-long journey to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. The month is known to many as National Novel Writing Month, started by an organization called NaNoWriMo. The organization has gone through some changes over the years, which I won’t go into. But for many of us, the tradition continues, whether with the organization or not. 

So what does it take to write a 50K-word novel in one month? 

Roughly 1,667 words a day.

Simple, right? Sure. But not always easy. 

The first day of writing a novel can feel exciting. The second day, a little less stable, but still fun. The third day, uhhh… By Day 7, it might feel like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. 

If you discovered this article, you have probably Googled something like “How to write a novel in 30 days” or “How do I finish this damn novel” or “WTF was I thinking when I thought I could write a 50K novel????”

Well, I’m here to not only tell you it’s absolutely possible, but to give you a few pointers to help you reach the end of the month with a finished rough draft of your novel. 

Let’s get into it.

1. The First Draft is Going to be Terrible

I know you don’t want to believe that. This is your masterpiece, the Great American Novel. This is the book that agents will be fighting to represent, publishers will be paying 6-figure advances for, the New York Times will be begging you for an article about. And sure, all that is possible. 

But not in rough draft form. 

I know you see that as such a letdown, but I’m begging you to see it as the relief that it is. This novel is allowed to be shit. It can have all the plot holes you can imagine, all the typos, all the eyes that mysteriously go from brown to blue in the fourteenth chapter. You can start it out as a suspense thriller and end it in a fairy romance. 

The world is your oyster!

Here’s the thing about the first draft of your story — this is when you are telling YOURSELF the story. It’s not meant for anyone’s eyes but your own. You may have prepared before writing with a perfectly constructed outline of how the story is going to go, and I’m here to tell you, it’s going to all change. Why? Because you are learning who your characters are. You are learning what their motivations are, what the town they live in is like, what they do for their job, why they have the friends that they have, where they land on the Zodiac charts, what their favorite color is… You are learning about the curious little quirks they have when someone does that thing that reminds them of that one traumatic experience that changed their whole life.

You are learning all of this while you are writing the rough draft, and to aim for perfection is to deny yourself this organic, magical experience of getting to know your characters so that they are sitting beside you and not just existing on the page. 

2. There Are No Rules. Except One.

Don’t edit. Not yet, at least. While you are writing the rough draft, your mission is to refrain from re-reading as much as possible, and just writing the next scene. This is what I do, and it’s my most precious rule. 

So how do I do this? I prepare for it. 

When I finish a writing session, I end it in the middle of a scene. I’ll then write a few notes about where I see this going. And when I open the manuscript the next day, I can warm up my writing muscle on a path I’m already familiar with, giving me the momentum to keep writing after the scene is done. 

But if you see something wrong, why not just go back to fix it? 

Because it will stop the momentum. 

Trust me on this, please. If you start to tinker with past writing, it’s like the gateway drug. You will find something else that needs fixing. Then a paragraph that could be tightened up. And, damnit, her brown eyes are supposed to be blue and now you need to do a Find and Replace through the whole thing. And what is the rule about lie and lay? 

Dang, I thought this scene I wrote yesterday was good, but it’s really terrible. 

Pretty soon, you are stuck in editing mode, critiquing a rough draft as if it were the final story, and losing every good thought you had about this piece because it doesn’t read like the NY Times Best Seller on your nightstand. 

This is why you don’t edit until the story is complete. 

Let the rough draft remain the rough draft. If you think of something you want changed, make a note of it and then move on as if that change was already made. You can fix it once you’re in editing mode, but do not even attempt to edit until you’ve reached the end of the story. 

3. Schedule Your Writing Time

Right now, I want you to think about when you feel the most creative in your day. Is it first thing in the morning? Is it in the afternoon, after you’ve had sufficient caffeine and a few hours to wake up? Are you more of a night owl? This is when you need to reserve time for your writing. And preferably, it will be the same time every single day. 

Now, I want you to pull out your calendar and schedule it in. Don’t just make a plan. You need to actually block that time out for your writing. 

Of course, there are probably things on your calendar that may make it seem impossible to block out this time every single day. Your job. That dinner with your friend. The kids’ soccer game. Brunch with the girls. Your favorite TV show. 

I hate to tell you this, but you’re going to have to make some sacrifices. 

For me, it’s setting my alarm for 4:00 a.m. so that I can start my day with 2 hours of writing. It’s way too early, it totally sucks, and I’m exhausted a few weeks in. But it’s only 30 days that I go this hard. When the novel is finished, the alarm stays off, and I “sleep in” until the 5 o’clock hour. 

You might need to curb your social life. You may need to wake up super early, or go to bed a little later. You may need to give up your lunch breaks. You’re only doing this until the book is finished, and then you can pick back up where you left off. Right now, though, the book needs to be the most important thing. 

4. Make Your Life Easier

Almost none of us have the luxury of just writing a book in the month. We have dinners to eat, a home that should probably be cleaned now and then, kids and pets who need attention, bills to pay, groceries to buy… 

Your life doesn’t stop when you’re writing a book. But, if there is anything you can do to streamline your tasks, DO IT. Plan easy, large dinners that can be used as leftovers for a few nights. Have your groceries delivered. Consider trading off driving the kids to school and sports with another parent. Allow the house to get a little messier than usual (or, if you can afford it, consider hiring a housekeeper for the month). Take a random Friday off and write for a 3-day weekend.

This is not the time to be super human. Writing a book takes so much of your energy, it’s okay to let some of it go where you can. 

My suggestion to you is to make a list of all the things you have to attend to in a month, and then brainstorm ways to lighten your load or automate a few things. It’s totally okay. It may even be a practice you can adopt after the month is over. 

Life is too short, as it is. 

5. Just Keep Going

There will come a day in this book writing endeavor that you will feel lose your reason for writing. The story won’t feel right. The characters are going rogue. The plan you made has been completely thrown out the window, and now the whole thing just feels weird. 

Don’t stop. But do get creative. 

If you’ve written yourself into a hole and aren’t sure how to get out, there are a few tricks you can use to jumpstart the story again. 

Start a conversation with the characters. What will they say? I don’t know. Ask them a question and see where it goes. 

Bring an unexpected character in and see how they react. Drop a surprise animal into the scene. Insert a ninja. Do something unexpected and then see how it unfolds. 

This scene may end up being something you want to keep, or it could be a deleted scene that allows you to get to the next place in the story. You’re just trying to shake things up so that you can find your momentum. 

If all else fails, stop writing the story, and write a letter in the voice of your character. Write what they are thinking, where they are going, what their motivation is — anything that will help you get to know them better so that you can write the story. 

6. Make Daily Goals, Not Lifetime Goals

It may be tempting to think about how this book will change the world, and completely change your life. And sure, wouldn’t that be wonderful? You could quit your job, move into your McMansion, and write your next book in your summer villa in Tuscany. 

That’s a lot of pressure to put on your rough draft, don’t you think? 

It’s okay to have dreams, but if your whole purpose for writing this book is on how many millions it’s going to make you, let me be the one to burst your bubble. Because if you are banking on that kind of success, it’s going to kill your creative energy before you’ve even made a name for yourself. 

It’s really hard to write the Great American Novel when your eyes are on the gold but your bank account is in the red. After a while, your purpose for writing this book starts to fade, and it’s hard to have enthusiasm for something that used to feel so important. 

Instead of reaching for lofty goals like what your novel will do for you, instead, think about the goals you do have control over. 

Maybe it’s finishing that one scene where the main character suddenly realizes what’s been holding her back. 

Or perhaps it’s writing a chapter a day. 

Maybe it’s the act of showing up every single day to write, making this a daily habit. 

Or it could be the satisfaction of building a scene that’s so beautiful, you can almost touch the memories woven into the air. 

It could be a goal that is as simple as writing 1,667 words each day to reach 50,000 words in the month. 

You should also find extreme satisfaction in the knowledge that you are writing a book. YOU. And you will finish this thing. 

It may make you millions. Or it may not. What’s most important is that it’s the story that’s been living inside you, and can only be told through you. 

And your job as the writer is to get it on the page. 

You got this. Good luck with writing your novel. I believe you can do it!

Crissi Langwell is the author of steamy, emotional romances filled with complicated characters, hard-won healing, and unforgettable love stories. Her books include the award-winning, beachy Sunset Bay series and the small-town Lahoma Springs series, set in a Northern California farming community inspired by her hometown of Petaluma.