Imagine you had to write a book in seven days. What is one thing you would do to write a book fast?
To help you write a book quickly, we asked writers and business professionals this question for their insights. From hiring freelance writers to creating an outline, there are several tips you can use to be more efficient with the book-writing process.
Here are nine tips and tricks you can use to be a more efficient writer:
Start With What You Know
Try Writing Sprints
Create an Outline
Take Out the Backspace Key
Disappear to a Peaceful Escape
Use Dictation for the First Draft
Begin With the Structure
Hire Freelance Writers
Cover In-Demand Industry Topics
Start With What You Know
If I had to write a book in seven days, I could definitely write a book about building a business. There are ways to incorporate the concept of building something as a metaphor, so the genre could possibly be flexible as well. You can take the building metaphor and work it into a book about building a house for children or something more new-age adult about an actual business for older individuals. The book would definitely need to have conflict in the plot that requires some sort of creative problem-solving. There is truly power in seeking out solutions and being creative that I would definitely want to keep as the focal point of my book.
Eric Blumenthal, ZoePrint
Try Writing Sprints
In my personal writing experience, working in 25-minute “sprints” has been an effective method for writing a book quickly. Set a timer for 25 minutes, hone all of your focus on writing your book for that set period and don’t stop typing until the timer goes off. This is a fun exercise because you can almost turn it into a challenge of how many words you can write during each sprint. Complete one writing sprint every hour during the day and take breaks in between to refresh your mind. Repeat the process every day until you’ve reached your desired word count, and voila! Happy writing!
Sophia Orlando, Markitors
Create an Outline
First, make a clear and concise outline of all of the topics and subtopics you want to write about, and in what order. If it's a work of fiction, you could outline the topics of the chapters and the plotlines within these chapters. You could take the first day to make this outline so that for the next six days, you would simply need to rely on the outline to fill in the content. Being organized can be really helpful in creating something quickly.
Chris Caouette, Gorilla Bow
Take Out the Backspace Key
Writing a book in seven days sounds like a daunting task as someone who does a lot of writing in my day-to-day tasks! If my life depended on it, the first thing I would do is physically take out the backspace key of my computer. Never mind all the grammar mistakes I will make (that'll be my editor's problem). I have found that when I second guess myself or an idea I have, I will regret it later on. When writing a book, there is an internal dialogue going, an argument even, if you will, about whether what you are writing is good material that readers and publishers will enjoy. Not second-guessing or backspacing, not only will help me write the book quicker but better.
Chris Hunter, ServiceTitan
Disappear to a Peaceful Escape
To successfully write a book in seven days, go find a secluded area for the week. If that is a cabin in the woods or a beach escape, find someplace that is serene and peaceful. This will help you stay focused and able to write the book quickly and efficiently.
Katie Kiernan, NUE.Life
Use Dictation for the First Draft
Young professionals overestimate their writing speed and underestimate the effectiveness of dictation. After developing an outline with themes and subpoints for each chapter, start dictating chunks of your book. Power through as many as you can to get words on a page. Don't be a perfectionist while dictating. You can edit, revise, and revise some more, but nothing is more efficient for creating a rough first draft of content and doing so quickly.
Josh Rohrscheib, BRE Law
Begin With the Structure
Such a tight deadline means there's not a lot of time for active searching, which is often an inherent part of writing a meaningful piece. I'm talking about that stage of writing associatively and brainstorming in writing before collecting your thoughts into a clear narrative or argument. So, I'd probably skip that part and jump straight into the structure - clearly defining the goal and framework of my book. Next, I'd take that framework and break it down into the smallest possible building blocks. I find that such a clear and detailed skeleton gives me the ability to write faster because it enables me to jump around if I lose my flow (which happens), instead of getting stuck. When the structure is clear, you can move from one section to another and come back to fill the gaps without losing sight of your end goal. The structure keeps you focused and on track.
Ella Levenbach, Opinion Stage
Hire Freelance Writers
I would hire a bunch of freelance writers to each write one chapter of the book. This way I could have a draft of the book in place by the end of the week and edit each of the chapters to help them seamlessly integrate together. This would expedite the writing process and allow me to focus on editing the book to finalize it for publication.
Tyler Read, PT Pioneer
Cover In-Demand Industry Topics
I would base it on my everyday career. I have so much passion for what I do I could probably write the book in a single day — everything from how to start a project properly to the horror stories (both projects and clients, kidding!). But honestly, there is a lot of value in knowing how to fix everything from the bathroom sink to a leak in the roof. Most of these problems have been exacerbated by poor craftsmanship or Pinterest fails. I think one thing you can do to write a book fast is to survey yourself. Pick the top 10 questions or problems you face frequently and go for it. If you can aim to have them roll into each other, use interesting stories to keep your reader’s attention.
Trey Williams, Williams Remodel
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