Image Courtesy of Gonzalo Barrientos

So you’re wondering how long it takes to write a book? Well, Nick Daws of WriteQuickly.com said he can teach you how to write a book in 28 days.

After all…

“Charles Dickens wrote his literary classic A Christmas Carol in just 2 weeks. Samuel Johnson wrote Rasselas: Prince of Abyssinia in an amazing 4 days. Barbara Cartland took only 5 days to write each of her books, resulting in an amazing 623 best-sellers during her lifetime. The hit self-help book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff is still selling in its millions – and was written by Dr Richard Carlson during a 12-hour transatlantic flight.”

I once asked Richard Paul Evans, author of eleven New York Times best-sellers, including Finding Noel, The Christmas Box, The Dance, The Locket, and The Five Lesson’s a Millionaire Taught Me about Life and Wealth, how long it takes him to write a book. He said that he usually writes the book fairly quickly, over a 60-day period, but then goes on to edit the book an average of 800 times. His Christmas Box book was written quickly as a Christmas gift for his daughters.

Robert G. Allen, author of many best-selling books told me he spends a few months, on average, researching and writing the first draft.

I polled several other author friends and the answered have varied greatly.  However, most authors seemed to write their books during a 60 to 90 day intensive time period. Others write a couple of hours a week over a year, and others have taken years to finish their book.

Naturally the type of book one sets out to write can make a large difference in the length of time to complete the manuscript.  A fiction book would likely take less time that a scientific book.  But not necessarily.  Angela’s Ashes took 30 years to write.  The biggest determining factor, for the published authors I talked to, was deadlines.  Of course, those deadlines can be self-determined, or determined by publishers.

In his article How to Write a Book in 60 Days Craig Child’s said, “However long you take, if you set the goal and the right time frame, things could actually become complete.”  There is the beauty of a 60 day plan, or a 28 day plan, or any type of time-defined plan.  Making a commitment to getting it done in 28 days or 60 days gives you a definite plan of action.  The reason why people don’t write is that they simply don’t make a commitment and follow-through on their plans to write a book some day.  If someone sets out to write a book in 60 days it is much more likely to get written.

“Craig referenced the article How to Write a Book in 60 Days or Less which says the key to to set a time frame and stick to it.  Here the writer says the key is to simply get it done by scheduling a time to write, follow-through and just do it.  Don’t start a book project at the same time you are tackling other major goals.  And then get a Goal Buddy that you can report to by turning in a weekly draft to them.

• Do you think you could write a book in 60 days or less?
• Why or why not?

I’d love to hear your ideas!