How Long Does it Take to Write a Book

Posted on July 6th, 2007 by Leisa
Filed under: Book Business, How to Write a Book

I’ve recently started BookWises’ AuthorWise TeleCourse with Richard Paul Evans. Richard is the 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. I found it interesting that he edits his books on average of 800 times.

For Richard to land eleven books on the best-seller list he certainly must be doing something right. So naturally I was a little skeptical when I saw an article on How to Write a Book in 60 Days. And then I found the writing course at WriteQuickly.com. Here Nick Daws, says he can teach you to write a book in under 28 days. They stated that “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.”

In his article 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 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?