How to Write Your Book As Quickly As Possible

As a self-published author, your ability to write quickly and efficiently can significantly impact your success. The faster you can produce high-quality content, the more books you can publish, giving you more visibility, leading to more success and income.

Sadly, for most types of content-creators, more speed leads to less quality. And quality is more important than speed. Because of this, most writers tend to go more slowly, so that they can keep up their good work.

But in this post, I will show you how to increase your speed without impacting your quality – so you can rest assured that your next book will be just as good as your last.

Procrastination. We all do it, but it is the worst thing for productivity. If you don’t get your writing done, it will never be finished. Therefore, you should set yourself a hard deadline that you have to reach. They are possibly the best thing you can do to actually just write.

• Daily word count goals: Start by setting a daily word count goal. Begin with something manageable, like 500 words, and gradually increase it as you become more comfortable. If you are a professional, then you could probably start with something around 2000-3000 words/day as a goal.
• Project deadlines: Break your book into smaller sections and set deadlines for each. To make this even more effective, you should give yourself a small reward every time you achieve one of these deadlines. The reward depends a lot on how much work it is, so scale it accordingly.
• Use a calendar: Visually map out your writing schedule and deadlines. This is simply just so that it is easy to see how long you actually have before your next deadline or goal.

Remember, the key is to set challenging but attainable goals. If you set unrealistic targets, you will only find frustration and burnout.

I have a quick question for you: which is quicker, speaking or typing? Unless you have spent an ungodly amount of time practicing your touch-typing, your answer is speaking. So why not speak your stories into existence.

For this, you can use dictation software. About a decade ago, dictation software was simply not reliable enough to be even a little bit useful. Now it has improved to the point where there are usually only a couple words wrong in an entire paragraph.

Here are a few things you might want to know:

• Popular options: Google Docs voice typing, Apple Dictation, Microsoft Word dictation, etc.
• Practice speaking clearly: The software’s accuracy improves with clear enunciation. This is true for almost any bit of software, usually because it is trained using clearly enunciated words.
• Learn voice commands: Most dictation software allows you to add punctuation and formatting with voice commands, or it simply does it by itself.

Dictation can be particularly useful for first drafts or when you’re feeling stuck with traditional writing methods. You could even use dictation for the final draft, but you will have to edit it to make sure you didn’t have any wrong words written in the document.

3. Utilize the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that can boost your writing speed and productivity. In fact, it is so widespread and effective that Windows has a Pomodoro timer built into the clock app. You can also get a Pomodoro timer as an app on your phone if you wish.

Here’s how it works:

1. Choose a task (e.g., writing a specific chapter).
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes.
3. Work on the task until the timer rings.
4. Take a short 5-minute break, but make sure to do something completely different to the original task.
5. Every four “Pomodoros,” take a longer 15-30 minute break, again doing something completely different to the task.

This technique helps maintain focus and prevents burnout. Many writers find that they can produce a surprising amount of content in these focused 25-minute bursts.

To make sure this technique actually works, you need to completely commit to doing the task, and only the task, during the time.

4. Practice Freewriting

Freewriting is a technique where you write continuously for a set period without worrying about grammar, spelling, or quality. This can help you overcome writer’s block and increase your writing speed.

To really take advantage of freewriting, you should avoid using even the backspace key on your keyboard, although you will probably find yourself doing it out of habit in the start.

I would also recommend that you simply practice this in your first drafts. This is the one time when you really don’t need everything to be perfect, so you should actively try to not waste time by backspacing.

Here’s how you can practice your freewriting:

• Set a timer for 10-20 minutes.
• Write non-stop without editing or second-guessing yourself. Make sure that you don’t press that backspace key!
• Don’t worry about quality or coherence; just keep your fingers moving. It doesn’t matter if your words don’t flow or if they just don’t make sense at all.
• When the timer goes off, review what you’ve written and edit any useful parts. Get rid of the rest.

Regular freewriting exercises can help you become more comfortable with the act of writing without self-censorship, which usually slows down your writing.

5. Use Outlining and Planning Techniques

While it might seem counterintuitive, spending time planning can actually increase your overall writing speed. This is because you don’t actually need to come up with your outline during the writing process.

On top of this, you should always know your entire story before writing anything, so following this approach forces you to create a good story – after all, you can see if it works before you waste any time.

• Make it detailed: Break your book down into chapters, and then break those chapters into scenes or sections. For these scenes, though, make sure you aren’t actually just writing the story. Just write out the location, scenery, characters and what happens, as an overview
• Use mind mapping: Visually brainstorm ideas and connections before you start writing. This doesn’t work for everyone, especially when it comes to fiction authors, but this can be quite helpful for non-fiction authors.
• Write a synopsis: Summarize your entire story in a few paragraphs. This can serve as a roadmap when you’re writing. This could also be useful for when you self-publish this later.
• Character profiles: For fiction writers, creating detailed character profiles can speed up the writing process by making it easier to know what the character would do in the book’s situations.

So, just make sure you have a clear plan really. It might even be helpful to just daydream about it for a few hours to brainstorm ideas.

6. Embrace the “Dirty First Draft”

One of the biggest obstacles to writing quickly is the desire to edit as you go, as I have mentioned above. Instead, embrace the concept of the “dirty first draft.”

• Write without editing: Resist the urge to perfect each sentence as you write it. Again, you need to ignore the backspace, especially for the first draft.
• Ignore typos and grammatical errors: You can fix these in the editing phase.
• Use placeholders: If you’re stuck on a particular detail, use a placeholder (e.g., [RESEARCH THIS LATER]) and move on.
• Focus on getting the story down: Your first draft is about getting the basic story or information onto the page, not creating a polished final product. If some dialogue sounds unnatural or a sentence feels unclear, just ignore it for now.

Remember, you can’t edit a blank page. It’s much easier to improve an existing draft than to create perfection from scratch.

If you’re not already a proficient touch typist, learning this skill can significantly increase your writing speed. Touch typing is a difficult skill to learn, but can multiply your typing speed several times over.

In case you didn’t know, touch typing is a technique of typing where the typist does not look at the keyboard and utilizes all their fingers, which are usually placed on the “home row”. It is the typing that you usually see in the movies.

To be a “fast” typist, you need to achieve at least 50-60 wpm (words per minute). I myself can type around 60-70 words per minute usually, so I would consider myself a fast typist, but keep in mind that the average typing speed is only around 30 wpm.

• Use online typing tutors to improve your skills.
• Practice regularly, even if it’s just for 10-15 minutes a day.
• Set typing speed goals and track your progress.
• If you are learning to touch type, avoid looking at your hands. This is the biggest tip I can give you, as I made this mistake myself. When I started learning, I looked at my hands, which limited my speed to around 40 wpm. Once I started looking at the screen instead, I became faster and (counterintuitively) more accurate.
• Practice on a site such as MonkeyType or TypeRacer. This tip only applies once you have learnt to touch type.

Basically, just learning to type will dramatically speed up almost every aspect of your writing. So if you can’t touch type, this is the best tip for you, by far.

8. Create a Consistent Writing Routine

Establishing a regular writing routine trains your brain to be creative on command, increasing your overall writing speed. This is true for most things, be it sleeping, writing, working or almost anything else. Your brain will naturally get used to doing certain things at certain times, making it better at those things at the time that you usually do them.

That’s why you will naturally find yourself waking up at the time your alarm would go off, even if you didn’t set your alarm that day. Your brain has got used to waking up at that specific time and will wake up most easily around that time.

Here’s how you can start to do this routine:

• Choose a specific time: Pick a time of day when you’re most productive and dedicate it to writing. However, you must make sure that you usually aren’t doing anything during this time. For example, a good time for most people might be just after eating dinner (if you work/go to school).
• Set up a designated writing space: Having a specific area for writing can help you get into the right mindset quickly. This could be a special room, like a study, or just simply a corner of your bedroom.
• Minimize distractions: Set your phone to silent and turn on Do Not Disturb on your computer during your writing sessions.
• Use rituals: Develop pre-writing rituals, like making a cup of coffee or doing a quick meditation, to signal to your brain that it’s time to write. It could even just be the act of opening up your laptop that signals this to your brain.

Consistency is key. Even on days when you don’t feel particularly inspired, stick to your routine. Often, the act of showing up is half the battle. Therefore, even if you only do it for a few minutes, actually just starting is what will keep the routine.

After a while, you should notice that this becomes a habit and you don’t have to think about it. It will take anywhere from three weeks to a year – yes, I know, it’s not very exact – for it to become a habit. When it does, you should find yourself at your computer with your hands on your keyboard without even thinking about it.

In our hyper-connected world, distractions are everywhere. Just getting rid of a few of these should increase your writing speed.

• Use website blockers: Tools like Freedom can block distracting websites during your writing time. During the research for this post, I came across Freedom and now I have started using it. I would recommend!
• Put your phone on “Do Not Disturb”: Or better yet, put it in another room entirely, which completely removes the distraction.
• Use noise-cancelling headphones: These can be helpful if you’re writing in a noisy environment. If you’re at home, don’t bother.
• Try writing in full-screen mode: This eliminates visual distractions on your computer.

Remember, every time you get distracted, it takes time to refocus on your writing. So simply just cutting these out of your life keeps the flow when you’re writing.

While it might seem counterintuitive, reading can actually help you write faster, particularly with the storytelling aspect. The more you read, especially in your genre, the more familiar you become with storytelling techniques, pacing, and language use.

Although you’ve probably read a lot in your lifetime, it is worth simply reading similar, successful books to what you are trying to write. This means that you can try to mimic some parts of the book that you like.

• Read widely in your genre: This helps you internalize the conventions and expectations of your readers.
• Study the structure of books you admire: How do they pace the story? How do they transition between scenes?
• Pay attention to sentence structure and word choice: This can help you develop a more instinctive feel for language.

11. Practice, Practice, Practice

Like any skill, writing faster comes with practice. The more you write, the more comfortable and efficient you’ll become.

• Write every day: Even if it’s just for 15 minutes, daily practice helps build the writing habit, like I mentioned above.
• Participate in writing challenges: NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) can be a great way to push your limits.
• Time yourself: Regularly time your writing sessions and try to increase your word count each time. Make it like a challenge, to try and beat your personal record.

Remember, the goal isn’t just to write faster, but to write better quality content faster. This takes time and consistent effort.

Happy writing, and may your words flow swiftly and surely!