How to write a book

The short answer

Writing a book is a long project made of small, repeatable sessions. Work through these seven steps in order, and you will have a finished draft to improve instead of an idea to worry about.

1. Decide what you’re writing.Fiction or nonfiction, which genre, and the one-sentence idea behind it.
2. Outline it.As much or as little as suits you, but know where the beginning, middle and end sit.
3. Set a length and a daily goal.Pick a target word count and a number of words you can write on a normal day.
4. Write the first draft.Keep going. A rough, complete draft beats a polished half.
5. Rest, then revise for structure.Fix the big things first: plot, pacing, missing scenes, the ending.
6. Edit the lines, then proofread.Tighten sentences, then check spelling, grammar and consistency last.
7. Choose how to publish.Traditional, self-publishing or something in between.

Decide what you’re writing

Before you can outline anything, you need to know what kind of book this is. Answer three questions in a notebook, a few lines each.

• Fiction or nonfiction? A novel asks the reader to care about invented people. A nonfiction book makes a promise: after reading, you will know or be able to do something.
• Which genre, and who reads it? “Cozy mystery for readers who like village settings” is a better answer than “a book for everyone.” Genre tells you roughly how long the book should be and which story shapes readers expect.
• What is the idea in one sentence? For fiction, try: a person who wants something, facing something that stops them, and what it costs them. For nonfiction, try: who this is for, what problem it solves and what changes for them.

If you do not have an idea yet, collect several rather than waiting for one to arrive. The writing prompts library is sorted by genre and is useful for testing an opening before you commit to it. The plot generator will hand you a character, a goal, an obstacle and a twist; treat the result as a spark to argue with, not a plan to follow.

Here is a worked example we will carry through this guide. The idea: a lighthouse keeper’s daughter finds a ledger recording ships that never arrived, and has to decide whether to expose the harbor families who profited from the wrecks. It is a mystery with a moral problem inside it. That one sentence already suggests a setting, a goal and a cost.

How to outline a novel

Writers tend to fall into two camps. Plotters plan before they draft, sometimes down to the scene. Pantsers (from “flying by the seat of your pants”) start writing with little or no plan and discover the story as they go. The Write Practice describes both, and notes that many writers settle somewhere between the two. Neither is the correct way. The real question is how you will find the story’s shape: before drafting, during it, or in revision.

Plotter, pantser or hybrid?

• Plotter. You write an outline of the whole book before drafting. The upside is fewer dead ends and a clear destination each day. The downside is that a long outline can feel like the work is already done, and some writers lose energy for the draft.
• Pantser. You begin with a character, a situation or a first line, and follow it. The upside is surprise and momentum. The downside is that you may write many pages that need to be cut or reshaped, and the middle of the book can sag.
• Hybrid. You plan a few fixed points, such as the opening situation, the turning point in the middle and the ending, then discover the route between them. If you are unsure, start here. It gives you somewhere to aim without taking away the pleasure of finding things out.

Not sure which you are? Write one chapter without a plan. If you finish it energized, lean toward discovery. If you finish it lost, sketch an outline and try again.

A simple outline template for a novel

This template works for plotters and hybrids, and can be filled in on a single page. Each line is a decision, and each answer can be one or two sentences. Your own story will rearrange these, which is fine.

1. The opening situation. Who is your main character, and what does their ordinary life look like before anything changes?
2. The inciting incident. What event disrupts that life and gives them a goal?
3. The first big decision. What choice commits them to the story, so they cannot simply go home?
4. Rising complications. Name three or four obstacles, each harder than the last. These become the bulk of your middle chapters.
5. The midpoint shift. What do they learn or lose halfway through that changes what they are really fighting for?
6. The lowest point. When does it look as if they have failed?
7. The climax. What is the final confrontation, and what choice must they make in it?
8. The resolution. What has changed in the world and in the character?

Here is that template filled in for the lighthouse story, in one line each:

1. Marit keeps the light with her father and expects to inherit the job.
2. A storm washes a water-stained ledger out of a sealed cupboard.
3. She decides to trace the names in it instead of handing it to the harbor master.
4. Three obstacles: the harbor families notice her questions; her father refuses to talk; the one clerk who could explain the code leaves town.
5. Halfway through she finds her own family’s name in the ledger.
6. Her father’s illness forces her to choose between protecting him and finishing the search.
7. She lights the lamp on a night when a ship is again meant to wreck, and exposes the plan by doing so.
8. The harbor changes hands, and Marit has to decide whether she still wants to keep the light.

From there, split each step into chapters or scenes. If you want a different set of building blocks to react to, the plot generator builds a full outline from a genre and tone, and is good for comparing against your own instincts.

A nonfiction outline

A nonfiction outline has a different job: it organizes an argument or a skill rather than a plot. Start with a reader and a promise, then build chapters as a sequence of questions the reader needs answered, in the order they would ask them.

1. The reader. Who exactly is this for, and what do they already know?
2. The promise. What will they be able to do or understand by the end?
3. The path. List the chapters as questions: “Why does this problem happen?”, “What does a first attempt look like?”, “How do I fix the common failure?”
4. The proof. For each chapter, note the example, story, evidence or exercise you will use.
5. The close. What should the reader do next?

For example, a practical book on learning to cook for one might run: why cooking for one feels wasteful; a short list of staples; five dishes that scale down; storing and reusing leftovers; building a weekly rhythm. If you plan to sell nonfiction to a traditional publisher, note that Jane Friedman explains that most nonfiction books are sold on a proposal plus a sample chapter or two rather than on a finished manuscript, and warns against writing the whole book first. In that case, your outline becomes part of the proposal.

Set your targets

A book is finished by arithmetic as much as by inspiration. You need two numbers: how long the book will be, and how much you can write on a normal day.

Choose a length

Most published guidance puts an adult novel somewhere between about 70,000 and 120,000 words, with many sources centering on 80,000 to 100,000, while children’s and young adult books run shorter. Our guide to how many words are in a novel lists the ranges by genre and links each to its source. Use it to pick a target for your first draft, and treat it as a guide, not a rule. If you think in pages rather than words, the words-to-pages converter turns a word count into pages for your font and spacing.

Choose a daily goal you will actually hit

Pick a number that feels slightly too easy. Five hundred words is a modest session that many people can fit into a busy day; you may want more or less. On days when you have energy, go past the goal, but keep the goal itself small so that missing it is rare. Then decide how many days a week you will write, and be honest: a plan with a rest day or two is more likely to survive a busy month.

Work out your finish date

Enter your target, your daily words and your writing days per week, and the calculator below gives you a finish date for the first draft. Try a few combinations to see how a small change, such as adding one writing day a week, moves the date.

Drafting habits and getting unstuck

Make the habit easy to start

• Fix a time and place. Attach writing to something you already do, such as the first half hour after coffee or the commute home.
• Stop mid-scene. End each session when you know what happens next. Tomorrow’s start becomes continuing a sentence instead of staring at a blank page.
• Track the number, not the quality. A simple tally of words per day gives you evidence of progress on days when the writing feels bad.
• Keep a “fix later” list. When you notice a problem in an earlier chapter, jot it down and keep going. Chasing it breaks the draft’s momentum.

Keep the first draft rough

The first draft has one job: to exist. Write placeholders where you need to ([CHECK DATE], [BETTER NAME]) and move on. You will be a better judge of chapter three once you know how the book ends.

When you get stuck

• Skip ahead. Write the scene you are excited about, and come back to the gap.
• Ask what the character wants right now. Most stalled scenes lack a want, or an obstacle in the way of one.
• Change the setting or the speaker. Let a different character say the same thing, or move the conversation somewhere uncomfortable.
• Warm up with a prompt. Ten minutes on an unrelated writing prompt can loosen the sentence-making muscles before you return to the book.
• Solve small naming problems quickly. A stalled draft is often held up by a minor decision. The character name generator will give you a handful of names to choose from in a minute, and you can change them in revision.
• Postpone the title. A working title is enough. When the draft is done, the book title generator can help you test patterns, and your own title will probably be better.

Revising your draft

Revision goes best in layers, from big to small. If you polish sentences in a chapter that is later cut, that work is wasted. Finish one layer before you start the next.

1. Rest the draft

Put the manuscript away for a while, for as long as your schedule allows, then read it from the start in as few sittings as you can. You will see it more like a reader and less like its author.

2. Revise structure first

On the first read, take notes instead of fixing sentences. Ask:

• Does the opening make the reader want to continue?
• Does the main character’s goal stay clear, and do the stakes grow?
• Is there a scene that changes nothing? Consider cutting or merging it.
• Does the middle hold tension, or does it repeat the same kind of scene?
• Does the ending pay off what the beginning promised?

For nonfiction, ask whether each chapter delivers on its question, whether the order makes sense for a reader who is new to the subject, and whether every example earns its place.

3. Edit the lines

Once the structure is settled, work through the text sentence by sentence. Cut repeated words and filler, vary sentence rhythm, sharpen dialogue and check that each character sounds like themself. Reading aloud exposes clumsy sentences quickly. A readability checker can point to unusually dense passages, though it is a rough guide and not a judge of style.

4. Proofread last

Proofreading corrects spelling, grammar, punctuation and formatting. Leave it until the text is stable, because any edit afterward can introduce new errors. A change of format helps: print the pages, change the font, or have your device read them aloud.

Getting feedback

Feedback is most useful after you have done what you can alone. Ask a few readers who like your genre, and tell them what you want to know, such as where they got bored, where they were confused and whether the ending worked. Look for patterns: one reader’s taste is an opinion, but three readers stumbling on the same chapter is a signal. You do not have to follow every suggestion. You do have to understand the problem behind it.

Choosing a publishing path

You can decide this at any point, but it is easier before you query, upload or pay anyone. Jane Friedman’s Key Book Publishing Paths chart compares the options in detail; here is a short, neutral summary based on its definitions.

• Traditional publishing. A publisher bears the financial risk of publication, whether or not it pays an advance. The author does not pay for editing, design or printing.
• Self-publishing. The author acts as their own publisher, managing the process and hiring editors, designers and distributors as needed. You keep control and set the price, and you take on the work and the cost of getting the book made and found.
• Hybrid publishing. The chart describes hybrid publishers as putting their name on the book while the author funds the cost. It adds that such books rarely earn back their costs through sales alone. Read any agreement carefully before signing.
• Other paths. These include paid publishing services, which sell a service agreement rather than a publishing contract, and social publishing such as serialization, newsletters and fan fiction.

Common mistakes

• Editing chapter one forever. Polishing the opening before the book exists feels productive but delays the draft. Finish first.
• Waiting for inspiration. A schedule beats mood. Write a little on the bad days.
• Outlining without limits. If planning becomes a way to avoid writing, set a deadline for the outline and start the draft.
• Setting a goal you can’t keep. A target that needs perfect weeks will collapse. Plan for ordinary weeks.
• Mixing up the editing stages. Fixing commas in a chapter you may cut wastes time. Structure, then lines, then proofreading.
• Showing the draft too early or too widely. Feedback on an unfinished draft can derail you. Wait until you have a full draft, and ask specific questions.
• Choosing a publishing path by hope alone. Learn what each path asks of you before you commit money or rights.
• Quitting in the middle. Almost every long project hits a slump around the middle. Lower your daily goal if you must, but keep the streak going until the draft is finished.

Ready to begin? Pick your idea, sketch your outline, set your goal and use the finish date calculator to put a date on it. Then write the first page.