I Have No Sexy Title For This, So How About...

The Murky Middle of Writing a Book is Actually Writing the Book

Photo by Muhammadh Saamy on Unsplash

On Tuesday, I talked about how I was going to do a mini series, bare-bones review of the three stages of how to write a book.

Again, this is super bare bones. I go way more in depth about a ton of things here on my Substack. Just do a mad search for “writing tips,” or “plot structure” or “writing a book” or “first draft” and you’ll be good.

So, I split this approach into three groupings just like the three acts of a play.

• The first is fittingly called THE STARTING. This is where you begin. I know! I know! So obvious.

• The second will be SURVIVING THE MUCKY MIDDLE. This is where you try not to stop or get bogged down by doubt.

• The third will be called HOLY CRAP IS IT ALMOST DONE? IT IS! IT IS FINISHED! These are the finishing up steps.

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WE ARE NOW ON SURVIVING THE MUCKY MIDDLE!

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Terrifying, I know! Uck! Muck!

This is the place where the majority of the work happens. This is pretty much where you write the first draft of your novel or non-fiction book.

Ready?

The first step here is simple….

FIGURE OUT HOW LONG YOU WANT IT TO BE

You can do this by word count, which is what most of us do, but in really simple terms, think if you want a big book, a novella, an epic. Also, think how long you want your readers to spend reading.

Generally (and these are averages and the time it takes to read is in the parantheticals):

• Short story or pamphlet/white paper: under 7,500 words (less than an hour)

• Novelette: 7,500 to 17,500 words (less than two hours)

• Short ebook or zombie hamster manifesto: 20,000 (1-2 hours)

• Novella: 17,500 to 40,000 words (2-3 hours for the top word count)

• Standard nonfiction and standard traditionally published novel: 40,000–60,000 words (2-4 hours)

• Longer nonfiction and slightly longer novels that still won’t make traditional publishers say “nah-nah”: 60,000–80,000 words (4-6 hours)

• Getting up there books: 80,000 words–100,000 words (6-10 hours)

• Let’s be epic or like Leon Uris style historical fiction: 100,000+ words (8-13 hours or more)

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QUICK NOTE: The paid content for this week is below the paywall for those of you who are just free subscribers. I know! I know! I am willing to barter, but I am pretty smart about this stuff and most of my content is free. I just need food, too. And to feed the puppy.