How To Write Novels Faster
If you like to poke around various Facebook writing communities, you might know a bit about why it’s important to write novels faster.
The reason is that the more books you publish, the more money you make. So learning how to write novels faster is an important goal.
And it’s not just a question of publishing “more” books.
Its not. question of publishing more books …
The core idea is to tie books with a similar theme or characters into a series. Then you will want to quickly turn out a series of books.
Simple reasoning suggests that the success of one novel influences the success of the novels that follow in that series.
So learning how to write novels faster can quickly help you write a series.
How to Write Novels Faster: Rapid Release
In this formula, the idea is to rapidly release one book in the series after another.
The theory is that the Google algorithm will take notice. Then show your books to more book-hungry readers.
How to Write Novels Faster: The Deadline
A dynamic secret to writing novels faster is to have a deadline.
When you’re writing without a publishing contract, the deadline will be self-imposed.
It can be as simple as looking at your calendar and marking the exact date when you will finish your novel.
Or in place of a deadline, you can set a word count goal for the day. That’s how to write novels faster.
Another great way to write novels faster is to structure the novel in advance.
The Advantages of “Fast Writing”
1. Fast writing gives you an immediate sense of accomplishment.
The trend in writing communities today is to achieve a certain word count, day after day.
If you train yourself to write novels fast, you will achieve this goal each day and strike one “must” off your to-do list.
2. Writing fast is easy (once you get the hang of it).
It might take a few sessions, but once you learn how to write novels faster it can quickly become an easy habit.
3. Writing fast “forces” you to take the story brewing in your brain to the outside world.
This forces your story to see the light of day.
How to Write Novels Faster: The Two-Step Process
Every successful writer achieves success in different ways.
Yet when you’re trying to figure out how to write novels faster, it’s important to divide this into two steps:
1. The writing (should be as fast as possible)
2. The editing
The Writing
Below you will find a list of books that help you learn how to write novels faster. I’ve read all of them, and find good points in each.
A favorite is 5,000 Words Per Hour: Writer Faster, Write Smarter by Chris Fox.
Much of what he says is like other writers, especially another favorite, 2,000 to 10,000: How to Write Faster, Writer Better, and Write More of What you Love, by Rachel Aaron
But in the course of his book, Chris tells a story of how he learned to write fast. He deliberately took a job as a customer service agent, knowing there could be several minutes between calls.
As soon as he answered a call and hung up the phone, he’d speed write until the phone rang again.
Carolyn Kepnes, the author of YOU, also employed this technique.
The Timer and Its Alternatives
Chris Fox used the “time” between customer service calls to speed write. Author Carolyn Kepnes used her New York City taxi ride between location A and B to write scenes.
Most “regular” writers use a timer.
Lots of folks–especially in writer-oriented Facebook groups—use hashtags to “sprint write.”
You might also look into Scrivener as a way of writing novels faster.
For myself, I’ve found FocusMate a great tool to enhance productivity.
The Editing Process
Once your words are on the page, it’s time to begin the editing process.
Many writers find success by starting with a goal, such as a chapter a day.
Put your quickly written work aside for a week.
Come back with a figurative editing pen in hand.
Come back with a figurative editing pen in hand.
And set a deadline for finishing the editing process that makes sense to you and your workflow.
Final Thoughts
I encourage you to read the books that interest you (check out their reviews and highlights on Amazon) and make up your own mind.
Every writer is different when it comes to how to write novels faster.
But here’s a trap to watch out for:
“Setting a Word Count for The Day” (instead of a smaller time limit, such as an hour)
In doing so, you risk spending too much time “allowing” yourself to write those two thousand words because you have all day to do so.
Many writers report that having too much time on their hands motivates them to check messages and look at Facebook instead of paying attention to their writing.
Here are the books! Have fun!
