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How I Wrote a Novel in 40 Days

You can, too, but there’s a catch

Photo by Saffu on Unsplash



Do you enjoy deception? I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big fan.

Yesterday, I opened Medium and found three articles claiming you could write a novel faster than you can tie your shoelaces. And today, the first article Medium chose to present to me was about how you can write a book in a week. A week! it said.

I know, I know, it’s because I follow that cursed writers tag, but still.

You can’t write a novel in 40 days — two months or a bloody week. You can write a first draft, but that’s not a novel. Why? For starters, first drafts are unpublishable. It’s almost a novel, but there is so much work left to do that calling it a novel is like laying the foundation for a house and calling it a day. “It’s ready, Boss. Bring in the furniture.”

I’m currently working on my third project. I planned out 40 chapters and what needs to happen in every one of them. I left a lot of room for character development and surprises — I’m still a pantser at heart.

And I wrote it in 40 days — 70k words. And now it’s done. I can dust off my hands and send it to an agent or press publish on Amazon. No, of course not. As it is, it’s a far cry from being a novel. Also, this novel idea sprouted from a short story I wrote years ago that has been slowly cooking on the back burner. So, this 40-day gimmick also depends on how you look at it. Collecting enough ideas for a novel takes time. At least good ones do.

Many authors write two novels a year, up to 200k words. But that’s six months for each project. Let me do the math here: yup, that’s 183 days. See a pattern? I’ve said it before. You usually need to write three drafts. 40 days a draft gives you 120 days. Give it 40 extra days for delays and vacations, and it checks out to about 6 months. And this is for extremely prolific writers. And that’s if you know what to do from the start. Or you’re really good at winging it and don’t care if your endings suck or not, like that mostly unknown writer, uh, Stephen King, I think he’s called.

See it this way. Even though I’m pleased with the outcome of my first draft, I can’t show it to anyone. It’s a jumbled mess of ideas and settings. The prose is rushed in some places, and in others, it looks like a freaking poem. There’s a lot of describing things and then showing them right after I’ve described them — that will need to be sorted out. There are plenty of underwritten scenes and places I couldn’t be bothered to elaborate, so I just left a note and skipped ahead. There are at least two chapters I’m sure I overwrote a lot, stuff with dumb details. I was feeling inspired those days. I’ll have to write entirely new scenes to explain things better and make the narrative smoother. First drafts are a mess.

I know from experience that I will have to re-write every chapter at least once until it starts resembling a story a human being with a functional brain would willingly read. Then I’ll have to polish it and trim and polish some more before calling it a novel. Until then, it’s a work in progress.

Motivation Is Key

I understand these articles serve to motivate you to write. But I think they’re counter-productive. When I wrote my first novel, I was so afraid it would suck I edited every chapter several times — even restarting some from scratch just to get it right. Because of this mistake, that book took forever and still doesn’t have a clear ending. I lost steam. The momentum was gone, and with it, my energy to continue.


Having a first draft in your hands is a big reason to celebrate. It’s a monumental achievement. I literally cried when I typed the ending to my second novel. I did it, I finished a story. I was overcome with joy. It was a life-changing experience. But I was also dearly aware that it wasn’t over. And it was only when I discarded my need to constantly revise what I had written that I managed to finish it. Then came the second draft, and everything fell into place.

I managed to finish this draft so quickly because I’m now aware of what it takes to write a novel. Yeah. 40 days. 70k words. I am super proud. But I know the second draft will probably be 20% larger due to all the missing information I left behind to rush to the end. I also know I have months of work ahead before I dare show it to my wife. Second drafts are where the magic happens — that’s when they gain a soul.

Conclusion

“Get in the habit of finishing things.”

Those are Neil Gaiman’s words. And as I wrote my second novel, I had them on a post-it stuck to my screen. Once you finish a novel or its first draft, your mind and how you approach your work change completely. So, these “write fast” articles may seem helpful, but they’re really not. Here’s how they usually go:

  • Stop being lazy. Procrastination is your enemy.

  • Get rid of distractions. Stuff your phone in a drawer.

  • Prepare! Get everything you need ready before you start.

  • Manage your time well.

  • Lock your kids in the basement.

It’s all rubbish.

Write a draft in 40 days if you want. But if you can’t, don’t feel upset. Life is hard enough as it is. Write when you bloody can. Take shortcuts in your writing, not in your life. I swear, your second draft is going to be easier to write — you already know the whole story. It’s all about making it better. So finish that first draft in as much time as you need.

It took me three years. I started in November 2018 and finished in May 2021. I had a busy job, I became a father, and family became my priority. I only finished the third draft last year. And this year, after paying a developmental editor, I wrote a fourth draft to fix some inconsistencies and add a prologue.

But because I now understand the whole process, I can be much faster. Also, I’m doing it full-time.

So here’s some key information. Do you want to write a draft in 40 days? It’s easy, do nothing else.


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