How to Write a Book: A Step-by-Step Guide (and How to Write Your Novel in November)

Lots of people have a book in them. Far fewer get it out. That's rarely about talent. It's usually because nobody showed them that writing a book is a series of small, boring, very doable steps. This guide walks you through those steps, from the first idea to a finished draft. It also gives you a day-by-day plan if you want to write your novel this November, now that NaNoWriMo has gone, and tells you exactly what to do with the draft in December.

Key takeaways#

• Writing a book is a set of small, repeatable steps: pick an idea you can explain in a sentence, plan just enough, then write a little every day.
• A 50,000-word draft in November works out at about 1,667 words a day for 30 days.
• The first draft only has to exist. Fixing it is December's job, not November's.
• NaNoWriMo the nonprofit announced it was closing in March 2025, but nothing stops you writing your novel in November on your own or with friends.
• After the draft: rest it, self-edit in passes, get readers, then bring in an editor.

Step 1: Pick an idea you can say in one sentence#

Before you write a chapter, try writing your book as a single sentence. Who is it about, what do they want, and what's in the way? "A retired teacher discovers her late husband had a second family, and has to decide whether to meet them" is a book. "Something about family secrets" is not yet.

For non-fiction, the sentence is the promise to your reader: who the book is for, and what they'll be able to do after reading it.

If you can't write the sentence, you're not ready to start. If you can, pin it above your desk. It's what you'll come back to every time you get lost.

Step 2: Plan just enough#

Some writers plan every scene. Others start with a blank page and see what happens. Most land somewhere in between, and that's fine. For a first book, a light plan saves a lot of pain. Aim for:

• A rough shape. A beginning (the set-up and the problem), a middle (things get harder) and an end (the problem is faced, one way or another).
• Your main characters. A paragraph each on what they want, what they fear and what they're hiding.
• A list of scenes or chapters. Even ten or fifteen one-line notes are enough to stop you staring at the screen.

For non-fiction, the plan is your chapter list, with three or four points under each chapter.

Step 3: Decide how long your book will be#

Length shapes everything: how many chapters you need, how long the draft will take and what readers in your genre expect. A cosy mystery, an epic fantasy and a short business book are very different lengths. Our guide to how many words are in a novel sets out typical word counts by genre, so you can set a target that fits the book you're writing.

Step 4: Set a daily word target#

Writing a book in one go is impossible. Writing a few hundred words tonight isn't. Divide your target length by the number of days you have, and you've got your daily number. Then protect a regular slot to hit it, whether that's before work, in your lunch break or after the children are in bed.

Track your words somewhere you can see them. A simple running total in a notebook works. Watching it grow is surprisingly motivating.

Step 5: Write the first draft without stopping to fix it#

This is the step that stops most people. The first draft will be messy. Scenes will be in the wrong order, characters will change names and some chapters will be thin. Leave all of it. If you notice a problem, write a note in square brackets, such as [make her braver here], and keep going.

Step 6: Finish, then rest it#

Write all the way to the end, even if the ending is rough. A finished bad draft can be fixed. An unfinished perfect chapter can't. When you type the last line, put the manuscript away for a couple of weeks. You need fresh eyes to see what's really on the page.

How to write your novel in November#

For years, November was the month when writers around the world tried to write 50,000 words of a novel, thanks to National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. It began informally in 1999 and became a nonprofit in 2006.

What happened to NaNoWriMo? On 31 March 2025, the organisation emailed its community to say that, after six years of struggling to sustain itself financially, the nonprofit would begin shutting down. In a video posted the same day, its interim executive director explained that money problems had been made worse by damage to its reputation since late 2023, mainly from complaints about how child-safety concerns on its forums were handled. The organisation had also been widely criticised in 2024 for a statement about the use of AI in creative writing. Online, you'll see people say AI killed NaNoWriMo, but the organisation's own account puts finances and trust first. Its closing email added that it held "no belief that people will stop writing 50,000 words in November".

It's right. The challenge doesn't need an organisation behind it. You can do it alone, with a writing friend or with one of the independent groups that started up in its place.

The daily plan

November has 30 days, so 50,000 words works out at about 1,667 words a day. For many people that's an hour or two of steady writing. Here's how the month breaks down.

Three things make the plan work:

1. 1Plan before 1 November. Use the last week of October, or the first weekend if you're starting late, for Steps 1 to 3.
2. 2Build a buffer. Write a little extra on good days. Life will get in the way at some point, and a buffer stops one missed day turning into a missed week.
3. 3Don't catch up all at once. If you fall behind, spread the missing words over the next few days rather than trying to write 5,000 words on a Sunday.

If 50,000 words feels too much, set your own target. Twenty thousand words of a novel you actually finish later is worth more than a target that makes you quit in week two.

What to do in December: from draft to book#

December is for turning a draft into a manuscript. Rest the book first, then work through it in passes.

1. 1Read it all the way through. Don't fix anything yet. Make notes on what works, what drags and what's missing.
2. 2Fix the big things first. Plot holes, characters who change for no reason, chapters in the wrong order. There's no point polishing sentences in a scene you might cut.
3. 3Then the sentences. Tighten flabby paragraphs, cut repeated words and read your dialogue aloud.
4. 4Get readers. Ask two or three people who read your genre to tell you honestly where they got bored or confused.
5. 5Bring in an editor. Not sure what kind of help you need? Our guide to whether you need an editor helps you decide, and what copy editing involves explains one of the most common stages. Our editing process page sets out the order editors work in, from developmental edits down to proofreading.

Ready to see what an editor would change?#

You've written the book. The next step is finding out how it reads to someone who knows what to look for. Every project at HMD Publishing can start with a free sample edit of up to 1,000 words, returned as track changes with editorial feedback within 24 to 48 hours, with no obligation. If you go ahead, our editing packages start with Fresh Eyes at £197 ($249), a line edit and proofread for manuscripts up to 20,000 words. Deep Clean is £297 ($377) for up to 40,000 words, and Full Makeover, our copy edit, is £397 ($497) for up to 60,000 words. Longer novels get a free exact quote within one business day.