← The Creative
The Creative · № 05

Wrote a Book

Wrote a complete original book (novel, novella, memoir, nonfiction, picture book, or chapter book) with a beginning, middle, and end, finished and bound in some real form (printed, self-published, or hand-bound).

The idea

The book gets written on the days that don't feel inspired. Pick a small daily word count, 200 or 500, and don't skip. The first draft will be bad. That's not a problem. The book that doesn't exist can't be edited. Most aspiring writers wait for the right mood for years and finish nothing. The kid who writes 200 words on the worst day will finish.

Steps
  1. Pick the daily word count. Write it on bad days especially.
  2. Don't edit while drafting. Editor and writer fight each other.
  3. Finish the first draft before going back.
  4. Bind it somehow: printed, hand-bound, self-published.
What counts

A complete original book with beginning, middle, and end, in a real bound form. A photo of the bound book is plenty.