How to write a 100K novel in four months

Alikai Bronach, high fantasy author
(chibi-style AI generated by BING Dalle)

Is it possible to write a 100K novel in four months while also working at your full time job? Yes! Absolutely! Here's how:

I've been writing novels since I was 14 and am now in my forties. After having kids, I took a big break in writing, but now I'm back with a vengeance. I have a day job, but in my spare time I write. To be more specific, I plan then I write. Planning is not for everyone. I get that. For me, however, my creativity is freed when I have done the planning beforehand. 

Pelsha, a member of the Kriite warriors guild
(AI image generated with neural.love)

When I come to write my new adult fantasy novels, I know exactly where I am going. The story tells itself as I'm going, so the plans will always change, but the essence and the logic is already nutted out. I'm going to share what I do in case it is helpful to somebody else. If not, that's OK. Each to their own.

Nyno, a common reptilian animal found throughout Chryne
(AI image generated with neural.love)

For a small bit of background, I have self-published the first three of my fantasy novels from The Psion Saga already:

1. Tiger Eyes and Dragon Teeth

2. Strike of the Skyearls

3. Claws that Cut Both Ways

I finished writing book 4, The Circlet of Sight, at the end of 2023 and just finished writing book 5, Conflux of Power, last week. The next step in my process is to self-edit book 4. I like to let it sit for at least 3 months before doing this, so my mind can have a somewhat fresh look. Even though I've been a professional editor since 2008, I should not be the only editor of my own writing. After my own editing is done I will send it to my editor, Lynne, who will pick up things that I missed.

I've already designed the front cover. Next I will self-publish it with the help of the team at PublishMyBook.online. Marketing is not something I like to do, so in the small amount of spare time I have, I am usually writing or editing. This article is, in itself, one of the few kinds of marketing or self-promotion I will do. And I genuinely hope it will be of interest and help other writers.

So, here's how I write a 100,000-word novel in four months:

How to write a novel in four months

1. Write an overarching plan for your book series

Because my books are a 9-book series, I have an overarching plan and a rough idea of where I am going in each book all the way to the end. My first step is to refer to this plan. I didn't put this plan together until after writing book 2, by the way. I had it in my head, but it wasn't fleshed out properly. I actually had to go back and change a few things in books 1 and 2 (post-publication) to fix them, so I recommend getting an overarching plan for a series done before you publish any of them. 

2. Write an aims document or notes for the novel

I create an aims document for the book I am about to write. You might call this an outline, but I actually just dump all my aims under headings into this document. The major headings are PLOT AIMS and CHARACTER AIMS, but you might also want to put SETTING AIMS or LANGUAGE AIMS if those aspects are very important for your genre. 

The minor headings are then each aspect of the plot, each plotline and whether it is a major or a minor plotline, or each character or group of people. I then flesh out or bullet point my notes and ideas about what I think I will do under each of these categories in the novel.

Ronsah, Taeon's bodyguard
(AI image generated with neural.love)

3. Write a detailed outline for the novel

Next I set up the headings of the document with placeholder text, as follows:

Chapter 1                              Tension level ?/10 – comment

704-?? POV of ??                                                                            WINTER

Placeholder text

704-?? POV of ??                                                                            WINTER

Placeholder text

704-?? POV of ??                                                                            WINTER

Placeholder text

 

Chapter 2                             Tension level ?/10 – comment

704-?? POV of ??                                                                            WINTER

Placeholder text

704-?? POV of ??                                                                            WINTER

Placeholder text

704-?? POV of ??                                                                            WINTER

Placeholder text

 

Chapter 3                            Tension level ?/10 – comment

704-?? POV of ??                                                                            WINTER

Placeholder text

704-?? POV of ??                                                                            WINTER

Placeholder text

704-?? POV of ??                                                                            WINTER

Placeholder text

Welquin, Sarlice's bodyguard
(AI image generated with neural.love)

As you can see, from these headings, I know the date and the season. Although the reader may not notice much of this, it helps give the novel continuity and make it more believable (immersive and engaging). Underpinning this, are my to-scale maps and floorplans, the calendar for my fantasy world, my character list (with increasing detail depending on how important the character is), population charts, magical power charts and lots of others. Most of these are in Microsoft Excel. 

Because I have some well-rounded graphic design skills I can make my own maps in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, but I do sometimes also buy castles or keeps used for tabletop role-playing games and adapt them either digitally or in print.

POV

The other piece of information I generally plan ahead using headings is whose point of view I will be writing from. The first two books in The Psion Saga are written in first person. The rest are in third person. I found it a great stretching of my writing skills to go over to other characters, and it has rounded out the plot, storyline, setting and characters nicely. My main character has telepathic powers, so he is a very good first person narrator, as he knows so much, but there's nothing like getting into the voice of another character to make the writing and reading experience more interesting and multi-faceted.

I am not rigid about there being three POV sections per chapter. It actually varies from 2-5, depending on what is needed. Word counts also vary depending on what is needed, generally from 3,000-7,000 words per chapter. After the headings are done I fill each POV section with paragraphs or bullet points of notes and ideas. Anything can go in here. 

The final step for this outline is to go through all the points and notes I made in my aims document and slot them into the appropriate chapter and/or POV section in the outline.

I call steps 1-3 plotting. It's a very intensive time for me, mentally. I will do it after work and on the weekends, in between cooking or cleaning tasks, or whatever else my children need. I take advantage of times when they are occupied and put my music on and shut my door so I can concentrate. This plotting phase generally takes me a week or two.

4. Creative writing time

I usually only have the outline open when I get down to writing. As I go, I change the colour to grey when I have covered each point. I make the outline text red when I decide not to use it, and I move on. I sometimes leave notes to myself in brackets about why I decided not to follow the plan. The story tells itself as I write because, at all times, I am thinking about the motivations of each of the characters. This includes where they are, who they are, what they want, and primarily what they would do in this situation. 

The plans serve the purpose of helping me, but if the plans change that's fine. I usually find that only about 60-70% of my planned points end up going into the final writing. The rest are ideas I scrapped or need to think about putting in a future book. As I write, I am often pleasantly surprised by a turn of events that I didn't see coming, despite all my best laid plans!

These days, I don't get writer's block, because I see my writing as a reward for myself. It is not hard work. It's my escape. I am writing them for myself (they do not sell very well, after all). I have my plans to tell me what I had intended to do next. When I don't feel like writing or plotting and planning, but I do want to progress something in my story, I fall back on other creative parts of the process such as:

• designing the cover
• creating or updating the maps or floorplans
• AI image generation and inspirational image searching 
• creating and updating my character sheets, population charts and all the other tools I use
• writing blog articles, such as this one
• trying to motivate myself to do more marketing (but can't afford it, so usually don't do much)!

The most important part of getting a novel written in 4 months is of course sitting at the computer to write it. I write at my desktop computer in Microsoft Word, using my tools and plans on the second screen. I write the novel in order from start to finish. I usually go back and edit the previous 500-1,000 words that I wrote in the last session every time I start a new day. I can write about 1,000 words a day after work and 2-3,000 on Saturdays and Sundays. I skip a day now and then, only writing when life will allow it and I feel like it.

Alguhzal, the warriors guild deputy for the Sapphire Guarde
(AI image generated with neural.love)

So if you do the math averaging it at 1,000 words a day, 1,000 x 120 days = 120,000 words. Easy!

The hard part with books is selling them. Writing is the fun part. I'm not a complete stranger to writer's block. You might say that the 13 years I took off, after having kids, was a form of writer's block. I was simply too stressed and too time poor during those years of struggling to work and raise a young family at the same time. Throw in neurodivergence and mental health problems in the mix, and I simply did not have the motivation to write. It was thanks to encouragement from my psychologist recently that I decided to get stuck into it again.

So, if you want to write a novel in 4 months (or any particular timeframe, really), you've got to find what works for you. My way is not the only way, but I hope it helps you!