One of the best things you can do when you decide you want to write a book is to set a deadline for the completed manuscript. But if you’ve never written a book before, it’s tough to figure out how long it will take to write a book, so it’s hard to decide what your deadline should be.

So that leaves you back at the “thinking about writing a book” point, right?

Don’t stay stuck. Start experimenting.

Look at a sample timeline to see if it will work for you.

1. Pick a reasonable length of time, like 3 or 6 months.
2. Look at the number of chapters that you want in your book.
3. Break down the number of chapters you plan on writing across the number of months you plan on writing. For example, if you want to write 12 chapters across 6 months, you would write 2 chapters per month. Or, if you want to have the manuscript edited in that amount of time as well, check with your editor to see how long it might take (guessing on your word count), and work out the equation with that in mind.
4. Next, break down the number of chapters per month over 4 weeks, just as an estimate.

Now you have to figure out how many words each chapter will entail. This doesn’t have to be exact, but it will help you figure out approximately how much you have to write each week.

And for the tricky part: you have to decide if this is a reasonable amount for you to fit into your schedule every week. You WANT to set a goal you can reach, so seriously consider if you will be capable of writing that much each week. Determine when your writing times are, and be reasonable about whether you can sit down at the computer or notebook and write.

If this all looks doable for you, then write the word count goals on your calendar for the period you’ve determined. If it looks like too much or too little per week, then adjust your deadline. Remember that you don’t want the book to become a stressor. If you have to sacrifice every spare minute you have for 3 straight months to finish your book, it’s probably not a good idea. Self-care is important during the writing process, or you will burn out.

Now that you have a plan, you’re ready to write! So what happens when you hit a bump in the road? You get sick. You get tired of writing. You are frustrated during your writing session and don’t make your word count? Don’t let anything completely derail your plan. Take a break when you need it. Really. Then when you’re back on your feet, look at how you need to adjust your schedule to be able to compensate. Maybe you need to move your writing time to a different night. Or maybe you need to extend it a bit.

Unless you have someone else involved like a publishing company or editor who is expecting you to have your book done on a certain date, though, don’t feel too pressured to stick to the original deadline. Give yourself grace when you need it, and your book will be a better reflection of what you really wanted to create.