How long does it take to write a book? Work it out from your words a day
The first draft takes your target word count divided by the words you write each day. The Scribe Method's numbers: 250 words a day gives a 30,000-word draft in about four months; 500 words a day gives a 60,000-word draft in about four months. Below is the full table, what chapter deadlines add up to, and the editing time to plan for after the draft.
The formula
Writing days = target word count ÷ words you write a day. Divide by the days you write each week to get weeks.
Two numbers decide it, and both are yours to measure. The word count depends on the book; The Scribe Method's own examples use drafts of 30,000 and 60,000 words, so the table below covers that range. Your daily words depend on the time you can protect and your real pace. The Scribe Method plans on about 250 words an hour, and recommends at least an hour a day, or 30 minutes if that is not possible. How to set a daily word count goal shows how to measure your own pace on day 1.
First draft time at 250, 500 and 1,000 words a day
| Words a day | Draft | Time to first draft |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 30,000 words | 120 writing days: about 4 months writing daily, or 24 weeks at 5 days a week |
| 250 | 45,000 words | 180 writing days: about 6 months writing daily, or 36 weeks at 5 days a week |
| 250 | 60,000 words | 240 writing days: about 8 months writing daily, or 48 weeks at 5 days a week |
| 500 | 30,000 words | 60 writing days: about 2 months writing daily, or 12 weeks at 5 days a week |
| 500 | 45,000 words | 90 writing days: about 3 months writing daily, or 18 weeks at 5 days a week |
| 500 | 60,000 words | 120 writing days: about 4 months writing daily, or 24 weeks at 5 days a week |
| 1,000 | 30,000 words | 30 writing days: about 1 month writing daily, or 6 weeks at 5 days a week |
| 1,000 | 45,000 words | 45 writing days: about 1.5 months writing daily, or 9 weeks at 5 days a week |
| 1,000 | 60,000 words | 60 writing days: about 2 months writing daily, or 12 weeks at 5 days a week |
Our arithmetic. The 250-a-day, 30,000-word and 500-a-day, 60,000-word rows match The Scribe Method's own figures. Months are rounded at 30 days.
Two things the table does not show. First, nobody writes every planned day; travel, illness and busy weeks happen, so add a margin of a few weeks. Second, a higher daily number only helps if you keep it. 250 words you write every day beat 1,000 words you manage twice and then drop.
If you think in chapters instead
The Scribe Method also sets pace by chapter deadlines:
- Fast: one chapter a week.
- Moderate: one chapter every two weeks.
- Slow: one chapter a month, and if that is all you can manage, it suggests reconsidering whether you have the time to commit to a book now.
For a 12-chapter book, that is 12 weeks, 24 weeks or 12 months for the draft. Chapter deadlines work well alongside a daily word goal: the daily number gets you to the desk, and the chapter date tells you whether you are on track.
What 30 days gets you
The First Draft Challenge is 30 days of writing. At 500 words a day, that is 15,000 words; at 250, it is 7,500. Either is a real share of a nonfiction draft: a working outline from week 1, an introduction and the first chapters, and a daily habit that makes the rest arithmetic instead of willpower. What it is not is a finished book in a month, and we would rather say so up front.
When the 30 days end, what to do after the challenge covers the gap list and how to plan the next 30 days.
The time after the first draft
Finishing the draft is the biggest single step, but not the last. A nonfiction book usually goes through:
- Your own revision. Read the whole draft, fix the structure, cut what does not serve the reader. Many authors take a short break first so they can read it fresh.
- Feedback. A few trusted readers, or a manuscript assessment from an editor.
- Editing. Developmental editing for structure, line editing for sentences, copyediting for correctness and consistency.
- Design and proofreading. The cover and interior are designed, then a proofreader checks the typeset pages.
Editing time is measurable too. The Editorial Freelancers Association's 2026 Rate Chart gives median nonfiction paces in pages an hour, at 250 words a page. For a 50,000-word book (200 pages), that works out to about:
| Stage | Median pace | Editor's working hours for 50,000 words |
|---|---|---|
| Developmental editing | 4 to 8 pages an hour | 25 to 50 |
| Line editing | 4 to 8 pages an hour | 25 to 50 |
| Copyediting | 5 to 9 pages an hour | 22 to 40 |
| Proofreading | 7 to 12 pages an hour | 17 to 29 |
Our arithmetic from the EFA 2026 nonfiction medians. These are hours of the editor's work, not calendar time; add the time you spend responding to each edit, and the editor's schedule.
Not every book needs every stage, and a clean draft takes fewer hours than a messy one. The best way to shorten everything after the draft is to start with a clear outline, which is what the first week of the challenge is for.
Start the clock
Pick a daily number you can keep on an ordinary weekday, put it in the tracker, and write today's prompt. The tracker shows your words so far, so in two weeks you will know your real pace, and with it your real finish date.
Common questions
How long does it take to write a nonfiction book?
The first draft takes as long as your word count divided by the words you write a day. The Scribe Method's figures: 250 words a day gives a 30,000-word first draft in about four months, and 500 words a day gives a 60,000-word book in about four months. Revision and editing come after that.
How long does it take to write a book at 1,000 words a day?
A 30,000-word draft takes 30 writing days, a 45,000-word draft 45 and a 60,000-word draft 60. If you write five days a week, that is 6, 9 or 12 weeks. Most people with a full-time job cannot keep 1,000 words a day for long, so check your pace first.
How many hours does it take to write a book?
The Scribe Method plans on about 250 words an hour. At that pace a 50,000-word draft is about 200 hours of writing, before revision.
Can I write a book in 30 days?
You can write a lot of one. Thirty days at 500 words a day is 15,000 words: a quarter to a half of a typical nonfiction draft, plus the habit and the outline to finish the rest. That is what the First Draft Challenge is built for.
Why does it take so long after the draft is done?
Because a draft is not a book. You revise it yourself, then it goes through editing, design and proofreading, each of which takes the editor working hours and calendar time on their schedule. Plan for those stages from the start.
Sources: The Scribe Method, chapter 13, How to Create Your Book Writing Plan (at least an hour a day, or 30 minutes; 250 words an hour; 250 words a day gives a 30,000-word first draft in 4 months and 500 a day a 60,000-word book in 4 months; chapter-deadline paces); Editorial Freelancers Association, 2026 Rate Chart (nonfiction pages per hour). Both read October 27, 2026. The tables are Scribe Media's arithmetic from those figures. Published by Scribe Media.