How long does it take to write a book?

Six months to five years for a first book, and the variable is almost never talent — it is whether the structure was settled early and whether the writing happens on a schedule.

How many words is a book?

70,000–90,000 for most adult fiction and non-fiction. Memoir 60,000–90,000. Children's picture books 500–1,000. Poetry collections 40–70 poems.

Should I write in order?

Not necessarily, and for memoir usually not. Write the parts you can see most clearly first — they teach you what the book is about. Order them afterwards.

Do I need to plan first?

Some people can't plan and stall when made to; some can't start without one. What is not optional is that the structure gets settled at some point — either before the draft or in revision.

Can I write a book if I'm not a writer?

Most people who write books are not writers. What is required is having something to say and finishing, and finishing is a process problem rather than a talent one.

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Whatever kind of book you're writing

Every kind of book asks for something different. A memoir needs a question, not a chronology. A business book needs an argument, not nine chapters of anecdote. A picture book needs a page turn. Start with the guide for what you are actually writing, because generic advice about 'writing a book' is the reason so many stall.

Browse this directory

By what you're writing

How to write a memoir — how to write a memoir
How to write a leadership book — how to write a leadership book
How to write a non-fiction book — how to write a non-fiction book
How to write a novel — how to write a novel
How to write a children's book — how to write a children's book
How to write a travel book — how to write a travel book
How to write poetry, and how to build a collection — how to write poetry
How to write a screenplay — how to write a screenplay
How to write a textbook — how to write a textbook
How to write a graphic novel — how to write a graphic novel
How to write a business book — how to write a business book
How to write a poetry collection — how to write a poetry collection
How to write a script — how to write a script

Going deeper — specific kinds of book

How to write a economics textbook — how to write a economics textbook
How to write a science fiction novel — how to write science fiction
How to write a science non-fiction book — how to write a book about science
How to write a stage play — how to write a stage play

However you write

Writing a book by typing, with the editorial part done properly — best software for writing a book
Writing a book by talking — how to dictate a book
Type some chapters, speak the others — dictate and type a book
Writing a book on your phone — writing a book on your phone
Book writing software compared, honestly — book writing software comparison
Turning voice notes into a manuscript — voice notes to book

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Your free private Book Coach

A short private conversation, one question at a time. By the end you should have a clearer sense of what your book is actually about, who it is for, the shape it wants to take, and the one next thing to do. It never writes a word for you.

Or see how it works first

It asks questions and gives you your own answers back. It does not write the book. You can copy or download the finished plan straight from the page, free and with no email needed.

The three things every book needs, whatever kind it is

A question the book is answering. Not a subject — a question. What my mother's life was like is a subject. Why she never went back is a question, and it will tell you what to leave out, which is the harder half of writing.

A structure where each part changes something. Whether that is a plot, an argument or a life, the test is the same: take a chapter out, and do the ones after it still work? If yes, it was not doing anything.

A finished bad draft. Almost every unfinished book was being written correctly. The books that get finished were written badly first and fixed afterwards.

Everything else — voice, structure, chapter length, whether you type or speak — is genre-specific, and that is what the guides below are for.

However you write is fine

Most authors type. Some speak. Many do both, and use different modes for different chapters — typing for the routine ones, talking for the hard ones, because a difficult chapter is very often easier said aloud than typed at a blank screen.

And a great many people arrive with a book already partly written somewhere else: a folder of notes, half a draft in Word, eleven Google Docs, a Scrivener project, forty voice memos, a decade of blog posts.

All of it is a starting point. None of it is the wrong starting point, and none of it requires beginning again.

What it costs to finish

Done entirely with professionals, a full-length book runs roughly £2,500–£6,000 from finished draft to published: developmental edit, copy-edit, proofread, cover, blurb.

Each genre guide carries the specific breakdown for that kind of book, sourced to CIEP suggested minimum rates and Reedsy's published averages, dated and flagged.

We put the real numbers up because the alternative is discovering them at the end.

About Your Book Pro

Your Book Pro is a book-writing platform built in Britain. Start with an idea, notes, half a draft, a podcast, or a finished manuscript, and use our purpose-built AI tools for planning, feedback, editing, proofreading, cover designs, and to create print-ready files. Writing is totally free: you can type, upload or speak your book as much as you like, and use only the editing tools you need with Plus, or go unlimited with Pro.

Produce world-class drafts at the fraction of the cost of hiring a human editorial team.

Every account starts with 1,000 welcome credits, and a plain export of your own words is free.

Each guide says plainly when a person does the job better than AI. Guides on legal topics are general information, not legal advice.

Where to start depends on where you are.

No draft, and not sure what the book is: the Book Coach is free at yourbook.pro/book-coach, with no account. Ten minutes of the right questions gets most people to a premise they can say aloud.

A plan you're unsure about: Plan Feedback tests the structure before you write eighty thousand words into it.

Something already written, anywhere: upload it. Plus lets you bring a manuscript from Word, Google Docs, Scrivener or a stack of files, run whichever tools you need, and export it again. 1,000 non-expiring welcome credits on every account, and a plain export of your own words free forever.

Try the Book Coach — free, no account

Upload what you've already written

Email me my free Book Coach link

Questions people ask

How long does it take to write a book?: Six months to five years for a first book, and the variable is almost never talent — it is whether the structure was settled early and whether the writing happens on a schedule.
How many words is a book?: 70,000–90,000 for most adult fiction and non-fiction. Memoir 60,000–90,000. Children's picture books 500–1,000. Poetry collections 40–70 poems.
Should I write in order?: Not necessarily, and for memoir usually not. Write the parts you can see most clearly first — they teach you what the book is about. Order them afterwards.
Do I need to plan first?: Some people can't plan and stall when made to; some can't start without one. What is not optional is that the structure gets settled at some point — either before the draft or in revision.
Can I write a book if I'm not a writer?: Most people who write books are not writers. What is required is having something to say and finishing, and finishing is a process problem rather than a talent one.