How to Start Writing a Book: A 7-Day Plan for First-Timers

Why is starting a book so hard?

Most people who want to write a book never start, and it's rarely for lack of ideas. It's usually one of four things: waiting for a free month that never comes, facing a blank page with no plan, trying to write a perfect first sentence, or not being sure what kind of book it even is.

Every one of those is solved by making small decisions early and writing badly on purpose. The plan below spreads those decisions across seven days, about 30–60 minutes each. By day seven you'll have a promise, a plan and your first pages.

What kind of book are you writing?

This is the first decision, because each kind of book starts differently. Don't overthink it. Pick the one closest to what's in your head.

Many ideas are hybrids. A book of family recipes with the stories behind them is part memoir, part how-to. A novel based on your grandfather's war is part fiction, part family history. Ask what the reader mainly gets: a story, a true story, or help. That's your type; the rest is flavor.

Days 1–2: What's your book's one-sentence promise?

On day one, write one sentence that says what the book is. It's a compass, not a blurb. It'll change, and that's fine. Use the template for your book type:

• Novel: When [something happens], [a character] must [goal], or else [stakes].
• Memoir: This is a book about how I [experience], and what it taught me about [theme].
• Nonfiction: This book helps [specific reader] who [situation] to [result].

Who are you writing for?

On day two, describe one real reader in a few lines. Not 'everyone who likes thrillers' but 'my sister, who reads a thriller a week on the train and hates slow openings'. Or 'my grandchildren, who never met my parents'. Or 'a new nurse on her first night shift'.

Writing for one person fixes a surprising number of problems: how formal to sound, what to explain, what to skip. When you get stuck later, ask what that person would want next.

It also tells you what the finished book needs to be. A book for your grandchildren can be 80 pages with photos. A book for strangers in a bookstore has to earn their attention from page one. A guide for new nurses has to be something they can use at 3 a.m. Decide that now, and dozens of later decisions make themselves.

Days 3–4: How do you plan a book before writing it?

Sketch a rough chapter list: 8 to 15 lines, one per chapter, saying what happens or what the chapter teaches. It will be wrong in places. That's normal; a rough map beats no map.

For a novel, write the beginning, the big turn in the middle and the ending first, then fill in between. For a memoir, list your turning points in order. For nonfiction, list the steps or questions your reader needs answered, in the order they'll need them.

On day four, read your list and mark the chapter you're most excited to write. That's where you'll start.

Here's what a rough list looks like for a memoir about opening a bakery at 50: 1. The day I was laid off. 2. My grandmother's bread. 3. Telling my husband. 4. The bank says no. 5. The bank says yes. 6. Opening week. 7. The winter nobody came. 8. The review that saved us. 9. Teaching my granddaughter to knead. It's nine lines and it took ten minutes, and it's already a book.

Days 5–7: How do you write the first pages?

Write the chapter you marked, not chapter one. Openings are the hardest part of any book, and they're easier to write once you know the book. Aim for 300 to 700 words a day, in one sitting, with a timer.

Don't reread and fix as you go. If you don't know a name or a date, write [CHECK] and move on. By the end of day seven you'll have somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 words: your first real pages.

DAY 1 - Choose your book type. Write the one-sentence promise.
DAY 2 - Describe your one reader in 3-5 lines.
DAY 3 - List 8-15 chapters, one line each. Wrong is fine.
DAY 4 - Mark the chapter you're most excited to write. Note 3 things that happen in it.
DAY 5 - Write 300-700 words of that chapter. Timer on. No rereading.
DAY 6 - Write 300-700 more. Use [CHECK] for anything you don't know.
DAY 7 - Finish the chapter (or a big piece of it). Then pick next week's chapter.

DAILY RULE: same time, same place, small target. Stop mid-sentence so tomorrow starts easily.

How do you beat the blank page?

When you sit down and nothing comes, try one of these. Each works because it lowers the stakes.

• Write the worst possible version on purpose. You can't edit a blank page.
• Start in the middle of a moment: a line of dialogue, an action, a question.
• Tell it out loud first, into your phone's voice recorder, then type what you said.
• Write it as a letter to your one reader: 'Dear Sam, here's what happened…'.
• Answer a question instead of 'writing': What did the room look like? What did she want?
• Stop mid-sentence the day before, so today begins by finishing a thought.

How do you keep going after the first week?

Keep the daily target small enough to hit on a bad day. Consistency beats bursts: 500 words a day becomes 50,000 words in 100 days, which is a short nonfiction book or a family memoir, or most of a novel's first draft.

Track your words or your days on a calendar. Don't revise until the draft is complete; keep a list of fixes instead. And expect a slump around the middle of the book. Almost everyone hits one, and it passes if you keep showing up.

When you miss a day, and you will, don't try to make up the words tomorrow. Doubling the target turns one missed day into a week of dread. Just write the normal amount. The streak that matters is the one measured in weeks, not days.

It also helps to decide now what 'done' means for the first draft: every chapter on your list exists in some form, however rough. Not good, just there. Aim for that, and polish later.

How can Novelleo help you start your book?

If the blank page is what stops you, Novelleo removes it. In the app (iOS and Android), choose a novel, your own story, or something you know, then answer a few questions about your book. Novelleo sets up a title, premise, cast and a 4–20 chapter plan.

The AI drafts each chapter with you. You steer the next chapter, whether that's following the plan or adding a scene, and you edit every line. AI rewrite and a writing coach help when a page isn't working. Export the book as a PDF or Word file. The first AI chapter is free.