What is the 7-Day Book Challenge?
In short, the 7-Day Book Challenge is a writing challenge where the goal is to complete the first draft of a book (whether that be a novella, novel or something else entirely) in just 7 days.
But how did the 7-Day Book Challenge start?
7-Day Book Writing Challenge
Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
THE PREMISE: Spend 7 Days writing with the end goal of coming away with the content of a first draft of a book. THE GOAL: articulate the essentials of a story from end to end. THE WORK: Devote time consistently to expressing All ideas until it is fully written down.
You write… for 7 days. The end. Seriously though, this challenge is about getting from Point A to Point Z as best you can. There is no criteria for ‘winning’ because this challenge is about the action, not the results. Spend 7 Days writing with the end goal of coming away with the content of a first draft of a book by participating in “The 7-Day Book Challenge” and YOU’VE WON!
If you’d like to participate with the group and hosts, you can join in productivity livestreams on the Challenge Hosts respective YouTube Channels. You can also sign up on the official spreadsheet where you can see what others are working on, and maybe get a shoutout in social media. If you’re interested in more info and looking for links, check out S.D. Hegyes on social media where you can find regular updates to what the current challenge is and links to all relevant people, parts, and pieces!
S.D. Hegyes is debuting this here version of the challenge, with cohosts! The cohosts circulate, and you can find an announcement video with each new writing challenge.
YouTube Video Transcript
Description: Want to write a book in 7 days? (Touch me… in a non-physical way…) I love writing challenges, and the 7-Day Book Challenge is no exception. Find out the origins of this challenge as well as the rules that make it what it is.
"Hey Dragonlings!
It’s no secret that I love writing challenges. I have several vlogs and videos talking about them as well as describing all my adventures as I attempt them. Today, we’re going to talk about the 7-Day Book Challenge.
In short, the 7-Day Book Challenge is a writing challenge where the goal is to complete the first draft of a book (whether that be a novella, novel or something else entirely) in just 7 days.
But how did the 7-Day Book Challenge start?
Well, it technically has 2 origins. Kinda, sorta, not exactly.
I originally attempted this challenge in March 2020 when I hit a stage of burnout and knew I wanted to write, but not what I wanted to write about. I also had my eyes on a premade book cover I had a story idea for, but didn’t have a reason to purchase because the story wasn’t written yet. My husband and I made a deal: if I could write a complete draft of the story, from beginning to end, that would go with the cover, I could purchase it.
I ended up writing a basic outline in less than a day and completing the first draft of a 20K novella in 3 days. Challenge completed.
After that, I attempted the same thing twice more with no success. The first time in July of 2020 and the second in December of 2020. I figured the challenge just wasn’t for me anymore at that point.
Fast forward about a year and a half, in June 2022, Tamara Woods mentioned we’d be reading A BOOK A WEEK by Kate Hall for Writers Workshop. You can find out more about Writers Workshop in the link below. During the live stream in which they discussed the book, Carrow Brown suggested putting the book to the test. In July 2022, I completed the first draft of a 30K novella, and the sequel to the book I wrote originally in March 2020. Woohoo! Maybe this challenge was for me after all.
Tamara and Carrow decided to repeat the challenge in September 2022, and I succeeded again, this time with an 18K novella for an anthology submission. After that, life got hectic for everyone and there hasn’t been anymore challenges since, but that’s all about to change.
After that, life got hectic for everyone and there hasn’t been anymore challenges since, but that’s all about to change.
I’m returning to the original spirit of the challenge, writing a first draft in seven days’ time, and we’ll see if we can succeed or not. In the description, you’ll find a link to an announcement video with further details about the next 7-Day Book Challenge’s dates for it as well as how you can sign up to participate.
Well, that’s all I have for you today. I’m looking forward to writing a book in 7 days, and I hope you are too! If you liked this video and want to see more like it, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel for more.
Until next time, bye Dragonlings!"
Author Resources
For you Dragonlings – Two resources I find most helpful with this challenge!!
A Book A Week by Kate Hall
BLURB: My first published novel took me five YEARS to write. The second took months. Now? I draft each of my novels in about a week.
We live in a fast-paced world, and not everyone has the time to spend months or even years working on a novel. This book is a comprehensive guide over how I get a book from concept to fully-edited in the course of about a week. (It can take less or more depending on the length of the novel or my time constraints). This process can work for any genre of fiction, as I have used it for every novel I’ve written after the first.
2k to 10k by Rachel Aaron
BLURB: “Have you ever wanted to double your daily word counts? Do you sometimes feel like you’re crawling through your story? Do you want to write more every day without increasing the time you spend writing or sacrificing quality? It’s not impossible, it’s not even that hard. This is the book explaining how, with a few simple changes, I boosted my daily writing from 2000 words to over 10k a day, and how you can too.”
Expanding on her highly successful process for doubling daily word counts, this book, a combination of reworked blog posts and new material, offers practical writing advice for anyone who’s ever longed to increase their daily writing output. In addition to updated information for Rachel’s popular 2k to 10k writing efficiency process, 5 step plotting method, and easy editing tips, this new book includes chapters on creating characters that write their own stories, practical plot structure, and learning to love your daily writing. Full of easy to follow, practical advice from a commercial author who doesn’t eat if she doesn’t produce good books on a regular basis, 2k to 10k focuses not just on writing faster, but writing better, and having more fun while you do it.
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