Writing a romance novel in 30 days is a tempting notion. The idea that you could have a fully-written, publishing-ready novel complete in a month is an exciting prospect! And I’m here to tell you that it can be done. You can write a romance novel in only thirty days with proper planning, execution, and support.
The task will undoubtedly seem daunting to newbie writers and first time novelists, but plenty of writers complete manuscripts in short amounts of time. It’s just as likely that you’ll complete an entire novel project in three months as completing a project in three years. I’ve done both! My mystery novel The Hemlocks Keep Secrets was written as a NaNoWriMo project and was completed in 30 days, while both Wine Mom and Sweethearts in Copper Bay were both multi-year projects from start to finish.
Writing a romance novel in 30 days is like bulk-proving homemade bread. You are getting those words down hard and fast, creating a bulbous and shapeless product that will require refining to become a novel. Let’s dig a little deeper into how you can write a romance novel in 30 days by first discussing the mechanics of novel writing.
How long is a romance novel?
In order to begin planning to write a novel in 30 days, you need to know how long your novel should be. Work backwards from what you want your finished product to be.
Romance novels tend to vary anywhere from 55,000 to 80,000 words, which is the lowest word count for a genre. General fiction novels for adults tend to be anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000, but 80,000 words tends to be a working average. This will place your book around 300-350 pages when complete.
Penguin has an interesting article on the subject you can read here, but remember it’s an insight into the traditional publishing industry. A few readers in this Reddit forum discuss their feelings on romance novel length, and I think it’s a discussion worth having. Your romance novel can be as short or as long as you need it to be to tell your story, but generally speaking, shorter novels (less than 50k words) leave plot on the table, and longer novels (over 110k words) feel tedious.
You want to meet a reader’s expectations while managing your own sanity. That said, you’ve chosen the right genre to attempt to write a novel inside of 30 days. Romance novels are expected to be a little shorter, which definitely works in your favor.
Nanowrimo – accepting the 30 day writing challenge
National Novel Writing Month is a fun challenge writers from every genre participate in during November with the goal of writing 50,000 words by the end of the month. There are online communities formally organized by NaNoWriMo so you can meet online and in person with fellow writers. You can choose to use their accountability tools on their website, too.
As someone who is aggressively self-motivated, I have my own writing group, and we participate in NaNo every year as a part of our broader writing strategy. Send me an email if you’re interested in joining us!
Most participants try to write 1667 words per day, which is simply the average you need in order to make the 50,000 mark by the last day of the month. Since I believe firmly in rest days, my strategy looks different, and I will write anywhere from 2,000-5,000 words per day or 15,000 per week. Meaning, I only need three good days of writing a week to complete NaNoWriMo.
How to plan a romance novel in 30 days
Obviously, everyone is different, and most writers probably don’t want to try and write 5,000 words three times per week to complete a romance novel in 30 days. Still, you need to come up with some kind of plan if you’re going to accomplish this goal.
Planning to write a romance novel in 30 days means having an outline for your novel and a strategy for your writing sessions. Every writing session must be productive, so know what you will write beforehand by using a good outline. Try to get ahead of your projected daily word goal as early as possible.
Success will be built on how proactive you can be, so thorough planning is essential. Getting ahead of schedule will help enormously when life inevitably gets in the way of your plans.
Here are some sample word counts to help you envision your romance novel in 30 day strategy:
- 5,000 words per day / 3 writing days per week / 4 weeks = 60,000 words
- 4,000 words per day / 4 writing days per week / 4 weeks = 64,000 words
- 3,000 words per day / 4 writing days per week / 4 weeks = 48,000 words
- 2,000 words per day / 6 writing days per week / 4 weeks = 48,000 words
All of these word counts fall into the romance novel range, so you could attempt any of these word count goals to complete a romance novel in 30 days.
A romance novella would be even easier. Since novellas are shorter, ranging between 20,000 to 40,000 words with an average of 30,000, you could easily write a romance novella in 30 days. Here’s the math breakdown:
- 3,000 words per day / 2 writing days per week / 4 weeks = 24,000 words
- 2,000 words per day / 3 writing days per week / 4 weeks = 24,000 words
- 1,500 words per day / 4 writing days per week / 4 weeks = 24,000 words
- 1,000 words per day / 5 writing days per week / 4 weeks = 20,000 words
Finding the right balance between words in a day and days in a week will be unique to you as a writer. Since I’m very “more is more”, I like to do a high word count for only two or three days out of the week, but there are plenty of people who would wake up in the morning and write 500 words every single day.
How you write a romance novel in 30 days is ultimately up to you: your schedule, your idea, your determination.
Tips for writing a romance novel in 30 days
However, I did tell you I would help out, didn’t I? So here are some quick tips for writing a romance novel in 30 days:
- Work from a great outline
- Have character sheets ready
- Set a schedule – and stick to it!
- Get ahead of schedule
- Set timers for writing sessions
How to write a romance novel in 30 days – Final thoughts
My philosophy on writing novels is simple. Good writers write. If you want to write a novel, sit down and do it. Prepare well, and allow your natural inclinations to move you in the directions that interest you.
Writing a novel in a short amount of time is ideal, I think, for writing a succinct thesis. All novels have some kind of thesis or main idea, and the longer you take, the more muddled your idea may become. A month may feel too short to you, but it only takes a few months to complete something like a romance novel, which is relatively simple in story trajectory, morals, themes, etc. Besides, you’ll never know until you try. I believe it’s an essential writing exercise, as it will teach you discipline and good writing habits – and you’ll have something publishable by the end!