Write a Novel, Ten Minutes at a Time

Katharine Grubb was born in northeastern Oklahoma. She was raised in the Tulsa suburbs, attended the University of Oklahoma, taught school, wrote stories and then shocked everyone by moving to Boston, Massachusetts to be with a man she had been e-mailing for nine months. She married that man, and with him had five boisterous children. Nowadays, she still lives in Massachusetts, homeschools her children, bakes bread, does a ridiculous amounts of laundry and sets her timer to write stories in ten minute increments. Her favorite type of books to read and write are quirky, imaginative tales of romance, faith and humor. She blogs at www.10minutewriter.com and is on Twitter @10MinuteWriter.

Each day holds 1440 minutes. And in your busy life, nearly every one is accounted for. You have school, family time, time for friends and your fun stuff and you have to sleep, right? But if it we could have more time, then maybe we could get done what we really wanted to do — like write a book! 

A novel.  Completed. One with dreamy characters and a great story. One that we could send to our friends or get our teachers to give us feedback on. A book that combines all those characters and scenes that have been swirling around in our heads for days. Or weeks. Or years. 

I’d like to suggest that you do have time to write the book of your dreams. You really only need ten minutes a day. 

I had those dreams too. I put my writing goals aside to have my family. After having five children in less than eight years, the only writing I was doing was a weekly grocery list and even that was inconsistent and poorly written. But I decided, when my youngest was only a few months old, that I owed it to myself to find time to write. I had the blessing of having my computer in my kitchen so I trained myself to set the timer on my microwave. For ten minutes, I would write like a mad woman on my computer. When the timer dinged, I went back to the dishes or the laundry or the meal preparation for ten more minutes. Did my children learn to respect my writing time? Kind of. No matter how old they get, there will always be interruptions. Did I catch myself ignoring the timer and let dinner burn? A few times, but no one died of overcooked pasta. Somedays I only wrote in one ten minute chunk. But some days, I wrote for six ten minute chunks. That was an hour. If you had asked me how to find an uninterrupted hour while I cared for my large family: cooking, cleaning, supervising, laundering, and homeschooling, I would have told you it couldn’t be done. But I did it. It took me five years to finish my first novel. And my family was with me, the whole way, cheering me on. If I can do it so can you. All you need to get started is six things. 

First you need a space. Do you have a desk or work space that you can come to easily? Having a space to call your own, where no one bothers you, is super important. Plan your space and communicate to your family what you need. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just accessible. 

Second you need organization. Create a new file on your computer — it doesn’t have to be fancy.  Use an application like Scrivener or any other novel writing software. Keep it open and ready, so when your ten minutes come, you can get right to it. If you spend 20 minutes looking for what you need, you’re missing the point.

Third, you need a plan. You can start your story from the beginning and just write until you get stuck, without any plan or outline. (This is called Pantsing, like “by the seat of your pants”.) You could also create an outline, listing out characters, plot and setting — this is called plotting. There

There isn’t any “right” way to write a novel and it’s perfectly okay to switch from style to style as you write. The important thing is that you do something on your novel daily for at least ten minutes. 

Fourth, you need guidance. Every writer, especially beginning ones, need to be well educated in the craft of writing. Ask your school or local librarian for books on writing, so an Amazon search or look at Goodreads for the best titles. You can also read blogs on writing (www.10minutewritercom for one), read agents’ blogs, follow author’s on Facebook or Twitter and learn as much as you can. Even if you decide to study writing for ten minutes a day, you can learn a LOT in a year. You can also follow my Pinterest boards for writing tips by clicking here!

Fifth, you need confidence. Don’t get discouraged if it seems like things are moving slowly. By doing a little every day, you are pursuing your dreams. Someday you’ll finish this story, you’ll know more than you know now and you might be asked to guest blog somewhere (like I am!) . 

Sixth, you need community. As tempting as it is to keep this big goal of yours a secret, don’t! Find other newbie writers who want to tell their stories and talk about what you’re doing. Critique each others’ work. Read writing books together. Doing anything with a friend is more fun than doing it alone. Want a group of online friends to hang out with? My group: 10 Minute Novelists is a group on Facebook full of busy writers who have to work hard to find time to pursue their writing goals, just like you. Find us! 

Seventh, you need to put your butt in the chair and work! Yes, it’s hard. Yes, sometimes you won’t feel like writing. Yes, you’ll get discouraged and want to throw everything out. But the only way to get the work done is to sit and do it. Even ten minutes a day will make a huge difference.

So yeah, you have 1440 minutes a day and it seems like they are all taken by something. But your writing dreams are worth ten of them.  A book, with your name on it, is so worth it.


To thank Katharine for being here, we're giving away the Kindle ebook of her first novel, Falling for Your Madness. Here's a bit about the story: 

Eccentric literature professor David approaches Laura for an unconventional, intentional, rule-filled courtship filled with poetry, flowers and bottom-less cups of tea. Laura is smitten by his humor and charm but his British accent turns out to be fake. Dating David is challenging and sometimes frustrating -- but Laura has never felt more respected and beautiful. There is a reason why David is bound by the laws of chivalry, both body and soul and when Laura discovers what it is, she must decide. Is David worth it? Or is he completely mad? Falling For Your Madness is a romantic comedy about ladies, gentlemen, and the power of words.

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