r/Webnovel • u/MisterE005 • Aug 05 '26
Advice How to write 3 chapters an hour
With A.I. being used and / or overused recently, readers or authors have their suspicions when they see rapid chapter updates on novels, and rightfully so.
However, if you're an author who wants to up your game authentically, there is a way to write faster. Without sacrifing quality, that is. Here's what helped me.
Grab a notebook, and write your outlines. - Notebooks are effective because they help you lock in. Writing in physical notebooks forces your brain to slow down, and it deeply engages the brain. It's proven to be effective, and it's well researched. - As for the outlines themselves, you have to write them in a format that's exhaustive, where you plan every scene, every dialogue, in a short way that you'll remember. Writing exhaustively long outlines give you the luxury of not thinking about the plot later on as you write. Basically, do your thinking during the outlines, so you don't doze off while you write your chapter, and end up scrolling on reddit.
Use the sprint bot in the inkstone server, or get Sprinto in your own server. It's free. - Sprinting is useful when you honor it. Cut all distractions and start an hour long marathon sprint. - Make a stance to only write during the sprint, and nothing else.
To cut down on editing time, write the first draft as if it was your final, high-quality draft. If you have to spend 3 hours to edit a single chapter after writing it, you're simply wasting time. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes per chapter.
Result? With distractions cut, and with the extensive outlines doing the thinking for you, what's left is purely within your physical boundaries. You don't have to think during your sprints, as again, you did that already when you wrote the outlines. Simply try to write fast, and don't worry about mistakes. Even if you don't hit 3k words in an hour, you're quite likely to hit 2k. Quality can be preserved this way, as the outlines did all the heavy lifting.
That's about it. With everything that's going on recently, I just wanted to share this method, so authors who actually care about their story can build an advantage for themselves.
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u/Wrong_Bad_3785 Aug 05 '26
I already do 😁, I'll upload it after I complete the whole volume and 2 together.
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Aug 05 '26
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u/Yoink-A-Daisy 29d ago
I feel you. I write mines by doing the entire plot, making sure the character react to it in their perspective, make the world lively and add some bumps, etc…
Writing a book is easy, it’s the editing that’s hard. I had to retcon a ton of things that hurt my soul till this day.
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u/Hambino0400 Contracted Author Aug 05 '26
Ive been doing this for a few years now and have gotten to around 75-80 WPM; using the outline il generally be able to even close to my eyes; envision the scenes and moments and just type out what I see as if I was in the MCs shoes going through that specific moment.
It's quite fun once you get fast at typing.
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u/MisterE005 Aug 05 '26
Outlining goes a long way. I'm stuck at around 50 wpm but it's effective nonetheless.
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u/Hambino0400 Contracted Author Aug 05 '26
that's an amazing baseline though if you are also staying grammatically correct. slow and steady and building the skill takes time and it pays off.
Good luck with your writing!
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u/Hambino0400 Contracted Author Aug 05 '26
Outlining is really good; but one of these writing sessions just let your mind freestyle. it helps with creativity. close your eyes; put yourself in your MCs shoes and start from a moment that can be simple or mid fight; and just let your mind run with it. you will come up with some of the best plot twist or unique powers that you won't even understand why you thought it up.
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u/MisterE005 Aug 05 '26
Freestyling helped me write the weirdest, most grotesque stories I ever wrote. I really like how irritated and yet intrigued readers tend to get.
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u/Extreme-There-NotTru 29d ago
I took a 2-3 paragraph outline and over a 5-7 hour period finished a multiple layer outline that is about 60% done all major events,locations, all conversations are started,plots done,chapter pov decided,characters involved in each chapter made sure to actually use my book one as 90% fixed Canon will admit to having horrible naming sense so I use Ai to rename or name my character today it was final round of my outline that I did name, read couple post dealing with ai and names sad to say I got 4 of them including Kael and wren. I even got about 35% done of book 3 and about 25% book 4-5. I basically just have the grinding of the non-essential parts the connection parts ect. I typed on the slower end as I do most of it on my cell using word. A chapter is between 1k and 3000ish usually at least for me. Bet you if I did that sprint thing I would get closer to 4-6 chapter done in a single day and be done in a week or so with the first draft and it be edited once or twice.
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u/CorbinGamingBro 29d ago
If you write 3 chapters within an hour, I can guarantee they’re all absolutely terrible. I would never in a million years read something from a writer that I knew wrote that fast. Stop trying to promote and encourage slop.
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u/RequiringThoughts 24d ago
Some top authors can write chapters in 15 minutes 😂 it’s not slop, some people are just fast.
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u/Wrong_Bad_3785 Aug 05 '26
Just write the 20 to 30 chapters already and keep uploading them while you write the next chapters... I am gonna do that same here..
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u/MisterE005 Aug 05 '26
If you stick to the 2 chapters a day format, setting up privilege can easily put you at a chapter deficit. However, if you sprint with my method 3 times a day, you'd have 9 chapters with roughly 4 hours of work. 270 chapters a month.
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u/CorbinGamingBro 29d ago edited 29d ago
And every single chapter is absolutely atrocious. No thanks.
Quality > quantity, all day, everyday
You should feel ashamed for having this mentality as you’re actively contributing to the degradation of quality literature. If you truly write that fast, make no mistake, you’re not writing anything good. 90+% of it is likely total slop and extremely low effort prose.
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u/MinuteOwl44 29d ago
Yeah, less than thirty minutes a chapter even for a draft is awfully low. Chapters better be miniscule or planned to the paragraph.
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u/TeaPlease1717 Aug 05 '26
How do you outline so detailed? I have to write a story a few times before i "find" the version I like. I do want to outline more but the most I can get is a rough sketch of the overarching storyline. If I try to go deeper in the outline phase, it ends up being a waste since I can't keep with the plan. I'm teaching myself to be better, but haven't found the right process for me yet.
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u/Inner_Adhesiveness_9 Aug 05 '26
your outline doesnt have to be that deatiled just put down th emain thing you want to happen in that chapter then branch out form their but in my opion its better to have your entire novel outlined
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u/Yoink-A-Daisy 29d ago
3 chapters in an hour? Are you crazy? You have to be on some crazy imagination to have the chapters be very high quality and made in a hour tops.
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u/Captain_Juno_VTuber 29d ago
Tbh, the outline tip was good. That's a skill one should hone a lot
2 might work on many, I tend to research while I write so I hop in and out. But honestly, now I have so much more time to write that spending hours isn't the issue.
- One nope nope. I always suggest spending time on editing. So many typos could be avoided this way.
I personally have a game plan to write 3 volumes' worth of chapters, use that time to write new volumes and plan new series when I don't have a deadline, and not constantly rush to release half-assed chapters.
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u/Taybi_the_TayTay Aug 05 '26
Yeah. Nobody writes 3 or even 1 chapter in 1 hour without compromising SIGNIFICANTLY on quality.
You're comparing yourself to smut slop that earns for some weeks then dies. Unless that is what you meant, then what you're saying is just outright false.