How to Write 75,000 Words in 24 Days

Don't sleep. (Just kidding. Unless...)

Announcements

Before we get to allllll 75,000 of those words, I have a few announcements!

• I’m thrilled to share that digital editions of D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T. are now available on NetGalley and Edelweiss! That means librarians, booksellers, booktokkers, and more can all begin to read my debut novel. If you choose to use one of these sites, please (oh please) consider pre-ordering a copy anyway—nothing beats that in-hand experience, and the more sales I can garner, the better it’ll be for my career. I’d also be forever grateful if you left a review on Goodreads or Storygraph after reading.

• I’m considering adding a paid level to this newsletter—where, for a small monthly or annual fee, subscribers could receive more of my writing, about more topics. So, would you be interested in a paid subscription? And if so, what kinds of content would you want to see more of? (Writing prompts, descriptions of my process, first-to-know book updates, personal shoutouts…) Let me know in the comments!

• Finally, I was so honored to be featured by Shaker Life—my hometown magazine—as one of their 3 Alumni Under 30. You can read the feature, which also covers the amazing Max Bond and Lauryn Alexandria, here.

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming…

The page count and word count of the first true, finished draft of Book Two.

For authors, the word done is more often than not a misnomer. You might have finished one stage of proofing or edits; you might have even sent off a long-in-process draft. Still, you have more words to write—more feedback to incorporate—more emails to refresh your inbox for.

And yet . . .

There’s a feeling you get about your book when you know what the story is, why the story is, and how the story needs to come together. A moment where the story’s contours are clear and complete; a moment where you, as an author, feel comfortable saying, “I’m done with this.”

Well, reader: I’m done with Book Two.

Let me be clear: I have a lot more work to do on it. My professor is reviewing the draft now. Once I implement her edits, I’ll send the revised draft to my agent. Afterwards—fingers crossed—we’ll submit yet another revised version to my editor. Then, who knows.

But at long last, Book Two has evolved from “my problem child” to “my darling weirdo.” I understand her, and I love her. It feels appropriate, somehow, that this happened the way John Green described falling in love in The Fault in Our Stars: “slowly, and then all at once.”

I finished my long-gestating Very Bad Draft of Book Two in late March. Crossing that finish line unlocked the story for me. Then, I rewrote the entire book into my brand spankin’ new Done Version between March 28 and April 20. Which means, based on Microsoft Word’s final counts, I wrote 75,590 words in just over three weeks—an average of more than 3,000 words per day.

A few friends have asked me: How?!

The most honest answer is that I have no idea. When I started rewriting, I thought—best case scenario—I’d finish the second half of the draft. (Which was terrible. Truly, so bad. I could not have let anybody see it.) Then, I entered a kind of fugue state, and boom: full book.

But that’s not a helpful answer. I don’t want to perpetuate the misconception that good writing takes divine inspiration instead of consistent, thoughtful, hard work. So, I’ve taken the past week-ish to try and distill my how-I-did-it into principles that are easier to practice—or to give yourself grace for not being able to do.

1. For the past six weeks, writing has been my full-time job. This is a recent life transition: I left my previous job March 14. Surprise, surprise—it’s much easier to write when you have eight hours a day to do it. (Plus, crucially, full energy. Writing without Day Job Exhaustion makes a huge difference.)

2. I took time to clear my head before diving back into the manuscript. In my last month at my previous job, I had less work than usual. A voice in the back of my mind kept telling me: You should be writing. Every time I sat at my laptop, though, my keypad took me to Netflix instead. So, eventually, I gave in—and that brain-dead month became the best thing for Book Two. I caught up on sleep, started exercising and eating better, and watched TV shows and movies that inspired me. As a result, by the time I dove back into Book Two, I wasn’t distracted by aches or other work. I could place myself firmly in Book Two’s world and write what I experienced there.

3. I wrote at least 500 words a day. Like I said, 3,000 words was an average. Some days—especially at the beginning, when I was mostly revising—I wrote between 4,000 and 6,000 words. Other days, I struggled to write even a page. I’m glad I persevered, though, because writing a bit each day helped me keep one foot in Book Two at all times. That way, as soon as I wanted to start writing again, it was easy to start where I had left off.

   
   The biggest how, though, is counterintuitive:
   

4. I didn’t really write 75,000 words in 24 days. I typed 75,000 words in 24 days. Writing isn’t just the assemblage of language: It’s the assemblage of ideas, actions, and characters who carry them. That’s the work I conducted between January 2024 and late March of this year—15 months. By the time I wrote that Done Draft, the story already existed. I just had to be its scribe.

I don’t say this to discourage fellow authors. If anything, I’d say the opposite: Don’t strive to write 75,000 words in 24 days—as attractive as the prospect may sound—because it requires circumstances beyond your control. That’s not good for you or your book. Instead, your goal should be to write the best version of your story you can—whether that takes weeks or years.

It’ll almost certainly be years. And that’s OK. In fact, it’s great. We love a slow roast.

I, for one, am excited to read all the books you write.

Abby’s Pop Culture Pop-Up

As an on-the-go gal, I’ve started listening more regularly to podcasts. A few standouts you might like, too:

• “We’re Your Girls” (Good Mess Media) – Taryn Delanie Smith may be the funniest woman on the internet. (Also the most beautiful.) She and Tiffani Singleton have a wonderful, relatable friendship. Listening to the two of them on this podcast feels like the best kind of gabfest with your girlfriends over a glass of wine.

• “Good Hang with Amy Poehler” (The Ringer) – Amy Thee Poehler doesn’t need me to gas her up. But this podcast is better than it needs to be: She has warm, thoughtful interviews with people like Tina Fey, Martin Short, and Kathryn Hahn. As an added bonus, she starts every episode talking to folks who are friends with her interviewees—think Seth Meyer and Patti LuPone—and draws gold from each one.

• “Listen to Sleep – Quiet Bedtime Stories & Meditations” (Erik Ireland) – If you know me in real life, you know I’m terrible at sleeping. I can’t tell you much about Erik’s stories, because I usually fall asleep before the end. Mission accomplished. The secret to his success is his voice—warm, gravelly, and rumbling in just the right measure.

• “Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang” (Big Money Players Network) – In no way, shape, or form does this podcast need my promotion. But God is it good. Matt and Bowen balance comedic expertise with true and touching friendship. The Tina Fey and Ariana Grande episodes are classics; I’m saving Chappell Roan for the right moment.

D.J.’s Digest

This month, my family celebrated Passover—the commemoration of our Hebrew ancestors’ Exodus from slavery in Egypt. I always like this holiday: Mom and Judy make incredible brisket, vanilla chiffon cake, and egg-and-potato salad. I like retelling the story of Pesach, too.

This year, though, everything felt different. It’s one thing to celebrate freedom when we’re governed by a president. It’s another when we’re ruled by a wannabe Pharaoh.

Mom talks to me a lot about the state of the world. (If anything, she could stand to talk about it less. Her face gets tomato red.) She thinks this administration is throwing a slow coup—and, eventually, they’re going to scapegoat us. “Us” meaning the Jews. Per usual.

I hope she’s wrong, but I have to admit, she has a point. This administration keeps talking about things they’re doing for American Jews—but none of those things keep our community safe! Undocumented people, immigrants here to study, and student protestors for justice aren’t our enemies. If anything, I feel safer when those people are allowed to live and thrive.

The only people who make me feel unsafe are this Pharoah and his government. No contest. Talk about an administration that’s even more goyische than it is meshuggenah. (Bubbe will be so proud of my Yiddish when I send her this.)

I hope we all make it through the next four years unscathed. Yet we might be lucky if this mess only lasts four years. I wonder how long the Hebrews spent in slavery in Egypt . . . Mom’s Haggadah probably says that somewhere.

Let’s hope I never have to check.

Miri’s Music

“I’m Gonna Drink My Hurt Away” – The Daybreaks

Now I don’t think
That I can wait
Here any longer,
No more listening
For your footsteps
At the door . . .

When I decided to incorporate sixties music into Miri’s book, I set out to find more female musicians to color the male fray. (Much though I love Jagger and Jimi.) By far the greatest treasure I dug up is this 1968 recording from an 18-year-old Ann Wilson, who later became famous as the lead singer of “Heart.”

Her first band was good, y’all. In this recording, you’ll recognize Ann’s brassy voice, big beyond her years. It’s tempered by a touching immaturity. What better song to convey a ’60s teen girl’s distress?

This Month’s Favorites

Laurent de Brunhoff’s depiction of Babar the Elephant’s Passover Seder, from The Rose Family Seder Books. // The Coffee Bar in Shaw—a neighborhood in Washington, DC—on a sunny day.

Coziest Coffee Shop goes to… The Coffee Bar in DC’s Shaw neighborhood (above right). On a sunny spring day, there’s no lovelier spot in DC. You will see the most people and pups.

My Kind of Kidlit goes to… Our Lake by Angie Kang (my brilliant cover artist for D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T.!). Such a heart-rending and ultimately heart-filling story of grief, memory, and the enduring bonds of family.

The Most Excellent Elephant goes to… this illustration of Babar the Elephant’s family celebrating Passover (above left). It’s available in The Rose Family Seder Books at the New York Public Library. I. Am. Obsessed.