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You may have heard about the 10-minute writers. They are people who do just 10 minutes a day of writing to write a novel. Does this actually work?

If you’re looking to write a novel but don’t know where to start, you may want to look at the time you have available. I hear a lot of “if I had another hour, I’d get it done.” To be honest, I once thought like that.

The truth is you don’t really need an hour. You just need 10 minutes a day to start. Yes, you really can write a novel with just 10 minutes of work a day.

Will the novel be any good? That depends, but not on the time that you spend writing. How long will it take? Well, that’s the thing. You’re not going to have the novel written within a month.

You’re creating consistency to write a novel

You see, when you start as a 10-minute writer*, you’re not actually attempting to finish a novel in record time. This is to get you started in writing it. You want to get started creating consistency.

Too many people think that they don’t have time to write. The truth is they do, but they don’t think they do. That’s because they don’t see 10 minutes as a worthy amount of time. And sure, at first, 10 minutes could mean you write just 100 words. Eventually, you get used to make the most of the 10 minutes.

As you build more consistency, you’ll find that you enjoy the writing process. You can end up running over by 20 minutes.

Don’t let that 20 minutes mean that you don’t write for 10 minutes the following day. Remember, consistency. You want to make sure you sit down for at least 10 minutes every single day. If you end up doing more, that’s great. There are days even the most accomplished authors will write more than they originally planned because the words flow. There are other days that they don’t feel like writing, but that doesn’t stop them from sitting down and trying.

You’re more likely to remain focused

When you think “Oh, I need to get this chapter written,” you can end up with a bit of a blank. You stare at the screen and don’t really know what to write. An hour goes by and you’re nowhere into the book. That leads to you giving up.

When you only have 10 minutes, you get more focused to write your novel. You end up focusing on the time that is available. There are days where the work may not come, but you still sat down to write. Then there are days where the words just flow and make up for it.

You may not even end up writing a page in the 10 minutes. It could be a character bio or a plot idea. Either way, you’re still writing something and you make some progress on your novel.

You start to see the achievement

As we start something new, we know there’s a long way to go. That’s certainly the case when you come to write your novel. However, writing in 10 minute sprints* a day could help you see that the light is at the end of the tunnel.

After a while, you start to see the words on the page. You see that the story is starting to flow, and you can see that you’re getting closer and closer to finishing. The closer to the end that you get, the more determined you are to finish.

Then comes the editing work. That’s not easy, and you realize that you have this huge manuscript to get through. You can use the 10-minute rule again. As you start to get through the novel, you’ll realize that you’re almost there. You see the progress, and you can see your achievement happening.

I can tell you that writing for just 10 minutes a day really helps to get you started. Soon enough, you’ll have that novel in your hand.

MORE: Why I quit writing at The Inquisitr

What are you struggling with to write? Share your thoughts in the comments below.