Blogging provides one of the fastest and easiest ways to write a book today. In just months you can have a complete manuscript ready for editing and design if you are diligent about writing and publishing your posts. I know this is true because I completed the bulk of a manuscript in just five months; the only things missing were the last chapter and an appendix. I left these out on purpose so I’d have new material to add to the printed book and e-book. You can read the draft manuscript at my blog, How to Blog a Book.

If you are in a hurry to complete a manuscript, here are 10 ways you can blog a book fast. These are based on finishing a 35,000-word manuscript, which equates to about a 100-page book.

1. Commit to writing a certain number of posts per week.

2. Commit to writing a certain number of words per post.

3. Commit to writing a certain number of words per week.

4. Make a promise to your readers; don’t let them down

5. Create deadlines you can’t miss (for example, a print deadline, an editing deadline, a time when you publish your daily post).

6. Schedule posts in advance, which requires that you set a day and time when you sit down and write all your posts for the week or month.

7. Mind map your book and its chapters and subheads to use as post topics.

8. Create an outline for your book that you can follow as you blog your book.

9. Come up with a list of questions to answer; these can be your chapter topics or subtopics (or both).

10. Do something at least once a week to drive traffic to your blog; once you have even one reader, you’ll be more inclined to keep writing and posting.

If you write seven posts a week each one averaging 250 words you will compose 1750 words per week. In four weeks you will have written 7,000 words. In four months, you will have written 28,000 words—enough for about a 100-page book. In six months, you will have written 42,000 words, enough for about a 160 page book.

Not too shabby. You can write a book in six months or less by blogging every day and only writing 250 words per day.

Blog posts tend to run only about 250-400 words. You can write longer psts. Most blog readers don’t like to read much more than 500 words, though. However, you could up your word count to 500 words a day. That’s 3,500 words a week or 14,000 a month. In four months you will have written a 56,000-word, or 225-page, book.

So, what’s stopping you from blogging your book? You kill two birds with one stone by doing so. You get your book written and you promote it at the same time. Plus, you might get discovered by an agent or publisher while you’re at it.