BBCcom_Content_Index_for_September_7_2024.txt

Author Kathryn Croft writes 50,000-word novel in Guildford bookshop

An author who spent seven days writing her new novel in a public space said it was "an amazing experience,poker rake but the hardest thing I've ever had to do".

Kathryn Croft wrote for eight hours a day in a corner of Paper Moon, an independent bookshop in Guildford, Surrey – all while being livestreamed.

While originally aiming to write 80,000 words, she managed to complete a 50,000-word first draft of the book.

Ms Croft began at 10:00 BST on 1 September and finished at 18:00 on Sunday.

"I wrote, 'the end' – the best two words ever to write," she told BBC Radio Surrey.

Ms Croft writes psychological thrillers, with this untitled work telling the story of a woman trying to clear her name after finding a man she was due to meet on a date stabbed to death.

It will be her 20th book.

"I'm an early person. I don't work well in the afternoon," she said.

"I might normally do 500 words then have a break. This time I couldn't, it was just 100% focus for eight hours.

"I care about the words I write. I didn't want to just write anything, so that was why I got behind. Fifty thousand for a first draft is pretty good.

"Normally I do 2,000 a day, so to do 80,000, I would have had to do 11,500 a day. I made 10,000 on Sunday and that was the most. I've learned that 2,000 words is a walk in the park."

The novel is due to be published in 2027.

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