Author Pens 50,000-Word Thriller Live in Bookshop Blitz!

Kathryn Croft, a well-known author of psychological thrillers, recently completed a remarkable challenge by writing a 50,000-word novel in just seven days. She did this in a public setting, working at a desk in the Paper Moon bookshop in Guildford, Surrey. For eight hours each day, Kathryn wrote while being livestreamed, allowing anyone to watch her creative process. Although her original goal was to write 80,000 words, she managed to finish a solid first draft with 50,000 words. She began her writing marathon at 10:00 BST on September 1st and finished at 18:00 on Sunday, feeling a huge sense of accomplishment when she typed 'the end. '

The novel Kathryn wrote is another psychological thriller, a genre she is famous for. This new story follows a woman who is trying to clear her name after discovering a man she was supposed to meet for a date has been stabbed to death. This book will be her twentieth, adding to her collection of successful thrillers. Kathryn shared that she is usually an early riser and prefers to write in the morning. Normally, she writes about 2,000 words a day and takes breaks, but this challenge required her to stay focused for eight hours straight without stopping. She said that writing 2,000 words a day now feels easy compared to the intense pace she kept during her week in the bookshop. On her final day, she wrote an impressive 10,000 words, which was the most she had ever written in a single day.

Kathryn described the experience as both amazing and extremely difficult. She explained that she cares deeply about the quality of her writing and did not want to rush just to meet her word count. The first draft of her new novel is now complete, and it is scheduled to be published in 2027. Kathryn learned a lot from this experience, including how much she is capable of achieving when she pushes herself. Her story has inspired many people, and fans can follow more updates about her work through BBC Surrey. The bookshop event also encouraged others to share their own story ideas and connect with the local writing community.