Can I Write a Book on My Phone in 7 Days?

About this video

Dale attempts to write a full book entirely on his old iPhone 7 in one week, or delete it and start from scratch. His rules: 25,000 to 60,000 words (he cites sources treating 100 to 200 pages as a minimum full book), completed within one week with no wiggle room, written entirely on the phone, as a passable first draft audited by his writing mentor to rule out placeholder text or gibberish. Meeting the minimum meant at least 3,600 words per day. Testing input methods with Dibbly Create for word counts, he measured texting/swiping at 33 words per minute, typing at 58, and voice dictation as fastest at 148. After a zero-word first day spent finding an idea, he settled on a book about networking for authors and outlined on the phone. Texting proved rough — wrong-thumb errors, auto-suggest and eye strain — and yielded about 1,500 words for an introduction in one session. A Bluetooth keyboard was the breakthrough, freeing the small screen and producing a chapter of a little over 3,500 words. Progress stayed uneven: a live writing sprint produced roughly 2,500 words in about two hours, and by day six he was about 6,700 words short of 25,000, projecting closer to 35,000 words. He never used voice dictation, saying his verbal expression differs from writing through his fingertips and he did not want to change method mid-project. His mentor confirmed he submitted between Tuesday October 3rd and before midnight Eastern on Tuesday October 10th, produced over 25,000 words with no lorem ipsum or discrepancies, and called it a surprisingly polished draft she would take to market after cleanup and a sweep for transitions.

Key takeaways

• Challenge rules: 25,000–60,000 words in one week, written entirely on an iPhone 7, independently audited
• Measured speeds: texting 33 wpm, typing 58 wpm, voice dictation 148 wpm — yet dictation was never used for the book
• Texting caused errors, auto-correct problems and eye strain; a Bluetooth keyboard made phone writing workable
• Topic chosen mid-challenge: networking for authors; day one ended with zero words but an idea and outline
• His mentor validated the finished draft as original, over the minimum, and marketable after cleanup

Episode details: published October 17, 2023 · 12:25 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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