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Chinese calendarFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to navigationJump to searchThis article is about the traditional Chinese. For the most commonly and officially used calendar in modern China, see Gregorian calendar and Adoption of the Gregorian calendar § China.This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Chinese calendar" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(January 2019)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)History of science and technology in ChinaInventions Four Great InventionsDiscoveriesBy subjectMathematicsAstronomyCalendarUnits of measurementCartographyGeographyPrintingCeramicsMetallurgyCoinageAlchemyTraditional medicine herbologyAgriculture sericultureSilk industryArchitecture classic gardensbridgesTransport navigationMilitary navalBy eraHanTangSongYuanPeople's Republic agriculturespaceThe traditional China calendar (officially known as the Rural Calendar [農曆; 农历; Nónglì; 'farming calendar']), or Former Calendar (舊曆; 旧历; Jiùlì), Traditional Calendar (老曆; 老历; Lǎolì) or Lunar Calendar (陰曆; 阴历; Yīnlì; 'yin calendar'), is a lunisolar calendar which reckons years, months and days according to astronomical phenomena. It is defined by GB/T 33661-2017, "Calculation and promulgation of the Chinese calendar", issued by the Standardisation Administration of China on 12 May 2017.Although modern-day China uses the Gregorian calendar, the traditional Chinese calendar governs holidays—such as the Lantern Festival—in both China and in overseas Chinese communities. It also gives the traditional Chinese nomenclature of dates within a year, which people use for selecting auspicious days for weddings, funerals, moving, or starting a business.Like Chinese characters, variants of this calendar are used in different parts of the Chinese cultural sphere. Korea, Vietnam, and the Ryukyu Islands adopted the calendar, and it evolved into Korean, Vietnamese, and Ryukyuan calendars. The main difference from the traditional Chinese calendar is the use of different meridians, which leads to some astronomical events—and calendar events based on them—falling on different dates. The traditional Japanese calendar also derived from the Chinese calendar (based on a Japanese meridian), but its official use in Japan was abolished in 1873 as part of reforms after the Meiji Restoration. Calendars in Mongolia and Tibet have absorbed elements of the traditional Chinese calendar, but are not direct descendants of it. [citation needed]Days begin and end at midnight, and months begin on the day of the new moon. Years begin on the second (or third) new moon after the winter solstice. Solar terms govern the beginning and end of each month. Written versions in ancient China [when?] included stems and branches of the year and the names of each month, including leap months as needed. Characters indicated whether a month was long (大, 30 days) or short (小, 29 days); stem branches for the first, eleventh, and 21st days, and the date, stem branch and time of the solar terms.HistoryThis section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Chinese calendar" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(October 2018)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)Solar calendarsThe traditional Chinese calendar was developed between 771 and 476 BC, during the Spring and Autumn period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Before the Zhou dynasty, solar calendars were used.One version of the solar calendar is the five-elements calendar (五行曆; 五行历), which derives from the Wu Xing. A 365-day year was divided into five phases of 73 days, with each phase corresponding to a Day 1 Wu Xing element. A phase began with a governing-element day (行御), followed by six 12-day weeks. Each phase consisted of two three-week months, making each year ten months long. Years began on a jiǎzǐ (甲子) day (and a 72-day wood phase), followed by a bǐngzǐ day (丙子) and a 72-day fire phase; a wùzǐ (戊子) day and a 72-day earth phase; a gēngzǐ (庚子) day and a 72-day metal phase, and a rénzǐ day (壬子) followed by a water phase. [1] Other days were tracked using the Yellow River Map (He Tu).Five-phase and four-quarter calendarsAnother version is a four-quarters calendar (四時八節曆; 四时八节历; 'four sections, eight seasons calendar', or 四分曆; 四分历). Weeks were ten days long, with one month consisting of three weeks. A year had 12 months, with a ten-day week intercalated in summer as needed to keep up with the tropical year. The 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches were used to mark days. A third version is the balanced calendar (調曆; 调历). A year was 365.25 days, and a month was 29.5 days. After every 16th month, a half-month was intercalated. According to oracle bone records, the Shang dynasty calendar (c. 1600 – c. 1046 BC) was a balanced calendar with 12 to 14 months in a year; the month after the winter solstice was Zhēngyuè.Lunisolar calendars[edit]The first lunisolar calendar was the Zhou calendar (周曆; 周历), introduced under the Zhou dynasty. This calendar set the beginning of the year at the day of the new moon before the winter solstice. It also set the shàngyuán as the winter solstice of a dīngsì year, making the year it was introduced around 2,758,130. [citation needed]Several competing lunisolar calendars were also introduced, especially by states fighting Zhou control during the Warring States period. The state of Lu issued its own Lu calendar(魯曆; 鲁历). Jin issued the Xia calendar (夏曆; 夏历) in AD 102, [4] with a year beginning on the day of the new moon nearest the March equinox. Qin issued the Zhuanxu calendar (顓頊曆; 颛顼历), with a year beginning on the day of the new moon nearest the winter solstice. Song's Yin calendar (殷曆; 殷历) began its year on the day of the new moon after the winter solstice.These calendars are known as the six ancient calendars (古六曆; 古六历), or quarter-remainder calendars, (四分曆; 四分历; sìfēnlì), since all calculate a year as ​365 1⁄4 days long. Months begin on the day of the new moon, and a year has 12 or 13 months. Intercalary months (a 13th month) are added to the end of the year. The Qiang and Dai calendars are modern versions of the Zhuanxu calendar, used by mountain peoples.Qin and early Han dynasties[edit]After Qin Shi Huang unified China under the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, the Qin calendar (秦曆; 秦历) was introduced. It followed most of the rules governing the Zhuanxu calendar, but the month order was that of the Xia calendar; the year began with month 10 and ended with month 9, analogous to a Gregorian calendar beginning in October and ending in September. The intercalary month, known as the second Jiǔyuè (後九月; 后九月; 'later Jiǔyuè'), was placed at the end of the year. The Qin calendar was used into the Han dynasty.Han-Ming dynasties and Taichu calendar[edit]Emperor Wu of Han r. 141 – 87 BC introduced reforms halfway through his reign. His Taichu Calendar (太初曆; 太初历; 'grand beginning calendar') defined a solar year as ​365 385⁄1539 days, and the lunar month was ​29 43⁄81 days. This calendar introduced the 24 solar terms, dividing the year into 24 equal parts. Solar terms were paired, with the 12 combined periods known as climate terms. The first solar term of the period was known as a pre-climate, and the second was a mid-climate. Months were named for the mid-climate to which they were closest, and a month without a mid-climate was an intercalary month. [citation needed]The Taichu calendar established a framework for traditional calendars, with later calendars adding to the basic formula. The Dàmíng Calendar (大明曆; 大明历; 'brightest calendar'), created in the Liang dynasty by Zu Chongzhi, introduced the equinoxes. The use of a syzygy to determine the lunar month was first described in the Tang dynasty Wùyín Yuán Calendar (戊寅元曆; 戊寅元历; 'earth tiger epoch calendar'). The Yuan dynasty Shòushí calendar (授時曆; 授时历; 'teaching time calendar') used spherical trigonometry to find the length of the tropical year.[5][6][7]The calendar had a 365.2425-day year, identical to the Gregorian calendar.[8]Modern calendars[edit]Although the Chinese calendar lost its place as the country's official calendar at the beginning of the 20th century,[9] its use has continued. The Republic of China adopted UTC+08:00 in 1928, but the change to a single time zone; some calendars followed the last calendar of the Qing dynasty, published in 1908. This caused confusion about the date of the 1978 Mid-Autumn Festival, and those areas then switched to the UTC+8-based calendar.[10]Shíxiàn calendar[edit]Main article: Chongzhen calendarDuring the late Ming dynasty, Xu Guangqi and his colleagues worked out a new calendar based on Western astronomical arithmetic; however, the new calendar was not released before the end of the dynasty. In the early Qing dynasty, Johann Adam Schall von Bell submitted the calendar to the Shunzhi Emperor. The Qing government issued it as the Shíxiàn (seasonal) calendar.In this calendar, the solar terms are 15° each along the ecliptic and it can be used as a solar calendar. However, the length of the climate term near perihelion is less than 30 days and there may be two mid-climate terms. The Shíxiàn calendar changed the mid-climate-term rule to "decides the month in sequence, except the intercalary month."[This quote needs a citation]The present traditional calendar follows the Shíxiàn calendar, except:The baseline is Chinese Standard Time, rather than Beijing local time.Astronomical data is used, rather than mathematical calculations.Proposals[edit]To optimize the Chinese calendar, astronomers have proposed a number of changes. Gao Pingzi (高平子; 1888–1970), a Chinese astronomer who co-founded the Purple Mountain Observatory, proposed that month numbers be calculated before the new moon and solar terms be rounded to the day. Since the intercalary month is determined by the first month without a mid-climate and the mid-climate time varies by time zone, countries which adopted the calendar but calculate with their own time could vary from the time in China. [citation needed]Outlying areas[edit]Calendars of ethnic groups in the mountains and plateaus of southwestern China and the grasslands of northern China are based on their phenology and algorithms of traditional calendars of different periods, particularly the Tang and pre-Qin dynasties.[citation needed]StructureElements[edit]Elements of the traditional Chinese calendar are:Day, from one midnight to the nextMonth, the time from one new moon to the next. These synodic months are about ​29 17⁄32 days long.Date, when a day occurs in the month. Days are numbered in sequence from 1 to 29 (or 30).Year, the time of one revolution of the earth around the sun. It is measured from the first day of spring (lunisolar year) or the winter solstice (solar year). A year is about ​365 31⁄128 days.Zodiac, ​1⁄12 year, or 30° on the ecliptic. A zodiac is about ​30 7⁄16 days.Solar term, ​1⁄24 year, or 15° on the ecliptic. A solar term is about ​15 7⁄32 days.Calendar month, when a month occurs within a year. Some months may be repeated.Calendar year, when it is agreed that one year ends and another begins. The year begins on the first day of spring, defined as the second (sometimes third) new moon after the winter solstice. A calendar year is 353–355 or 383–385 days long.The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, similar to the Hindu and Hebrew calendars.Features[edit]The movements of the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (known as the seven luminaries) are the references for calendar calculations.The distance between Mercury and the sun is less than 30° (the sun's height at chénshí:辰時, 8:00 to 10:00 am), so Mercury was sometimes called the "chen star" (辰星); it is more commonly known as the "water star" (水星).Venus appears at dawn and dusk, and is known as the "bright star" (啟明星; 启明星) or "long star" (長庚星; 长庚星).Mars looks like fire and occurs irregularly, and is known as the "fire star" (熒惑星; 荧惑星 or 火星). Mars is the punisher in Chinese mythology. When Mars is near Antares (心宿二), it is a bad omen and can forecast the death of an emperor or removal of a chancellor (荧惑守心).The period of Jupiter's revolution is 11.86 years, so Jupiter is called the "age star" (歲星; 岁星); 30° of Jupiter's revolution is about a year on earth.The period of Saturn's revolution is about 28 years. Saturn, known as the "guard star" (鎮星), guards one of the 28 mansions every year.The Big Dipper is the celestial compass, and its handle's direction determines the season and month. The stars are divided into Three Enclosures and 28 Mansions according to their location in the sky relative to Ursa Minor, at the centre. Each mansion is named with a character describing the shape of its principal asterism. The Three Enclosures are Purple Forbidden, (紫微), Supreme Palace (太微), and Heavenly Market. (天市) The eastern mansions are 角, 亢, 氐, 房, 心, 尾, 箕. Southern mansions are 井, 鬼, 柳, 星, 张, 翼, 轸. Western mansions are 奎, 娄, 胃, 昴, 毕, 参, 觜. Northern mansions are 斗, 牛, 女, 虚, 危, 室, 壁. The moon moves through about one lunar mansion per day, so the 28 mansions were also used to count days. In the Tang dynasty, Yuan Tiangang (袁天罡) matched the 28 mansions, seven luminaries and yearly animal signs to yield combinations such as "horn-wood-flood dragon" (角木蛟).Codes[edit]Several coding systems are used to avoid ambiguity. The Heavenly Stems is a decimal system. The Earthly Branches, a duodecimal system, mark dual hours (shí, 時; 时 or shíchen (時辰; 时辰)) and climatic terms. The 12 characters progress from the first day with the same branch as the month (first Yín day (寅日) of Zhēngyuè; first Mǎo day (卯日) of Èryuè), and count the days of the month.The stem-branches is a sexagesimal system. The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches make up 60 stem-branches. The stem-branches mark days and years. The five elements of the Wu Xing are assigned to each of the stems, branches and stem-branches.DayMain article: Traditional Chinese timekeepingChina has used the Western hour-minute-second system to divide the day since the Qing dynasty. [11] Several era-dependent systems had been in use; systems using multiples of twelve and ten were popular, since they could be easily counted and aligned with the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.Explanatory chart for traditional Chinese timeWeek[edit]For more information on the adoption of the seven-day week, see Names of the days of the week § East_Asian_tradition.For more information on the ten-day week, see Decan.As early as the Bronze-Age Xia dynasty, days were grouped into nine- or ten-day weeks known as xún (旬). [12] Months consisted of three xún. The first 10 days were the early xún (上旬), the middle 10 the mid xún (中旬), and the last nine (or 10) days were the late xún (下旬). Japan adopted this pattern, with 10-day-weeks known as jun (旬). In Korea, they were known as sun (순,旬).The structure of xún led to public holidays every five or ten days. During the Han dynasty, officials were legally required to rest every five days (twice a xún, or 5–6 times a month). The name of these breaks became huan (澣; 浣, "wash").Grouping days into sets of ten is still used today in referring to specific natural events. "Three Fu" (三伏), a 29–30-day period which is the hottest of the year, reflects its three-xún length.[13]After the winter solstice, nine sets of nine days were counted to calculate the end of winter.[14] The seven-day week was adopted from the Hellenistic system by the 4th century CE, although its source is unclear. It was again transmitted to China in the 8th century by Manichaeans via Kangju (a Central Asian kingdom near Samarkand),[15][a][b] and is the most-used system in modern China.Month[edit]Months are defined by the time between new moons, which averages approximately ​29 17⁄32 days. There is no specified length of any particular Chinese month, so the first month could have 29 days (short month, 小月) in some years and 30 days (long month, 大月) in other years.A 12-month-year using this system has 354 days, which would drift significantly from the tropical year. To fix this, traditional Chinese years have a 13-month year approximately once every three years. The 13-month version has the same alternation of long and short months, but adds a 30-day leap month (閏月; rùnyuè) at the end of the year. Years with 12 months are called common years, and 13-month years are known as long years.Although most of the above rules were used until the Tang dynasty, different eras used different systems to keep lunar and solar years aligned. The synodic month of the Taichu calendar was ​29 43⁄81 days long. The 7th-century, Tang-dynasty Wùyín Yuán Calendar was the first to determine month length by synodic month instead of the cycling method. Since then, month lengths have primarily been determined by observation and prediction.The days of the month are always written with two characters and numbered beginning with 1. Days one to 10 are written with the day's numeral, preceded by the character Chū (初); Chūyī (初一) is the first day of the month, and Chūshí (初十) the 10th. Days 11 to 20 are written as regular Chinese numerals; Shíwǔ (十五) is the 15th day of the month, and Èrshí (二十) the 20th. Days 21 to 29 are written with the character Niàn (廿) before the characters one through nine; Niànsān (廿三), for example, is the 23rd day of the month. Day 30 (as applicable) is written as the numeral Sānshí (三十).History books use days of the month numbered with the 60 stem-branches:天聖元年....二月....丁巳, 奉安太祖、太宗御容于南京鴻慶宮.Tiānshèng 1st year....Èryuè....Dīngsì, the emperor's funeral was at his temple, and the imperial portrait was installed in Nanjing's Hongqing Palace.— History of Song Dynasty, Part 9, Volume 9: Renzong part 1 (in Chinese)Because astronomical observation determines month length, dates on the calendar correspond to moon phases. The first day of each month is the new moon. On the seventh or eighth day of each month, the first-quarter moon is visible in the afternoon and early evening. In the 15th or 16th day of each month, the full moon is visible all night. On the 22nd or 23rd day of each month, the last-quarter moon is visible late at night and in the morning.Since the beginning of the month is determined by the new moon occurs, other countries using this calendar use their own time standards to calculate it; this results in deviations. The first new moon in 1968 was at 16:29 UTC on January 29. Since North Vietnam used UTC+07:00 to calculate their Vietnamese calendar and South Vietnam used UTC+08:00 (Beijing time) to calculate theirs, North Vietnam began the Tết holiday at 29 January at 23:29 and South Vietnam began it on 30 January at 00:15. The time difference allowed asynchronous attacks in the Tet Offensive.[10]Names of months[edit]Lunar months were originally named according to natural phenomena. Current naming conventions use numbers as the month names. Every month is also associated with one of the twelve Earthly Branches.Month numberStarts on Gregorian datePhenological nameEarthly Branch nameModern name1between 21 January – 20 February陬月; zōuyuè; 'corner month'. square of Pegasus month寅月; yínyuè; 'tiger month'正月; zhēngyuè; 'first month'2between 20 February – 21 March杏月; xìngyuè; 'apricot month'卯月; mǎoyuè; 'rabbit month'二月; èryuè; 'second month'3between 21 March – 20 April桃月; táoyuè; 'peach month'辰月; chényuè; 'dragon month'三月; sānyuè; 'third month'4between 20 April – 21 May梅月; méiyuè; 'plum flower month'巳月; sìyuè; 'snake month'四月; sìyuè; 'fourth month'5between 21 May – 21 June榴月; liúyuè; 'pomegranate month'午月; wǔyuè; 'horse month'五月; wǔyuè; 'fifth month'6between 21 June – 23 July荷月; héyuè; 'lotus month'未月; wèiyuè; 'goat month'六月; liùyuè; 'sixth month'7between 23 July – 23 August蘭月; 兰月; lányuè; 'orchid month'申月; shēnyuè; 'monkey month'七月; qīyuè; 'seventh month'8between 23 August – 23 September桂月; guìyuè; 'osmanthus month'酉月; yǒuyuè; 'rooster month'八月; bāyuè; 'eighth month'9between 23 September – 23 October菊月; júyuè; 'chrysanthemum month'戌月; xūyuè; 'dog month'九月; jiǔyuè; 'ninth month'10between 23 October – 22 November露月; lùyuè; 'dew month'亥月; hàiyuè; 'pig month'十月; shíyuè; 'tenth month'11between 22 November – 22 December冬月; dōngyuè; 'winter month'; 葭月; jiāyuè; 'reed month'子月; zǐyuè; 'rat month'十一月; shíyīyuè; 'eleventh month'12between 22 December – 21 January冰月; bīngyuè; 'ice month'丑月; chǒuyuè; 'ox month'臘月; 腊月; làyuè; 'end-of-year month'Chinese lunar date conventions[edit]Though the numbered month names are often used for the corresponding month number in the Gregorian calendar, it is important to realize that the numbered month names are not interchangeable with the Gregorian months when talking about lunar dates.Incorrect: The Dragon Boat Festival falls on May 5th in the Lunar Calendar, whereas the Double Ninth Festival, Lantern Festival, and Qixi Festival fall on September 9th, January 15th, and July 7th in the Lunar Calendar, respectively.Correct: The Dragon Boat Festival falls on Wǔyuè 5th (or, Fifth Month 5th) in the Lunar Calendar, whereas the Double Ninth Festival, Lantern Festival, and Qixi Festival fall on Jiǔyuè 9th (or, Nineth Month 9th), Zhēngyuè 15th (or, First Month 15th), and Qīyuè 7th (or, Seventh Month 7th) in the Lunar Calendar, respectively.Alternate Chinese Zodiac correction: The Dragon Boat Festival falls on Horse Month 5th on Lunar Calendar, whereas the Double Ninth Festival, Lantern Festival, and Qixi Festival fall on Dog Month 9th, Tiger Month 15th, and Monkey Month 7th on Lunar Calendar, respectively.One may even find out the heavenly stem and earthly branch corresponding to a particular day in the month, and those corresponding to its month, and those to its year, in order to determine the Four Pillars of Destiny associated with it, for which the Tung Shing, also referred to as the Chinese Almanac of the year, or the Huangli, and containing the essential information concerning Chinese astrology, is the most convenient publication to consult. Days rotate through a sexagenary cycle marked by a coordination between heavenly stems and earthly branchs, hence the referral to the Four Pillars of Destiny as, "Bazi", or "Birth Time Eight Characters", with each pillar consisting of a character for its corresponding heavenly stem, and another for its earthly branch. Since Huangli days are sexagenaric, their order is quite independent from their numeric order in each month, and from their numeric order within a week (referred to as True Animals with relation to the Chinese zodiac). Therefore, it does require painstaking calculation for one to arrive at the Four Pillars of Destiny of a particular given date, which rarely outpace the convenience of simply consulting the Huangli by looking up its Gregorian date.Solar term[edit]See also: Solar termThe solar year (歲; 岁; Suì), the time between winter solstices, is divided into 24 solar terms known as jié qì. Each term is a 15° portion of the ecliptic. These solar terms mark both Western and Chinese seasons as well as equinoxes, solstices, and other Chinese events. The even solar terms (marked with "Z") are considered the major terms, while the odd solar terms (marked with "J") are deemed minor. [16] The solar terms qīng míng (清明) on April 5 and dōng zhì (冬至) on December 22 are both celebrated events in China.[16]24 Jié QìNumberNameChinese MarkerEventDateJ1Lì chūn立春Beginning of springFebruary 4Z1Yǔ shuĭ雨水Rain waterFebruary 19J2Jīng zhé惊蛰Waking of insectsMarch 6Z2Chūn fēn春分March equinoxMarch 21J3Qīng míng清明Pure brightnessApril 5Z3Gŭ yŭ谷雨Grain rainApril 20J4Lì xià立夏Beginning of summerMay 6Z4Xiǎo mǎn小满Grain fullMay 21J5Máng zhòng芒种Grain in earJune 6Z5Xià zhì夏至June solsticeJune 22J6Xiǎo shǔ小暑Slight heatJuly 7Z6Dà shǔ大暑Great heatJuly 23J7Lì qiū立秋Beginning of autumnAugust 8Z7Chǔ shǔ处署Limit of heatAugust 23J8Bái lù白露White dewSeptember 8Z8Qiū fēn秋分September equinoxSeptember 23J9Hán lù寒露Cold dewOctober 8Z9Shuāng jiàng霜降Descent of frostOctober 24J10Lì dōng立冬Beginning of winterNovember 8Z10Xiăo xuě小雪Slight snowNovember 22J11Dà xuě大雪Great snowDecember 7Z11Dōng zhì冬至December solsticeDecember 22J12Xiăo hán小寒Slight coldJanuary 6Z12Dà hán大寒Great coldJanuary 20Solar year[edit]The calendar solar year, known as the suì, (岁) begins at the December solstice and proceeds through the 24 solar terms.[16] Due to the fact that the speed of the Sun's apparent motion in the elliptical is variable, the time between major solar terms is not fixed. This variation in time between major solar terms results in different solar year lengths. There are generally 11 or 12 complete months, plus two incomplete months around the winter solstice, in a solar year. The complete months are numbered from 0 to 10, and the incomplete months are considered the 11th month. If there are 12 complete months in the solar year, it is known as a leap solar year, or leap suì[16] Due to the inconsistencies in the length of the solar year, different versions of the traditional calendar might have different average solar year lengths. For example, one solar year of the 1st century BC Tàichū calendar is ​365 385⁄1539 (365.25016) days. A solar year of the 13th-century Shòushí calendar is ​365 97⁄400 (365.2425) days, identical to the Gregorian calendar. The additional .00766 day from the Tàichū calendar leads to a one-day shift every 130.5 years.Pairs of solar terms are climate terms, or solar months. The first solar term is "pre-climate" (節氣; 节气; Jiéqì), and the second is "mid-climate" (中氣; 中气; Zhōngqì).The first month without a mid-climate is the leap, or intercalary, month. In other words, the first month that doesn't include a major solar term is the leap month. [16] Leap months are numbered with rùn 閏, the character for "intercalary", plus the name of the month they follow. In 2017, the intercalary month after month six was called Rùn Liùyuè, or "intercalary sixth month" (閏六月) and written as 6i or 6+. The next intercalary month (in 2020, after month four) will be called Rùn Sìyuè (閏四月) and written 4i or 4+.Lunisolar year[edit]The lunisolar year begins with the first spring month, Zhēngyuè (正月; 'capital month'), and ends with the last winter month, Làyuè (臘月; 腊月; 'sacrificial month'). All other months are named for their number in the month order. If a leap month falls after month 11—as it will in 2033—the 11th month will be Shíèryuè (十二月; 'twelfth month'), and the leap month will be Làyuè.Years were traditionally numbered by the reign in ancient China, but this was abolished after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. For example, the year from 8 February 2016 to 27 January 2017 was a Bǐngshēn year (丙申年) of 12 months or 354 days .During the Tang Dynasty, the Earthly Branches were used to mark the months from December 761 to May 762. [17] Over this period, the year began with the winter solstice.Age reckoning[edit]Main article: East Asian age reckoningIn China, a person's official age is based on the Gregorian calendar; for traditional use, age is based on the Chinese sui calendar. At birth, a child is considered the first year of lifetime using ordinal number (instead of "zero" using cardinal number); after each Chinese New Year, one year is added to their traditional age. Because of the potential for confusion, infant ages are often given in months instead of years.After the Gregorian calendar's introduction in China, the Chinese traditional age was referred to as the "nominal age" (虛歲; 虚岁; xūsuì; 'fake age') and the Gregorian age was known as the "real age" (實歲; 实岁; shísùi; 'real age').Year-numbering systemsEras[edit]Main article: Chinese era nameIn ancient China, years were numbered from a new emperor's assumption of the throne or an existing emperor's announcement of a new era name. The first recorded reign title was Jiànyuán (建元; 'founding era'), from 140 BC; the last reign title was Xuāntǒng (宣統; 宣统; 'announcing unification'), from 1908 AD. The era system was abolished in 1912, after which the current or Republican era was used.Stem-branches[edit]The 60 stem-branches have been used to mark the date since the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC). Astrologers knew that the orbital period of Jupiter is about 4,332 days. Since 4332 is 12 × 361, Jupiter's orbital period was divided into 12 years (歲; 岁; suì) of 361 days each. The stem-branches system solved the era system's problem of unequal reign lengths.Continuous numbering[edit]Nomenclature similar to that of the Christian era has occasionally been used: [18]Huángdì year (黄帝紀年), starting at the beginning of the reign of the Yellow Emperor with year 1 at 2697 (or 2698) BCYáo year (唐堯紀年), starting at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Yao (year 1 at 2156 BC)Gònghé year (共和紀年), starting at the beginning of the Gonghe Regency (year 1 at 841 BC)Confucius year (孔子紀年), starting at the birth year of Confucius (year 1 at 551 BC)Unity year (統一紀年), starting at the beginning of the reign of Qin Shi Huang (year 1 at 221 BC)No reference date is universally accepted. The most popular is the Gregorian calendar (公曆; 公历; gōnglì; 'common calendar').On 2 January 1912, Sun Yat-sen announced changes to the official calendar and era. 1 January was 14 Shíyīyuè 4609 Huángdì year, assuming a year 1 of 2698 BC. The change was adopted by many overseas Chinese communities, such as San Francisco's Chinatown. [10]During the 17th century, the Jesuits tried to determine the epochal year of the Han calendar. In his Sinicae historiae decas prima (published in Munich in 1658), Martino Martini (1614–1661) dated the ascension of the Yellow Emperor to 2697 BC and began the Chinese calendar with the reign of Fuxi (which, according to Martini, began in 2952 BC. Philippe Couplet's 1686 Chronological table of Chinese monarchs (Tabula chronologica monarchiae sinicae) gave the same date for the Yellow Emperor. The Jesuits' dates provoked interest in Europe, where they were used for comparison with Biblical chronology. [citation needed]Modern Chinese chronology has generally accepted Martini's dates, except that it usually places the reign of the Yellow Emperor at 2698 BC and omits his predecessors Fuxi and Shennong as "too legendary to include". [This quote needs a citation]Publications began using the estimated birth date of the Yellow Emperor as the first year of the Han calendar in 1903, with newspapers and magazines proposing different dates. The province of Jiangsu counted 1905 as the year 4396 (using a year 0 of 2491 BC), and the newspaper Ming Pao (明報; 明报) reckoned 1905 as 4603 (using a year 0 of 2698 BC). [citation needed]Liu Shipei (劉師培, 1884–1919) created the Yellow Emperor Calendar, with year 0 as the birth of the emperor (which he determined as 2711 BC). There is no evidence that this calendar was used before the 20th century. [19]Liu calculated that the 1900 international expedition sent by the Eight-Nation Alliance to suppress the Boxer Rebellion entered Beijing in the 4611th year of the Yellow Emperor.Chinese New Year[edit]Main article: Chinese New YearThe date of the Chinese New Year accords with the patterns of the solar calendar and hence is variable from year to year. However, there are two general rules that govern the date. Firstly, Chinese New Year transpires on the second new moon following the December solstice. If there is a leap month after the eleventh or twelfth month, then Chinese New Year falls on the third new moon after the December solstice. Alternatively, Chinese New Year will fall on the new moon that is closest to lì chūn, or the solar term that begins spring (typically falls on February 4). However, this rule is not as reliable since it can be difficult to determine which new moon is the closest in the case of an early or late Chinese New Year. [16] It has been found that Chinese New Year moves back by either 10, 11, or 12 days in some years. If it falls before January 21, then it moves forward in the next year by either 18, 19, or 20 days.[16]Phenology[edit]The plum-rains season (梅雨), the rainy season in late spring and early summer, begins on the first bǐng day after Mangzhong (芒种) and ends on the first wèi day after Xiaoshu (小暑). The Three Fu (三伏; sānfú) are three periods of hot weather, counted from the first gēng day after the summer solstice. The first fu (初伏; chūfú) is 10 days long. The mid-fu (中伏; zhōngfú) is 10 or 20 days long. The last fu (末伏; mòfú) is 10 days from the first gēng day after the beginning of autumn.[13] The Shujiu cold days (數九; shǔjǐu; 'counting to nine') are the 81 days after the winter solstice (divided into nine sets of nine days), and are considered the coldest days of the year. Each nine-day unit is known by its order in the set, followed by "nine" (九)[14]See also[edit]China portalHistory portalChinese calendar correspondence tableChinese cultureChinese numeralsEast Asian age reckoningHorologyGuo Shoujing, an astronomer tasked with calendar reform during the 13th centuryList of festivals in AsiaList of Korean traditional festivalsPublic holidays in ChinaTraditional Chinese timekeepingFurther readingCohen, Alvin (2012). "Brief Note: The Origin of the Yellow Emperor Era Chronology" (PDF). Asia Major. 25 (pt 2): 1–13.Ho, Kai-Lung (何凱龍) (2006). “The Political Power and the Mongolian Translation of the Chinese Calendar During the Yuan Dynasty”. Central Asiatic Journal 50 (1). Harrassowitz Verlag: 57–69. The Political Power and the Mongolian Translation of the Chinese Calendar During the Yuan Dynasty.External links[edit]CalendarsChinese monthsGregorian-Lunar calendar years (1901–2100)Chinese calendar and holidaysChinese calendar with Auspicious EventsChinese Calendar OnlineCalendar conversion2000-year Chinese-Western calendar converter From 1 AD to 2100 AD. Useful for historical studies. To use, put the western year 年 month 月day 日in the bottom row and click on 執行.Western-Chinese calendar converterRulesMathematics of the Chinese CalendarThe Structure of the Chinese CalendarThis page was last edited on 19 September 2019, at 04:39 (UTC).

You can use the calender templates from excel. If this is not your cup of tea, the best thing I have learned here is to use 365(6) rows for the year. Row 1 for headers (eg Date, Day of week, Activity 1,2,etc or by time of day) and By specifying 1 Jan 2019 in say A2 and using =A2+1 in A3 and copying this down 365 rows I only need to change 1 day to create a new year. I would edit page preferences to repeat header rows and set page breaks by month (will need adjustment on leap years) thus getting a full month to a printed page. Page orientation would be set up depending on number of activities, but most likely in landscape to fit hours of day and portrait to fit activities. Using the formula =weekday(A2) will return 1-7 (default 1 = Sunday) and you can apply conditional formatting to the row based on the weekday, such that 1&7 (Sun&Sat) rows can be grey (or any other colour)The nice thing about doing rows is that you can apply filters to the columns if you need it.Add a column for public holidays and highlight the row, it helps immensely for leave planning at the beginning of the year and planning around public holidays.If you have regular tasks (eg fortnightly) you can easily set a formula in say C16 as =C2 to repeat the activity and can be copied down fairly easily.Hope this helps

Step by Step Guide to Start Writing a BookStep 1: Pick a GenreTake a quick glance at your bookshelf. What do you see? Mills and Boons historical romances? Charles Bukowski’s Dirty Realism? Paperbacks straight from the NYT Bestsellers list? Anne Rice vampire rip-offs? The complete Dune and Foundation series?Picking a genre is the first step in writing a book. Don’t base this choice on what genres sell best, but what you like to read. A hardcore sci-fi fan writing a ‘new adult’ novel is only going to produce a shoddy book – if she finishes it at all.In other words, write for yourself, not the market. Stephen King puts it best:“When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story. Your stuff starts out being just for you, but then it goes out.”Step 2: Start from the EndEndings are the hardest part of any story. Don’t take our word for it; just ask any writer buddy of yours. Most beginners start out strong but find themselves flummoxed by the time the ending draws near. It doesn’t help that the ending is also the thing that stays longest with readers.So before you put a single word to paper, figure out how your story ends. Not how it begins – that can be redrawn and revised indefinitely – how it closes. Work your way backwards. How does the character(s) reach his/her ultimate fate? What are the catalysts that lead to the close? What was their origin? And so on. Your plots will sound much more plausible and you’ll avoid the dreaded Deus Ex Machina that plagues so much fiction.Step 3: Create Your CharactersCharacters, not plots, are the soul of good writing. You don’t recall the story from Henry V; you recall Falstaff. The plot of Catcher in the Rye is mostly superfluous. It’s Holden Caulfield who holds your attention. Same with Sherlock Holmes, Atticus Finch, and Hercule Poirot. Characters stay with readers for generations, the stories are mostly forgotten.This is why you must draw out your characters before you start writing the book. These tips should help:Write a Character Biography: When was the character born? What is her name? Who were her parents? Was she rich, poor, or middle-class? Where did she go to school? What did she study in college? Answering questions like these will help draw a deep portrait of the character and make her more convincing.Understand the Character’s Motivations: What does your character want? What are her motivations for doing what she does?Understand Character Arc: Character arc refers to the character’s development through the story. The essential quality of every good character is change. For example, Harry Potter starts off naïve and ends up a steely eyed adult, while Frodo Baggins is a nobody from Shire who ends up as the savior of Middle Earth.Understand the Struggle: “Character A wants B, but C stands in the way”. How A manages to overcome C and get B is the heart of any story. For example: Rocky wants to be a champion, but crushing poverty and Apollo Creed stand in his way. How he overcomes this is the meat of Rocky, not the final fight itself.Step 4: Make an OutlineOnce you have your characters firmly in place, start creating an outline of the plot. This is meant to serve as a very rough guideline to hold the plot in place. You don’t have to follow it word for word; feel free to improvise while you write.Chiefly, the outline should:Give a brief overview of what happens in each chapter.Delineate the primary struggle in the novel.Show how different events and characters interact and affect each other (A murders B, C takes the fall, etc.)Allow plenty of room for improvisationStep 5: Write the First Draft“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed”-Ernest HemingwayThe first draft is where you discover the story by yourself.As you write, you’ll find characters and plots growing in directions you’d never thought possible. The outlines you wrote earlier will often be discarded as you experiment with characters, plots, styles and forms. This is a place for you to break the mold and push yourself creatively. Don’t bother being perfect; the faster you can jot down ideas on paper, the better. Eventually, this rough collection of thoughts, ideas, and plotlines will come together into a comprehensible book – after due editing and countless revisions of course. For now, focus on writing – anything.Step 6: Get Yourself a DrinkNow that you’re done with the first draft, head over to the nearest watering hole and grab yourself a drink. You’ve earned it.Step 7: RewriteThis is the part where most writers fail. Slinging out a rough draft is easy enough; turning that incomprehensible mess into something readers would want to read takes time, patience and practice.Ideally, you should give yourself a few months between first draft and first rewrite. This gives you the creative distance necessary to analyze the writing dispassionately.Ask sharp, pertinent questions – does the plot make sense? Are the characters convincible? Is the pace too slow? Too fast? Is the writing crisp and creative enough? Is the story fun to read?The first rewrite should take you considerably longer than the first draft. Don’t worry about getting every word right – you’ll take care of that during editing. For now, focus on pulling the rough ideas in the draft into a narrative that actually makes sense.Step 8: Edit“Write Drunk; Edit Sober”– Ernest HemingwayDone with the first rewrite? Don’t start partying yet. There is still lots of work to be done.Editing is the opposite of creative writing. Instead of spinning beautiful metaphors and creating lush imagery, you have to actually delete linguistic flourishes. The amazing adverb you found after an hour’s search in the thesaurus? Gone. Those long-winded, poetic asides? Deleted.This is where, as Stephen King puts it, you must “kill your darlings”.To make this murder slightly easier, follow these tips:Minimize Adverb Use: Adverbs are the lazy man’s writing crutches. They reduce into a single word what should generally be conveyed by context. “He walked quickly to the door as Lily pulled into the garage” is not bad writing, it’s lazy writing. Try being more descriptive – “He rushed to the door as soon as he heard Lily’s car pull into the garage”.Use Plenty of Synonyms: This quote from Dead Poet’s Society says it all:“So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys – to woo women – and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”Tighten Up: A book is no place for lazy writing. Take out words and passages that aren’t absolutely crucial to the story. Your book should be half its original length after a solid round of editing.Get Outside Help: Most writers don’t have the critical distance to edit their own books properly. Consider getting outside help – a professional editor or a friend – to look over your manuscript.Step 9: Party!Congratulations – you’ve now written your very first book. This is the time to hit the clubs and party hard. Then wake up next morning and start working on your second book!Source : UdemyEdit : Thanks a lot guys for your upvotes. I am sharing a small guide on how to write a book in 2018. Lets have a look on it too.How to Write a Book in 2018: A Definitive Guide for WritersSo you want to learn how to write a book in 2018?I think you'll agree with me when I say learning to write a book for the first time is a challenge.Let’s tackle that.Over the past few years, I’ve written a 60,000+ word book about productivity, a novella and several short stories. I’ve also recently completed a 60,000+ word book about creativity.I’ve faced a lot of painful mistakes while writing books, and I’ve also learned a little bit about how to write a book.In this post, I want to explain exactly how to write a book based on what I’ve learned.I also want to reveal some of my mistakes and some proven book writing tips, so you can get started writing a book today.Caveat:Although I write fiction and non-fiction, my specialism is non-fiction writing.In this guide, I focus on how to write a non-fiction book in 2018.That said, you can still use some of the lessons from this post if you want to learn how to write a fiction book.GET A SPREADSHEET FOR TRACKING YOUR WRITINGContents [hide]Commit to Writing Your BookWhat You Need to Know About Writing a Book for the First TimeDetermine Why You Should Write a BookResearch Your AudienceEstablish What Your Book is AboutDecide What Type of Writer You AreBudget for Self-Publishing Your BookResearch Your BookInterview Experts for Your BookKnow When to Stop Researching and Start WritingOrganise Your Ideas and Outline Your BookSet a DeadlineWrite That Messy First DraftManage Your Writing Time Like a ProTrack Your ProgressLet Your Work SitWrite Your Second and Third DraftsHire an EditorHire a ProofreaderFormatting and Publishing Your BookKnow When You’re at The EndCommit to Writing Your BookCan anyone write a book?Writing your first book is a time-consuming creative project that demands months (or even years) of your time.Before you decide to write one ask yourself if you have the mental resources, the creative energy and the time to do it.You do?Great.You’re going to have to write almost every day and sacrifice other things in your life or rearrange your day so you can put writing first, if only for a little while.When I wrote my first book, I gave up playing Call of Duty and Halo because I didn’t have the time to write and to play games.In other words, like anything worth doing, you must stick to your commitment when times get tough, when you feel like you’re not progressing as fast as you’d like or when the writing is more like work and less like something you’re passionate about.You must adopt the mindset of a professional writer who doesn’t call in sick or give up because he or she doesn’t feel like doing the work, you must become a professional writer who goes in and gets the job done.What You Need to Know About Writing a Book for the First TimeThis is because you may be unsure of what a book should achieve and how to publish it. Book writing, like any skill, takes time to develop. You need to learn skills like writing the first draft, self-editing, arranging your ideas and son on.Stephen King, for example, threw a draft of his first book in the bin. His wife fished the book Carrie out of the trash and encouraged him to finish and publish it.It took me three years to write my first novella, and it took me a year to write my second book.Determine Why You Should Write a BookMost people leave out how lonely the writing process feels when you’re starting off.You have to spend hours researching your book, writing and rewriting it, and sitting alone in a room with only your words and ideas for company.If you’ve never written a book the isolation is difficult to get used to but don’t worry, it’ll pass as you get into the process of writing a book.Now the people close to you may understand what you’re doing, but don’t count on it!Listen to this: one new writer struggling with his book emailed me to say:“One of the reasons I have not gone farther with writing is because family sees me working at a computer, or like today with a cell phone and thinks I’m goofing off.”You’ll be able to handle isolation, other people’s judgments and keep motivated if you know why you should write a book in the first place.Here are some questions to ask yourself:Is my book a passion project?Am I writing this book to improve my craft?Will this book help me advance my career or become an expert in my field?How will I serve existing or new readers with my book?Is a book the best medium for me to express my ideas?Do I want to generate a side-income from my book and if so, how much?Do I have a plan for the marketing, promotion and distribution of my book?Will this book help me advance my dream for writing full-time?Have at least four to seven reasons for why you’re writing a book in the first place because they will help you keep motivated when you feel isolated or when others question what you’re doing.Why do I write books?To practice writing and improve my craftTo help other writers and readersTo deepen my knowledge of various topicsTo earn a side-income from book salesResearch Your AudienceAs a savvy, writer it’s your job to find out what your audience wants, likes and dislikes.Spend an hour or two browsing Amazon and finding Kindle books about your topic. Look for books in your niche with a sales ranking below 30,000.Typically, these books sell at least five copies a day, meaning they’re popular with readers and earn a return for the author.Read at least five of the books in your niche, taking note of the titles, categories and ideas behind each book.So, how do you get new ideas for your book? Study the good and bad reviews for these books, so you can see what readers liked and disliked and how you can do better.One great way to do this is to combine several different ideas from different books and then remix them with your writing.Figure out what you’re going to say that’s different because if you want to add value for readers, you must offer something other writers (your competition) don’t.Establish What Your Book is AboutAlthough you may have a vague idea of what you want to write about, you’ll save a lot of time if you clarify your idea before you start writing.So how do you get ideas to write a book?Get a blank piece of paper and spend an hour asking and answering questions like:Who is this book for?What’s the big idea behind my book?What am I trying to say?How is my book different to everything else that’s out there?Why should people spend their money (or time) reading my book?What can I offer that no one else can?Nobody has to see your answers, so be as honest as you can.You might know what your book is about, but does your reader?Unless you’re writing fiction or literary non-fiction, craft a positioning statement for your book, so you know what it’s about in one sentence.Here are three templates:My book helps ________________ who ________________ get ________________.My book teaches ________________ how to ________________.My book helps ________________ who ________________ achieve ________________.And here’s my positioning statement for my book about creativity. “My book helps people who don’t think they’ve any ideas become more creative.”Doing this extra work upfront will help you avoid spending hours writing a book, only to find you hate your idea. And if you’re self-publishing your book, your answers will also help you market your book so readers care.Decide What Type of Writer You AreThere’s two types of writers: pantsters and plotters.Pantsters are writers who sit down in front of the blank page with only a vague idea of where they are going or what the story is about. They write from the seat of their pants inventing things as they go along and are happy to see to see where their characters take them. They write with a connection to God, their muse or their sub-consciousness. Stephen King is a pantster.Plotters are writers who spend weeks or months organising their ideas, deciding what they want to write about in advance. When plotters sit down to write, they have a strong idea of what they’re going to say and they’ve the research to back it up. Robert Greene, the author of Masteryand the 48 Laws of Power, is a plotter.I’ve tried both approaches, and there’s nothing wrong with either.You’ll discover what type of writer you are (and your voice will emerge) if you turn up and do the work.Remember, as Seth Godin says, everybody’s writing process is different.After years of painful rewrites, unfinished manuscripts and pulling my hair out, I found out that I’m a plotter. I like to know what I’m writing about in advance. I NEED to know what I’m writing about in advance. Today, I’m convinced being a plotter lends itself well to most types of non-fiction writing.Budget for Self-Publishing Your BookI’ve written before about the cost of self-publishing a book.Writing a book is free (unless you count your time) but publishing a book is not. So please, budget for hiring an editor, proofreader and a cover designer. Recently, I spent:USD2000 on an editor for a 60,0000-word book about creativityUSD500 on a proofreaderUSD250 on a cover designerAnd what else did I budget for?Well because I’m self-publishing this book I set aside several hundred dollars for Facebook ads and for various book promotional services on Fiverr. You can get all of the above for cheaper (which I’ll explain), but please understand that having an editor, proofreader and cover designer is non-negotiable.Here’s the truth: If you want to write a book readers enjoy, you must invest more than just time in your book.Research Your BookRobert Greene says he reads 300–400 books over the course of 12–24 months before he starts writing a book. He uses an analogue system of flashcards to record lessons and stories from each of these books and highlights what he reads. He says “I read a book, very carefully, writing on the margins with all kinds of notes.A few weeks later I return to the book, and transfer my scribbles onto note cards, each card representing an important theme in the book.”You may not be writing a book as dense as Robert’s but research is an important part of learning how to write a book. Have a system for recording and organising your research.You could use Evernote like I do, create a mind map or use index cards like Robert. I use my Kindle to highlight key sections in books I read. Once a week I review these highlights and record notes about them in Evernote. This way, I have a digital filing system of everything I’ve come across.Interview Experts for Your BookIn another life I was a journalist, and part of my job involved interviewing politicians, business people and even authors.Can I be honest with you?The interviews that caused me the most problems were over 60 minutes long because they took hours to listen to and transcribe.Don’t make my mistake. I recommend keeping your interviews between 30–60 minutes and working out what you want to ask interviewees about in advance.You can also save a lot of time by getting your interviews transcribed for a dollar a minute using Rev.Know When to Stop Researching and Start WritingSo, how much research is too much?Well, Robert Greene’s books are dense 500+ page non-fiction books filled with historical stories and psychological insights. In other words, research forms the backbone of what Robert writes.Your book might not depend on so much research up-front. There comes a point where research stops being helpful and transforms into a type of procrastination.Besides, you can always continue to research you book as you write… once you have a system for capturing your ideas as you go.Organise Your Ideas and Outline Your BookOutlining my bookI outlined my book about creativity in advance. I started by reading dozens of books about creativity over the course of a year before deciding to tackle this topic.Then, I free wrote about creativity for an hour or so.Then, I extracted the ideas I wanted to write about. I turned them into provisional chapter titles and recorded on them on twenty index cards, one for each chapter.On each card, I created a rough list of ideas in the form of five to ten bullet points. I also noted other books and stories to reference.Then, I pinned these index cards to a wall near where I write so I could live with this outline for a few weeks. I spent several weeks working on this outline before transferring it to my computer and expanding upon each of the bullet points.Why did I do this?I wanted to spend as much mental energy during the planning stage as I could so that when the time came to put words on the page, I wouldn’t have to worry as much about what I was saying.Outlining my book with pen and paper, and then later with Evernote, helped me figure out what I wanted to write about in each chapter, identify gaps in my research and problems in my work UPFRONT.Obviously, my outline and table of contents evolved while I was writing the book, but when I was starting from ‘Total word count: 0’, my outline served as a map. It saved me time and helped me beat procrastination.Set a DeadlineProfessional writers work to deadlines.A typical non-fiction book is between 60,000 and 80,000 words, and a typical novel can be anywhere between 60,000 and 120,000 words. (That said, there’s a case for writing shorter non-fiction books if you’re self-publishing)So, if you want to write a non-fiction book, and you commit to writing 1000 words a day, it will take you 60 days to write a first draft if you write every day.Do you need to write every day? If this is your first book, it’s unrealistic to expect you can write every day for several months. Instead, aim to write five or six days a week. If you haven’t written much before, set a more achievable target daily word count along the lines of 300 or 400 words.Then, with some basic maths and a calendar (I use Google’s), you can work out how long writing the first draft of your book will take and set yourself a deadline.Write That Messy First DraftWriting the first draft of a book is intimidating. You look at the blank page in front of you and you wonder how you’re going to fill this page and hundreds of other pages to come. Don’t overthink it.Instead, find somewhere you can write quietly for an hour and do all you can to get the words out of your head and onto the blank page.The first draft is sometimes called the vomit draft because you just need to get it out! Don’t stop to edit yourself, review what you’ve written or to see if what you’re saying makes sense.I find it helpful to set a target word count for my writing sessions. I usually aim to write 1500 words in an hour, set a timer and open Scrivener. Then, I keep my fingers moving until I reach the target word count or until the buzzer sounds.While you’re writing your first draft, keep your outline and notes nearby, to guide you through each section in your chapter.My writing isn’t good enough, I feel like I’ll never finish my first draft!A writer asked me this question a few weeks ago.First of all, the job of your first draft is simply to exist, so please don’t worry about the writing… that comes later. If you feel like you’ll never finish it, start writing in the middle of the chapter that’s causing your problems.Here’s why: Introductions explain what you’re about to say next, but how can you write an introduction if you don’t know what comes next?Similarly, conclusions wrap up what you just said, but how can you write one if you don’t know what you just said! Jumping straight into the middle of a chapter will help you gain momentum faster. Then, take your first draft chapter by chapter.Tip: Speech to text software will help you write faster.Manage Your Writing Time Like a ProI wrote my first book when I was working in a job I disliked, just after my wife had our daughter.I didn’t have enough free time to write eight hours a day. Even if I did, I lacked the mental discipline to do it.When I was starting out, I wrote every night after 9 PM when the kids were in bed. However, I quickly found that when I put writing last in the day, it was least likely to happen.Now, I block-book time in my calendar for writing every morning at 6 AM, and I do all I can stick to this. It helps that my daughter is now five. IIf you’re a new writer or you’ve never written a book before, you’re probably balancing writing your book with a job and family commitments. So, pick a time that you’re going to write every day, block-book it in your calendar and do all you can to stick to it.Managing your writing time also means saying no to other activities and ideas… if they take you away from the blank page.Did I ever tell you about the podcast I almost launched? Well, I had a great idea for a podcast, and I even bought all the audio equipment, but then I realised spending time on a podcast would have taken away from writing my creativity book.Track Your ProgressOne of the biggest tips I can give you for writing your first book is to track your daily word count and how long you spend writing each day.Ernest Hemingway recorded his daily word count on a board next to where he wrote, so as not to kid himself.Tracking your daily word count will help measure your word count and see how far you need to go to reach your target for writing your first book.Your daily word count becomes less important when you’re writing the second and third draft or editing your book.During these rewrites, you should be more concerned about shaping your ideas and working on the flow and structure of your book than an arbitrary word count.When you’re at this point, it’s more helpful to know long you spend rewriting or editing your book.No matter the stage of your book, you should be able to :Review your word count and how long you write forIdentify if you reached any milestones like finishing a chapter or sectionSee what’s holding you backFigure out what you need to write or research nextTrack your wordcount in 2018Remember, what gets measured gets managed and what gets managed, gets done.Source : How to Write a Book: The Seriously Ultimate Guide for New Writers