How long does your short story take to write?

BlueCricket · Jan 3, 2010

This isn't a challenge or anything. I was just wondering from the time you begin the first draft to the time you settle upon a conclusion. How long does yours take? I know no one starts a timer as soon as they get started and ends it as soon as they're done for that day (at least, no one I know), but approximately how long does yours take?
Personally, I start by throwing together ideas for themes, plots, characters and then prewrite and then get to drafting. By the time I've got a first draft with a firm grasp on a conclusion, it takes about one or two months (3000-6000 words). And then I nitpick at it until I'm happy.

Polenth · Jan 3, 2010

Between an evening and a week for flash fiction. A week to a month for up to around 3000 words. I don't write much longer than that.

NicoleMD · Jan 3, 2010

A 5000-word story usually takes me a week (about 15-20 hours of work) from idea to near-final draft. For works less than 2000 words, it takes a day or two (5-8 hours of work).

Nicole

Clair Dickson · Jan 3, 2010

For flash, I've written, polished and submitted within a few hours, with the longest time being about a day.

For longer stories, they usually take a week or three, depending on length and whther or not the plot is cooperating.

I usually don't start a story unless I have a good idea of how to start, and possibly where I'm heading (though this may change or may be vague.) Most of my stories are less than 5k.

I also don't like leaving things unfinished and something like a short story usually nags at me-- it's so short and so easy to finish if I just took a little time-- until I just finish the thing. This is what I attribute to my own personal short turn around time on shorts.

Dave.C.Robinson · Jan 3, 2010

Most of my short stories take about a week to get from idea to draft complete. But that's just an average. I have some that I'll still fiddle with after twenty years - I've written some in an afternoon.

It depends on the story and the idea.

Having said that, I don't go heavily into worrying about themes and the like before writing, so my method is doubtless very different than yours.

MumblingSage · Jan 3, 2010

On two separate occasions, I’ve written 4000+ stories in under 24 hours. I tend to edit them heavily afterwards, though.
Usually it takes me 2-3 weeks to write a 4000 word short story, less to write shorter ones. I’m very unorganized, though, and I often work on more than one story at a time, or take a break with one piece to work on another, so the actual timeframe can be anywhere from hours to months.

Bubastes · Jan 3, 2010

It varies wildly. I've written 3000+ word short stories and gotten them submission-ready in 24 hours. I've also taken months to get to the same point. Most of my shorts are in the 6000-10000 word range and I usually have two going at one time, so that makes it hard to figure out any sort of pattern.

EFCollins · Jan 3, 2010

Anywhere from a couple hours to a week. I've only had one short story take me a month to get in tune and it was the first one wrote (as an adult). Generally, I can write and revise a short story within an evening. and have it edited for errors by the following morning.

astonwest · Jan 3, 2010

It varies based on the length of the story, the amount of editing I have to do, what other projects I have going on at the time, etc.

BlueDimity · Jan 3, 2010

Well, I've written quite a few unpublished short stories. For my 250-500 word count stories, it's take me a couple hours, and for my 10,000 word-count story it took me about tow weeks.

Alchemenos Prausti · Jan 3, 2010

It usually only takes me a day or two to draft out a story in the 1000-4000 word range. I've taught myself through the years to read my own writing with the eyes of an editor/critic, though, so I literally cannot read through anything I've written without ideas for improvements or at least new wordings to consider. I usually have to physically stop myself from tinkering/editing at the point that I feel the changes aren't improving the overall quality, or are actually damaging the work. This usually comes after 1-3 months.

BlueCricket · Jan 3, 2010

Alchemenos Prausti said:
It usually only takes me a day or two to draft out a story in the 1000-4000 word range. I've taught myself through the years to read my own writing with the eyes of an editor/critic, though, so I literally cannot read through anything I've written without ideas for improvements or at least new wordings to consider. I usually have to physically stop myself from tinkering/editing at the point that I feel the changes aren't improving the overall quality, or are actually damaging the work. This usually comes after 1-3 months.

I know what you mean. I'm one of those psychotic-read-from-editor's-perspective, types. It can really hold back the drafting process, but I feel like it improves the overall quality.

dancingandflying · Jan 3, 2010

Regardless of the length, writing the first draft of a story takes me about a week. I occasionally write flash stories in an afternoon, but those are usually for my own enjoyment--nothing that I'd want to polish and submit to publishers.

The Scip · Jan 4, 2010

About a week to two weeks for short stories. I try to edit and polish them in 2 - 3 days (usually on the weekends) and the submit on Mondays.

I try to write 500-1000 words a day although that doesn't always happen.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 8, 2010

From idea to final draft is generally a function of five hundred words per hour. On very rare occasions, I've taken weeks or montsh to write a long short story. When this happens, I may as well throw the story away because it is not going to sell.

I'd say ninety percent of the stories I've sold were written, rewritten, and polished in eight hours or less. Several of the biggest sales were for stories written in four to five hours, start to polished final draft.

Slow does not produce better writing than fast. Just the opposite, from my experience.

GeorgieB · Jan 8, 2010

I've been working on a short, where the word count cannot exceed 2500. My first cut, over a week ago ran to 2850 or so. I've been working for a week, removing a word here and there, rewriting, editing, re-editing and have it down to just under 2600.

Words in shorts are precious; too many overfill the bucket. I think it'll take another week or so to trim to its final size. Trim, or a brainstorm.

The other option to the 2500-word limit is to send it out to another market. My betas think it's in fine shape as is.

Adam · Jan 8, 2010

A day or two to write it and another day to edit. All my shorts are sub 1.5k though.

stormie · Jan 8, 2010

Fiction under 1k from start to first draft--an hour usually. The whole story line just presents itself in my mind and I get it onto the computer as soon as I can. It only needs to go through very minor revisions usually.

Fiction over 1k--Anywhere from a few hours to a day for first draft. But with longer stories, it usually goes through several revisions afterward.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 8, 2010

GeorgieB said:
I've been working on a short, where the word count cannot exceed 2500. My first cut, over a week ago ran to 2850 or so. I've been working for a week, removing a word here and there, rewriting, editing, re-editing and have it down to just under 2600.

Words in shorts are precious; too many overfill the bucket. I think it'll take another week or so to trim to its final size. Trim, or a brainstorm.

The other option to the 2500-word limit is to send it out to another market. My betas think it's in fine shape as is.

I think cutting is always the time killer. Several years ago, I had the task of writng a 1,500 word short story each month for a magazines that was a real stickler on word count.

I have a difficult time writing fiction under two thousand words, and very often, just cutting fifty words from one of these stories took longer than writing the story itself.

Aschenbach · Jan 8, 2010

I am pretty slow, apparently. I can easily take a week to produce a 1st draft of about 5000 words, if not 2 weeks. The edits always take longer than the first draft. Then they are sent to betas, then reworked, then finally submitted. From first putting pen to paper, to submission, might take me months (but a lot of that might be waiting time for betas to return with comments).

Izz · Jan 9, 2010

Depends on the story.

And for me, faster isn't always better.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 9, 2010

Izz said:
Depends on the story.

And for me, faster isn't always better.

The only way to know this is for the individual to sell the stories. If the fast ones sell, they're better. If the slow ones sell, they're better. If neither sells, fast and slow are both failing.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 9, 2010

Aschenbach said:
I am pretty slow, apparently. I can easily take a week to produce a 1st draft of about 5000 words, if not 2 weeks. The edits always take longer than the first draft. Then they are sent to betas, then reworked, then finally submitted. From first putting pen to paper, to submission, might take me months (but a lot of that might be waiting time for betas to return with comments).

I hate the whole concept of beta readers. Thank God few of the great writers of the past used them.

Dave.C.Robinson · Jan 9, 2010

I think beta readers are like critique groups. They work very well for some writers, especially when people are just starting out because they help people learn how to analyze their work.

The real problem with over-reliance on betas is that it goes directly against Heinlein's third rule: You Must Refrain From Rewriting, Except to Editorial Order

The people whose opinions matter are editors and you only get those if you finish the story and submit it. Betas can help, but if you want to be a really productive writer the assistance they give most writers isn't worth the time they require. The real key is to hone one's own skills so you can see and fix the flaws in your early drafts.

Izz · Jan 9, 2010

Jamesaritchie said:
The only way to know this is for the individual to sell the stories. If the fast ones sell, they're better. If the slow ones sell, they're better. If neither sells, fast and slow are both failing.

And if both sell, then yay hooray.

How long does your short story take to write?

Mushroom

Onomatopotamus

A dark core to every cloud

... with the High Command

Inarticulate Herb

bananaed

World Class Rambler

2 WIP? A glutton for punishment

Is it tea time yet?

...walks this way.

Almost a wannabe writer

Not dead.

storm central

Moral Marjorie

Doing the Space Operatic

... with the High Command

Doing the Space Operatic