How Long Does It Take You...

[Roly]

...to finish a novel?

My last novel took me almost two years to finish from the planning to the querying, though that was mostly because I never thought I'd try to get it published. Only when I started to think along those lines did I start writing seriously and finished it off in a few months. Then of course there was all that other life stuff that gets in the way :P

So how long does it typically take you to finish a work (of how many words)? What's the fastest/slowest time you've ever finished in?

[Shadow_Ferret]

We had a similar thread like that here (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20916).

[AryaT92]

First book took me 1 month, second took me 8 days.

[Kitty27]

I can write 100k in a month to six weeks. I once wrote a novel in two weeks. Once I sit down and focus,that's it. Game on!

[bclement412]

10 months+ with a severe concussion

[inkspatters]

Shortest has been ten days and the longest has been a month and a half, but I think I'm going to top that with my next novel. So it all depends for me.

[Madison]

Ten days? Wowzers. That is not me -- I am kind of slow. The Inbetween, my almost-on-sub-to-pubs novel, took me a year and a half, plus a month-ish of revision with my agent. It's 88k.

[Ehab.Ahmed]

I haven't finished one novel yet, but I'm a month in, and I'm still planning out my novel. I guess if I had everything I needed (plot, characters, setting, theme and general plot path) it'd take me about a month or two of solid work, I think.

[Maxinquaye]

I pretty much outline my novels - and hope that it will save me a few iterations of revision. But Each 100k takes me about 3 months or so to write.

[Khimera9]

I'm a pretty lazy writer so I normally get 100k for every few months. I guess I need a better work ethic.

[kaitie]

I'm in the slow writer's club! From conception to finish, this last one was two years for me. I spent about three months planning before I started writing: outlining, researching, etc. 16 months of actual writing (first draft was 185k). Then I've been editing ever since, and just finished my last major edit last week.

Eight days...how long was it? That just hurts my little typing fingers even thinking about it haha.

[Andrhia]

The first took me about five years. The second took 10 months. Both times include periods of several months in which I did no writing at all.

[Feathers]

My original novels used to take three months apiece, with a few weeks to a month in between each; I pretty much wrote like five or six novels in two years. Each one averaged at 75k. Then there was this long period when I couldn't finish anything full-length.

Last year I finally finished a novel, and it took me six months, which freaked me out a little bit because it was majorly long. Then I wrote this novel which I'm on the verge of finishing; it's been ten months now, which almost gave me a panic attack when I first realized it. BUT, I had a college semester in there, and only wrote an average of 3k per week the whole semester. That stretched it out. Also, normally my novels are 75k, and this one has already flipped over the 85k mark and is still going. I hope to end it this week at 90k, which will be the longest I've ever written.

I really love hearing how long it takes everyone to write...it seems like it has a lot to do with how many evolutions a story goes through after the first draft. I used to write super fast; and it took me a lot of rewrites to find the core story. Now I go slow, writing whole chapters at once, and then waiting a week between writing bursts; steady progress and all that, but when I'm done I have a great sense for my story.

Anyone else find these trends in their own writing?

[Cliff Face]

First book, 65k, 5 months. Only now starting to edit it, but I think a month or so of edits and I'll be ready to sub it.

Second book, 45k-ish so far, about 4 months, though I took a month off in there. Sequel to first book, so it's on hold until I can get a contract for the first one.

Third book, 124k, 2 months. Although I did the first 102k in 1 month. That was for NaNo, and I'll be editing that once the first book is edited and out on sub. Editing should take about 6 weeks I'm guessing, while still writing new stuff.

Fourth book, about 12k so far, and it's been 7 days. Aiming for around 80k in a month and a half, though it might take 2.

[Feathers]

Third book, 124k, 2 months. Although I did the first 102k in 1 month. That was for NaNo

I was about to say, holy smokes! That's still a wicked lot for Nano.

[Cliff Face]

I was about 5 times as productive as usual with that book, and I'm trying to keep the momentum going, hence doing 80k in a month and a half. Not quite as fast as NaNo month, but still a lot quicker than my first 2 books...

[blacbird]

Is it pertinent to note that nowhere among the "ten days" or thereabouts writers is there any indication that any of these instant novels have ever seen the light of publication?

caw

[AryaT92]

The instant novel landed me a top notch agent and publisher interest.

[Varthikes]

My first book took me about 2 years, not counting all the editing sessions.

My second book took me 2 years, too, but it might have been less had I not gotten distracted by other projects. And, that one, too, will probably take a couple more editing sessions.

[scarletpeaches]

Is it pertinent to note that nowhere among the "ten days" or thereabouts writers is there any indication that any of these instant novels have ever seen the light of publication?

cawYou might want to speak to thethinker42 about that.

[Kitty27]

Is it pertinent to note that nowhere among the "ten days" or thereabouts writers is there any indication that any of these instant novels have ever seen the light of publication?

caw

Hey,I haven't started querying yet!

[thethinker42]

Is it pertinent to note that nowhere among the "ten days" or thereabouts writers is there any indication that any of these instant novels have ever seen the light of publication?

caw

*raises hand*

The Next Move was written in 14 days. The Distance Between Us was written in 11 days. Both are contracted. Neither of those figures take days off into consideration...I'm fairly certain I took 3 days and 1 day off, respectively, but I can't be sure.

Between Brothers and Nine Tenths of the Law both took a little over 30 days, but I was traveling extensively while I was writing them, so there were more days off than not. Rules of Engagement took 20. Again...all sold.

So...yes. Some of these "instant novels" have seen the light of publication.

[scarletpeaches]

PWNED.

[Noah Body]

Gotta hand it to you guys who can generate such output in such a short period of time. And thethinker42 does it well, which is remarkable. I hate you, you wench!

[J D Dallmeyer]

Shortest was 15 days (but it was terrible). Longest so far was about 3 years. I don't really have an average even though I've written 8. It takes as long as it takes.

[lucidzfl]

I should finish my first full, real, novel (something not trash, or only 40K long) this weekend. It'll be 75-80k words and took me four months.

Writing only, not counting planning, it will take me an average of 25 hours to complete a book. So do the math accordingly.

[Amarie]

It takes me a long time because I edit as I write, and real life also has a pesky way of interferring. Right now I'm pleased because after a month of work I have 5500 words of something that isn't terrible, but those words still need some editing before I show them to anyone, and before I try to add any more. I should add it's in a genre I've never written before, so maybe that's why it seems to be taking extra long.

[lucidzfl]

It takes me a long time because I edit as I write, and real life also has a pesky way of interferring. Right now I'm pleased because after a month of work I have 5500 words of something that isn't terrible, but those words still need some editing before I show them to anyone, and before I try to add any more. I should add it's in a genre I've never written before, so maybe that's why it seems to be taking extra long.

Damn, I would never finish anything.

My book is incoherent as all hell, because I haven't edited shit. Hell, even my writing style has changed over the course of it...

But, as they say, its down. And you can't edit a blank page. Now I get to sit back and think: What do I want this book to accomplish? What's its purpose?

Once I decide that, I can edit teh hells out of it. At least every event in the book makes sense and point a connects to b connects to c.

I just need to decide the why :)

[alyssalynne]

My first is taking way too long. I do lots of editing as I go along and spend time plotting out exactly how I want each scene to go, beat by beat. You speed writers are impressive (and inspiring). Maybe my second novel will go faster.

[Amarie]

Lucidzfi, I wish I could just write a complete draft and then go back and edit it, but I can't. Probably a could thing I don't want to write a long epic fantasy!

[Cliff Face]

I'm jealous of the 25 hours of work for 75-80k. Mine would take about 60 hours for all that. :(

[Sandy Shin]

25 hours of straight writing for 75-80k? That's amazing. I am a very slow writer, and it would take me 150 hours to write 75k (and that's a very generous estimate). And I don't even edit as I go. I'm just very slow a writer.

[Jamesaritchie]

It takes me a long time because I edit as I write, and real life also has a pesky way of interferring. Right now I'm pleased because after a month of work I have 5500 words of something that isn't terrible, but those words still need some editing before I show them to anyone, and before I try to add any more. I should add it's in a genre I've never written before, so maybe that's why it seems to be taking extra long.

That's a long, long looong time.

[Because.]

Let's see. I've never tried to publish any of these, these are just-for-me novels.

Shortest: (83,000 words) About three weeks...
Longest: (around 90,000 words) About six or seven months...

[kuwisdelu]

*raises hand*

The Next Move was written in 14 days. The Distance Between Us was written in 11 days. Both are contracted. Neither of those figures take days off into consideration...I'm fairly certain I took 3 days and 1 day off, respectively, but I can't be sure.

Between Brothers and Nine Tenths of the Law both took a little over 30 days, but I was traveling extensively while I was writing them, so there were more days off than not. Rules of Engagement took 20. Again...all sold.

So...yes. Some of these "instant novels" have seen the light of publication.

My lust for you is only outshadowed by my deep and seething hatred for yo.

[scarletpeaches]

She couldn't do it without me.

[thethinker42]

Well duh. That's why your name is on the dedication page of every book I've ever sold.

[scarletpeaches]

Now I just have to return the damn favour.

Come on, editor - buy mah book!!!

[cwfgal]

I don't write every day, and some of those days I only squeeze in an hour or so. Plus, writing is one of three jobs I have (not counting the household jobs!) so my time is necessarily divided between them. Each of my books has taken between 6 - 10 months to write and they've all been right at or above 100K words. But if I were to calculate how many days/hours it took of actual just writing time, I'm guessing it would come in at around 2 - 3 months.

Beth

[AlterEgox5]

1 year for a first draft. That seems to be my constant. 2 years for a polished novel (though honestly, I'm sure if I'd busted more ass, I would have done it sooner).

Though with a recent WIP, I had a muse hit me over the head so hard, I'm about to finish it in 3 months with a goal of polished by the end of Feb. so I can start querying (which would be AWESOME).

[Sage]

Depends. My shortest is 18 days. My longest is a year and three months.

Usually a first draft takes me about three months of actual writing, unless it's NaNo, and then it's less than a month (because writing is all I do in November).

EoS - 15 months (includes much time spent revising as I went and a two-month break. Also this novel is twice+ the length of any of my others and it was my first)
Euniq - 28 days
AFTRLYF - 24 days
HS - 8 months (but a long break in the middle with no writing)
DownLoad - 30 days
LS - 3 months
Trouble - 3 months
DMaM - 22 days
Fireflies - 18 days (not NaNo, but MG, so it's short)

[erin_michelle]

Wow, I thought I was a fast writer, but you couple weekers put me to shame. My shortest time is 2 months. Usually I average 4-5 months, plus another month for revisions.

[Dave.C.Robinson]

My first novel took either 15 years or 1 year depending how you look at it. I wrote the first quarter of it when I was 25 - then largely stopped writing. I started again years later and wrote a complete draft of about 100K words in almost exactly a year (finishing just before my 40th birthday).

The last one I wrote took about 3-4 months.

[Jamesaritchie]

I'm tempted to say this question should be divided between those who have and haven't sold novels. Before writers sell a novel, they tend to write at whatever pace they feel like writing, and a novel can take a month or ten years.

But after you sell a novel the length of time it takes to finish the next one tends to be whatever length of time an editor gives you to finish it. It's amazing how much faster even the slowest of writers can write a novel when there's a contract in place and a deadline looming.

[Dave.C.Robinson]

I'm tempted to say this question should be divided between those who have and haven't sold novels. Before writers sell a novel, they tend to write at whatever pace they feel like writing, and a novel can take a month or ten years.

But after you sell a novel the length of time it takes to finish the next one tends to be whatever length of time an editor gives you to finish it. It's amazing how much faster even the slowest of writers can write a novel when there's a contract in place and a deadline looming.

Interesting point - the 3-4 month novel was a ghostwriting job and the time it took was the amount of time the client gave me.

[Jamesaritchie]

Interesting point - the 3-4 month novel was a ghostwriting job and the time it took was the amount of time the client gave me.

I suspect many areas of life come down to an example of Parkinson's Law: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

[Cliff Face]

I love that quote.

[Shadow_Ferret]

These, threads, like the "how fast can you read" threads, really depress me.

[Swordswoman]

But after you sell a novel the length of time it takes to finish the next one tends to be whatever length of time an editor gives you to finish it. It's amazing how much faster even the slowest of writers can write a novel when there's a contract in place and a deadline looming.

That is sooooooooo true.

My first book took three and a half years. For my second I've been given a year. That sounds a lot, but it's a 200,000 word historical, where it can take a week to do the research for a single paragraph. Plus I'm horribly slow - I never get it right first time, and have to try chunks of story several times before it starts to really drive properly.

But I think I'm going to make it. I think. Which means I've speeded up by a lot more than double...

[evol_reed]

I wrote and edited my final draft of 125,000 words within nine months.

[blacbird]

I'm tempted to say this question should be divided between those who have and haven't sold novels.

You shouldn't be tempted. This distinction is a major consideration in most of these kinds of discussions. One of my favorites is the "length of novel" one that comes up every fortnight or so. It makes a hell of a difference if we're talking about a debut manuscript from an unknown, or one submitted by a multi-best-selling author. I defy any agent to dispute this.

caw

[Darzian]

*raises hand*

The Next Move was written in 14 days. The Distance Between Us was written in 11 days. Both are contracted. Neither of those figures take days off into consideration...I'm fairly certain I took 3 days and 1 day off, respectively, but I can't be sure.

Between Brothers and Nine Tenths of the Law both took a little over 30 days, but I was traveling extensively while I was writing them, so there were more days off than not. Rules of Engagement took 20. Again...all sold.

So...yes. Some of these "instant novels" have seen the light of publication.

OMG!

[regdog]

These, threads, like the "how fast can you read" threads, really depress me.

Don't worry if you don't write fast. It's more important to like what you've written.

it took me 3 years to write one book :D and it's the best thing I've have ever or will ever write

[raburrell]

I'm not sure the existence of a contract is the difference between how much time is takes for a particular author to write a draft - for me, now working on my second (no contract), the difference is experience as a writer. First one took me 9 months to write, 5 months to edit because the plot was an unholy mess. Second one isn't done yet, but at the pace I'm at presently, should take 4, maybe 5.

That said, if I had a contract, could I do it in three? I doubt it, but it'd certainly put the fear of God into me enough to try.

[ChaosTitan]

I'm not sure the existence of a contract is the difference between how much time is takes for a particular author to write a draft - for me, now working on my second (no contract), the difference is experience as a writer.

I think both are factors. Obviously, if you've (general "you") sold a novel, then contracted for a second, you have experience on your side. And a contract. The two pretty much go hand in hand.

With each book I write, I end up with a cleaner and cleaner first draft, because I learn and incorporate the things I've learned as I write. My pace is still about the same (2-3 months) as it was before I got a contract, but I'd also written quite a few books beforehand. :)

I agree, though, that there is a difference between writing under a contract and writing without one. You just can't take two years to research, write and finely tune a novel if your contract requires delivery in nine months.

[Cliff Face]

I long for contractual pressures.

[shaldna]

my first published novel was written in a week (well, 8 days). once it was sold I took another day and half to do the revision I was asked to do.

i then started another novel which I am still working on 4 years later. In between I have written and sold other books.

[KMH Stone]

5 1/2 years and counting... I want my novel to be as perfect as I can make it.

During this time I've graduated and have been working long hours at my job. I've also been learning a lot about writing novels.

[shaldna]

I do notice that there's a big difference between casual writers and people who write as a profession.

If you write as a job then you are expected, to a certain degree, to produce work within a reasonable time. For instance, you might take 5 years to write your first book. But if it's the first in a series then you can't expect a publisher or your readers to wait another 5 years while you polish off the next one.

Most professional writers I know are generally expected to produce a book a year. Sometimes more depending on their genre. I have a friend who write mills and boons and she's writing 10 or 12 a year.

[K.L. Townsend]

I have ideas I let fester for several years, but when I settle down to actually work on a project it takes me about a year.

Then again, I'm only just moving into writing every day and aiming for large publication. I'm sure my habits and my procedures will continue to change as I frame my writing as more of a profession.

[Katrina S. Forest]

Since I only have three books that I consider "finished," I don't really have an average per se. I can write a rough draft in a month. It takes me considerably longer (a year or more) to edit it until I'm satisfied. I am starting to see this time shorten as I write, though.

[BrooklynLee]

The first book I actually finished started as a very different idea I had about ten years ago and then abandoned. I starting revisiting the characters and setting, with a different plot, about a year and a half ago and ended up with about 100 -- 150 pages at the beginning of last summer. I had a huge burst of creativity and wrote all summer, finished it in September, got an agent in October, and she started pitching it (after some revisions) last week. I'm now working on my second book which I sincerely hope won't have as many fits and starts. Though I have to admit the anxiety about this phase of my publishing journey is a big distraction... still, I would like to finish this book by the end of 2010. I know I'll never be the kind of writer who can write a book in a month and that's fine with me.

edited to add: oh, and for what it's worth, the first time I sat down and said "I'm going to write a novel" I was 19 and a freshman in college. I'm 36 now, with quite a few failed attempts under my belt. It's not as easy as it looks, and it takes the time it takes, you know? But everything you do helps you learn how to do it better.

[Jamesaritchie]

it took me 3 years to write one book :D and it's the best thing I've have ever or will ever write

If I believed this, I would never write another word. Fortunately, we don't get to decide how good our own work is, and most of us get better through practice and experience, so the next book should be better, no matter how good the first one is.

[Jamesaritchie]

I think slow writers and those who take montsh or years to edit should read the last moths or two of Dean Wesley Smith's blog. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/

[lucidzfl]

I'm very interested in seeing how long my next novel takes to write. I learned so much from the last one and it took whatever, four or five months. It would be great to finish this one in say, two months.

Hell, if I just wrote on the weekends I could do it in a month!

[cwfgal]

I think slow writers and those who take montsh or years to edit should read the last moths or two of Dean Wesley Smith's blog. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/

Well, I read the most recent, rather longwinded post the link took me to wherein he advocates doing the agent's work for them (basically because he thinks they are incompetent) but then contacting them to give them 15% when you have an offer. Doesn't make much sense to me. And he also advocates demanding instant feedback from an agent, which makes him sound like the client from hell. That and the fact that he lists a ton of expensive "workshops" on his site (including a money management one--irony there) makes his advice a bit dicey for me.

I didn't find (or look for, to be honest) a post that deals with how long it takes someone to write something.

I think a writer should take as long as he/she needs to to produce a solid, stunning, salable work. Length of time required to produce does not necessarily equate to the quality of the work produced.

Beth (PS to JAR: do you know your own blog link goes nowhere???)

[mkcbunny]

I finished my first novel this fall and am currently on the great-and-terrible quest for representation. The book took five years to complete.

I doubt my next one will take as long. For one thing, although I am slow, I've learned enough in recent years to speed up the next one. For another, I had several ideas for a first book and decided to pick the most complex one, so my next one won't be as difficult (she says now).

In addition, right after I started that first novel, I took a full-time editorial position. That became one of those "always working" kind of jobs, plus I had a part-time job on top of that. At least I was getting paid for something related to writing, but it definitely slowed down my personal project.

Having been recently laid off, I don't expect to be lucky enough to find another full-time gig. That should speed up completion of my second novel, though it clearly has other, less appealing ramifications.