How can you know how much time you'll need to finish a book? Does anyone have any guidelines about time estimates?
Scheduling a Book
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I go with how long I think the book's going to be, and divide by my minimum daily word count goal.
Since I tend to always go over the daily word count, this pads the deadline a bit in case I run into any problems, the book turns out to be longer, or need to take a few days off.
Works for me!
Since I tend to always go over the daily word count, this pads the deadline a bit in case I run into any problems, the book turns out to be longer, or need to take a few days off.
Works for me!
I have no schedule. I simply write when I feel like writing, and don't when I don't feel like it.
I'll churn out 7,000 words one day, then no nothing for the rest of the week. Then I'll suddenly do 2,000 words a day for the next ten days. It all depends on my mood, and how busy I am with other stuff.
I suspect that if I ever get published I'll have to change how I do things. I'd probably set myself a goal of 3,000 words a day, every day, without fail until the book is done.
I'll churn out 7,000 words one day, then no nothing for the rest of the week. Then I'll suddenly do 2,000 words a day for the next ten days. It all depends on my mood, and how busy I am with other stuff.
I suspect that if I ever get published I'll have to change how I do things. I'd probably set myself a goal of 3,000 words a day, every day, without fail until the book is done.
Scheduling is easy for me because I do any required rewriting and editing as I go. This means that when the "first" full draft is done, so is the book, other than a quick run through looking for typos, unwieldy dialogue, and other trivia.
I also know how many words I write per hour, so scheduling is easy.
I don't think anything is more important to success that having a firm schedule. Knowing how many hours you have in a day to write, and using those hours, knowing how long it takes you to write quality material, how many drafts you need, etc., is often the difference between success and failure.
I also know how many words I write per hour, so scheduling is easy.
I don't think anything is more important to success that having a firm schedule. Knowing how many hours you have in a day to write, and using those hours, knowing how long it takes you to write quality material, how many drafts you need, etc., is often the difference between success and failure.
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For me, it varies widely. My first novel has taken seven years and it's finally nearing completion. My second novel took about six months to write. I usually write for several hours daily, but some novels are trickier than others. Some give me trouble with the characters, or the plot, while others just flow out of me, easy-peasy. Personally, I don't do well with deadlines. I prefer to just do my best and allow the writing to proceed at its own pace.
Kind of depends. If I have a busy schedule, I may only write on a couple days, but write a lot. Or I may do a very little, but several times across the week. Just depends on my mood.
Granted, most of my recent work has all been editing, so that may make a bit of a difference, too.
Granted, most of my recent work has all been editing, so that may make a bit of a difference, too.
If you've never written/finished a book before, it's impossible to say - some people take six months, others ten years. Some write a single draft and polish it up, others redraft endlessly. How long is a piece of string?
If you want to be a successful author in a commercial genre, you're looking at having to write a minimum of one book a year, so you need to figure out how your personal process fits into that. I tend to block out 2-3 month periods for working on a given draft, with time in between to edit previous projects or just take a break from writing (I'm one of those people who works best in short intense spurts rather than writing little and often).
If you want to be a successful author in a commercial genre, you're looking at having to write a minimum of one book a year, so you need to figure out how your personal process fits into that. I tend to block out 2-3 month periods for working on a given draft, with time in between to edit previous projects or just take a break from writing (I'm one of those people who works best in short intense spurts rather than writing little and often).
I would set my cut-off point at nine months from start to finish. That's about as long as I can imagine devoting to a single project without burning out or getting bored. Find out what's your no-way-am-I-gonna-spend-longer-than-that point and plan around that.
I don't. A book takes as long as it takes.
I started the WIP I'm editing back in May. The first draft took three months, and I'm now editing draft 3. I started my new WIP in November/December, and have 40,000 words. It is, of course, slower going as I'm writing in between editing the previous book.
I started the WIP I'm editing back in May. The first draft took three months, and I'm now editing draft 3. I started my new WIP in November/December, and have 40,000 words. It is, of course, slower going as I'm writing in between editing the previous book.
It takes as long as it takes.
Honestly, there's no straight answer here. Some folks take longer than others, some books take longer than others. Some stuff can happen that can force a book into hiatus.
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Every book is different. I set weekly word count goals, but I rarely have an end point in mind. Partly because that would require me to do math, and that just ain't happening.
I set a word count per day requirement for first drafts, followed by an hours per day requirement for revisions. How many words and how many hours depends on how quickly I need to get the book done.
If you don't have a contracted deadline, you can write a contract with yourself. Or you can let the project take as long as it takes (so long as you keep up your daily production quota.) Or you can have no quota at all but rely on inspiration.
It all depends on your situation and your enthusiasm and your aspirations.
If you don't have a contracted deadline, you can write a contract with yourself. Or you can let the project take as long as it takes (so long as you keep up your daily production quota.) Or you can have no quota at all but rely on inspiration.
It all depends on your situation and your enthusiasm and your aspirations.
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It's hard for me to schedule because I don't usually know how long a book will be (when writing the first draft that is). I usually set myself a daily minimum word count goal of 1,000 words and do that 5 days a week until the book/story is completed. I usually go over that though.
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It's different for every writer.
Some writers don't even have a schedule. They write and write and when it's done, it's done.
Some writers don't even have a schedule. They write and write and when it's done, it's done.
I think this is very individual (as others have said). It usually takes me about 3 months to write a rough draft.
I can't say yet because I just startex my first last month. I am 1/5th done though and disciplined so I know it will take no longer than 6 months. But that's only a measly 50k word goal. So far I have not had to schedule writing time yet, it happens when i have time or something to write.
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