Most of my writing is done at weekends. I also try to write on weekday evenings.
The first rough draft of my novel took two years six months. I have been editing ever since. I still have much work to do.
Most of my writing is done at weekends. I also try to write on weekday evenings.
The first rough draft of my novel took two years six months. I have been editing ever since. I still have much work to do.
I think yours is probably average, Adrian. My first one took about 18 months to draft and another twelve months to finish all the edits. The second took twice as long, but I did have a major upheaval to deal with in the midst of writing it. Now another similar thing's put the third on stop for a couple of months.
I'd like to be able to write one a year, and in theory it ought to be possible. But theory says it should be impossible for a bumblebee to fly, so it's not always right.
Maybe publisher deadlines don't always allow you to write the book you really want to and are capable of.
I envy those authors who work fast, even if the first draft ends up unrecognisable from the finished product. I would be interested to know how much back up successful authors receive from agents and publishers.
I read somewhere that Dean Koontz takes a year to write a book, and he works 11 hour days
Stephanie Meyer wrote twilight in 3 months - despite being a stay at home Mum with 2 young children - I find that incredible, unbelievable
In his book, On Writing Stephen King says it should take 3 months to write the first draft of a novel - any longer and you lose the thread
Moi, I have come to the conclusion that you have to work at the pace that suits you. I have been working on my second draft for 6 months (first draft took 6 months) and I do not see any end in sight. Every time I go back to the beginning, I gag at my early work and realise its just awful