How long does it take to write a novel?
For the last few months, I have been asked numerous times when my next novel will be coming out. Why is it taking so long? How long does it really take to write it?
Tough question. It’s like asking “how long is a piece of string?”
I know some writers spend years and years writing a novel. Others seem to produce them quite quickly. But it got me to thinking – how long does it actually take me?
Fortunately, I create a new version number at each of my writing sessions, so I thought I’d look back and do the math. Every writer is different, but I tend to write in the morning (after I get my medium double-double at Tim Horton’s), and each session is usually between two and three hours. Any longer than that and the quality goes down exponentially.
For “Goliath”, my first book, I estimate that it took me 123 man-hours to produce the first draft of the book. Those hours were spread over about three months. (The story had been kicking around in my head for over five years before I wrote a single word.) Then I sent it out to my beta readers, which in my case are my two sons. At this stage, I’m mostly interested in hearing whether they liked the story. What parts did they like? What parts should be changed or cut out altogether? What parts were confusing? And worst of all, what parts were boring?
Then comes the editing and re-writing. When I edit, I like to start at the beginning again and go through the entire book from start to finish, creating a brand new draft . Then I send out the new draft to different beta readers. Since I write mysteries, I think it’s important to use different people to review each draft because I want people to be surprised by each twist and turn in the plot.
For “Goliath”, there were six separate drafts which took an additional 134 hours of editing. That doesn’t include the hours I spent in the “Fiction Writers Workshop” offered by the University of Western Ontario reading snippets of my book to the class. It also doesn’t include time spent staring at the ceiling trying to figure out how I was going to fix holes in the plot - just hours sitting at the keyboard.
Between each draft, I like to take at least a week away from the book altogether to reset. It also allows time for my beta readers to give me their feedback.
For my second book, “The Legacy”, I completed the first draft in about 70 man-hours, surprisingly short. For some reason, that book seemed to come quite easily. But it still took me four more drafts and 126 hours in editing and re-writing.
My current book, “The Second Shooter”, is a sequel to “Goliath” and it took me about 175 man-hours to write the first draft. This doesn’t include the many hours I spent researching the JFK assassination. I discovered that writing a sequel is hard. I wanted to make it so that readers who hadn’t read the first book would enjoy it, but also that people who did read “Goliath” would feel the first book flowed nicely into the sequel.
The review and editing of this novel was significantly easier because I’m now a member of a critique group with the London Writers Society. It is so much more efficient when you can read a chapter to five or six other writers and get their immediate feedback. I also received very valuable feedback on five or six key chapters of the book from Gary Barwin, the Writer-in-Residence at the University of Western Ontario and the London Public Library.
After an additional 75 (and counting) hours of editing and re-writing, I just requested a proof copy of the fourth draft. This doesn't include the hours meeting with Gary Barwin or the critique group, just hours at the keyboard. No matter how many times I edit it online, I always seem to discover flaws when reviewing the paperback proof copy. I expect the same this time. This is also the version that is reviewed by my most important critic, my wife. She doesn’t get to see the book until just before it goes to production. I’m sure she’ll find something that everyone else missed. She always does.
At some point, you have to bite the bullet and send it out into the world. Otherwise, you’ll spend the rest of your life tweaking every word. I love writing, but the editing part starts to feel like work after a while. Besides, my mind is already working on my next book.
So, how long does it take to write a novel?
Answer: It depends.
Tough question. It’s like asking “how long is a piece of string?”
I know some writers spend years and years writing a novel. Others seem to produce them quite quickly. But it got me to thinking – how long does it actually take me?
Fortunately, I create a new version number at each of my writing sessions, so I thought I’d look back and do the math. Every writer is different, but I tend to write in the morning (after I get my medium double-double at Tim Horton’s), and each session is usually between two and three hours. Any longer than that and the quality goes down exponentially.
For “Goliath”, my first book, I estimate that it took me 123 man-hours to produce the first draft of the book. Those hours were spread over about three months. (The story had been kicking around in my head for over five years before I wrote a single word.) Then I sent it out to my beta readers, which in my case are my two sons. At this stage, I’m mostly interested in hearing whether they liked the story. What parts did they like? What parts should be changed or cut out altogether? What parts were confusing? And worst of all, what parts were boring?
Then comes the editing and re-writing. When I edit, I like to start at the beginning again and go through the entire book from start to finish, creating a brand new draft . Then I send out the new draft to different beta readers. Since I write mysteries, I think it’s important to use different people to review each draft because I want people to be surprised by each twist and turn in the plot.
For “Goliath”, there were six separate drafts which took an additional 134 hours of editing. That doesn’t include the hours I spent in the “Fiction Writers Workshop” offered by the University of Western Ontario reading snippets of my book to the class. It also doesn’t include time spent staring at the ceiling trying to figure out how I was going to fix holes in the plot - just hours sitting at the keyboard.
Between each draft, I like to take at least a week away from the book altogether to reset. It also allows time for my beta readers to give me their feedback.
For my second book, “The Legacy”, I completed the first draft in about 70 man-hours, surprisingly short. For some reason, that book seemed to come quite easily. But it still took me four more drafts and 126 hours in editing and re-writing.
My current book, “The Second Shooter”, is a sequel to “Goliath” and it took me about 175 man-hours to write the first draft. This doesn’t include the many hours I spent researching the JFK assassination. I discovered that writing a sequel is hard. I wanted to make it so that readers who hadn’t read the first book would enjoy it, but also that people who did read “Goliath” would feel the first book flowed nicely into the sequel.
The review and editing of this novel was significantly easier because I’m now a member of a critique group with the London Writers Society. It is so much more efficient when you can read a chapter to five or six other writers and get their immediate feedback. I also received very valuable feedback on five or six key chapters of the book from Gary Barwin, the Writer-in-Residence at the University of Western Ontario and the London Public Library.
After an additional 75 (and counting) hours of editing and re-writing, I just requested a proof copy of the fourth draft. This doesn't include the hours meeting with Gary Barwin or the critique group, just hours at the keyboard. No matter how many times I edit it online, I always seem to discover flaws when reviewing the paperback proof copy. I expect the same this time. This is also the version that is reviewed by my most important critic, my wife. She doesn’t get to see the book until just before it goes to production. I’m sure she’ll find something that everyone else missed. She always does.
At some point, you have to bite the bullet and send it out into the world. Otherwise, you’ll spend the rest of your life tweaking every word. I love writing, but the editing part starts to feel like work after a while. Besides, my mind is already working on my next book.
So, how long does it take to write a novel?
Answer: It depends.
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