How long did it take to write your first book?
@leafygreens08 (754)
United States
September 19, 2009 9:39am CST
I have been working for a few years on a series of stories I hope will become a book one day. I have read that some writers take YEARS to get a book written. I know it will take me almost another year to even get a rough draft done.
How about you? Have you written a book yet and how long did it take you?
4 responses
@razzberry1 (73)
• United States
20 Sep 09
Both of my published books are non-fiction, so it's a little different. Since they were work-for-hire, there were tight deadlines that had to be met.
The fiction novels (yes, two at the same time, alternating) I'm working on right now are going very slowly but I can see the stories taking shape in my mind. I usually start with the intro and the end. Then I fill in the middle.
@leafygreens08 (754)
• United States
21 Sep 09
Sounds great! I hope you succeed with this new project. I love fiction and hope to get this done one day soon. Let me know what you end up with when you finish your book. I would like ot hear about it.
@razzberry1 (73)
• United States
22 Sep 09
I have a blog, razzberry-jam, on blogspot, I'll definitely be promoting it when I finally finish. Thank you for your kind words.
1 person likes this
@jane239 (521)
•
19 Sep 09
It's taken me a couple of years to finish my book and now I'm just on to the editing which is the most difficult part.
The problem is I have to balance it out with work and with whatever else is going on so it's taken longer than I would have liked and I aim to haveit ready to sell by the end of this year, even if I have to stay up most of the night for a while just to get it finished.
1 person likes this
@innawrite (11)
• Philippines
20 Sep 09
I have one book published in 2008, The Living Past, I used my maiden name Marlyna O. Sevilla as author). It is my autobiograpy-396 pages. It took me one year, three months and three weeks to finish the manuscript.
It didn't take long to write it because I was already retired. I was in hurry to finish it knowing that no one can write about my life story better...and while I'm alive to to do it. I was 71 then.
Making an outline and chapter titles first sped up my writing. The photos were also filed according to the chapter. I kept a small notebook in my purse to write thoughts related to the book.
I edited the manuscript so many times-on hard copy. At the end, my draft was up to my knee in thickness. I wrote the manuscript at odd hours-whenever I remember something that needed to be written.
My publisher is Xlibris and I have a website: innawrite.com
Good luck on your book, you can do it, just follow your dream.
1 person likes this
@leafygreens08 (754)
• United States
21 Sep 09
Thank you both for your responses. I used to work full time but now I am unemployed and looking for a job and writing while I can. I have the stories, more or less, but just haven't written a proper manuscript. Thanks for your tips also! :)
@artistry (4151)
• United States
20 Sep 09
...Hi leafygreen08, I took about a year to write my book, which is a children's story, because I stopped and started before I completed it. My problem is finding a publisher, don't want to self publish for a number of reasons. If anyone has any suggestions, I would very much appreciate them Thank you. Take care.
@leafygreens08 (754)
• United States
21 Sep 09
Good luck to you! My book is for young adults. I hope I don't run into the same problems. I AM looking into self-publishing and ebooks if I can't find a publisher either.
@GemBibb (4)
•
20 Sep 09
My first book (published in May 2008) took me 7 months, but that was probably because I had a deadline to keep to.
I'm currently writing my second book but because I'm changing publishers and my current ones have no deadlines, I'm finding it much harder to keep the motivation up, I've only written 30,000 words so far this year.
I find a good piece of advice is to write when you want to. I know that sounds like an obvious thing to say but it's true. I struggled to keep to my "Write 3500 words a week" deadline I gave myself, but when I gave that up, I wrote 15,000 in one night (through the night in fact... I was so tired at work the next day)! So if you sit down and can't write, then don't try and wait for a moment of inspiration -then suddenly you'll find you can write chapters at a time!
@leafygreens08 (754)
• United States
21 Sep 09
You make writing with deadlines seem like being on a diet! I wish I could write whenever the mood hits me but I am a terrible procrastinator. We are obviously not the same personality type. Well done with your first book. I hope to follow suit later this year.
