How long does it take you to write a book?

Hmm. I guess it really is more difficult to work on your own projects rather than on projects commissioned by others and have a deadline. Though procrastination still bites me in the butt, surely, I am more apt to finish work paid for by someone else. :) Thank you for patronizing my threads Hatley. It means a lot to me. :)

I'm working on writing and publishing my first book and I'm actually in D+299 (or decision day plus 299) of my book project. I even wrote a knol about it--Cannot Publish My First Book--to mark the eventful day so I won't forget. Incidentally, I've come across books that claims to be able to guide you on publishing a book in 100 days or less. And, of course, I have a number of "how to write" books in my library as well. But I have found all of them wanting and fall short of the what I needed to know as a writer. On closer examination, I came to the conclusion that there is a more important issue being left out in those self-help books. There is no underlying concept or principle proposed to guide the writer in writing with confidence. The issue is taken for granted because the writing process is assumed to be an art. I have to disagree. As a civil engineer, I believe engineering principles can be used to help an aspiring writer write with confidence. I needed a concept to describe what I have in mind and I came up with "book engineering." I'm still in the process of testing my ideas, but I'd be happy to share my ideas here.

Hi, bloggeroo! Question: is this book going to be under your name and copyright, or did a client commission you to work on that? :) I think confidence comes not with a specific method or exercise. It comes with constant practice and with constant, genuine positive feedback or positive criticism from one's readers. I don't think that it's something you can get through a calculated process, as confidence stems from a few factors: 1) Your competence in the field. 2) Your overall self-worth, which is definitely determined by the experiences you've gone through, and for some people, from whom they draw strength and their identity from. For most, we get our identity from the people around us, from what we do, or how much money we have in the bank. But if we anchor our identity on God and what He thinks of us, that's a far more stable source of self-worth. 3) Your unshakeable faith in who you are as a person, and not just what you can do. I am no engineer. I am a virtual assistant by profession, and while I love systems and creating them or working around them, I don't know what it's like from your end. Do share with us how you applied engineering principles to your book writing! :D Also, what is this book engineering thing that you came up with? Would you be sharing that in a book in the future? Thanks for replying!