How many hours go into writing a novel? - Page 3

Alexthegreat · 10-20-2011, 02:14 PM

Quote:

As I prepare for a first novel, I'm curious about the total time that goes into writing a novel.

It depends on the size of the book

VydorScope · 10-20-2011, 03:33 PM

Hey cool feature. Currently working book 3 and MS Word says 63 hours for 77k words, but that is just my first draft. My second novel, which is published, is 88k words and took 135 hours.

So I guess I am half way there! LOL

Bob Russell · 10-22-2011, 12:12 PM

Thank you so much for the great responses!!!!

So it does sound like one will expect the first novels to take longer. And that the time taken will often be very roughly 500hrs +/- 300hrs. Pre-plotting and/or editing would probably push the overall "publisher ready total number up".

I realize that these will widely vary, even for a given author, but this is like gold for me to get even this glimpse of what people are spending. Much appreciated!!!!

Btw, that's a great tip about MS Word. I might even use that when creating documents at work. For those of you that use specialized writing software, I believe that many of them also track time and words, so if you are curious, it might be worth digging through the menu options or doing a search in the manual.

GeoffC · 10-23-2011, 06:24 AM

Scrivener does track words/characters and you can set targets for your projects ....

Keryl Raist · 10-23-2011, 09:49 PM

I love Word. Every week or so I learn about some new, cool little feature it has. I know a lot of people prefer avoiding MS, but for me, that program rocks!

The downside is, yes, I now know how many hours I've spent on my novels, but I have a tendency to stop writing, go off and do something else for a few hours (overnight) and all that time is added in as well. So, I can't give a good number hourwise.

I can say my first novel 257k words took eight months to write and eight months to revise. I have about two hours a day six days a week to write, and an additional six hours on the seventh. So, at best I'm cranking out 18 hours a week, but that time also involves writing book reviews as well.

Sorry the numbers are so fuzzy. I write as long as it takes.

VydorScope · 10-24-2011, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

I love Word. Every week or so I learn about some new, cool little feature it has. I know a lot of people prefer avoiding MS, but for me, that program rocks!

I agree. For straight up word processing, nothing better then MS Word for the Mac.

Though MS Word for Windows comes in a close second....

kennyc · 10-24-2011, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

...

It's like bird-watching: You can't predict when you'll see a particular bird; you can only get your gear together, go, and wait until you see it.

Hmmmmm......

kennyc · 10-24-2011, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazybones

Microsoft Word will tell you how long you've been working on a specific document. .

Hmmmm...... 3 minutes so far on the one I started a few months back.

A poem I'm working is at 11 hours 50 minutes. ...

Just checked in Open Office and it too has this "editing time" feature under properties.

Nancy Fulda · 10-24-2011, 09:29 AM

I doubt that feature would be particularly helpful for me. I've been known to wander away from the computer for hours between sentences.

Ditto everyone else on the wonderful applicability of Word, though. I admit I love the pinboard and outlining features in Scrivener, but its word processing features pale in comparison to MS Word.

kennyc · 10-24-2011, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

I doubt that feature would be particularly helpful for me. I've been known to wander away from the computer for hours between sentences.

Ditto everyone else on the wonderful applicability of Word, though. I admit I love the pinboard and outlining features in Scrivener, but its word processing features pale in comparison to MS Word.

How do you think I got up to THREE minutes!

GeoffC · 10-24-2011, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

I doubt that feature would be particularly helpful for me. I've been known to wander away from the computer for hours between sentences.

Ditto everyone else on the wonderful applicability of Word, though. I admit I love the pinboard and outlining features in Scrivener, but its word processing features pale in comparison to MS Word.

True, but Scrivener does allow you to write in chunks and then decide exactly where and how those chunks fit together ....

Let's face it, there's no one perfect application that suits everybody ....

kennyc · 10-24-2011, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

True, but Scrivener does allow you to write in chunks and then decide exactly where and how those chunks fit together ....

Let's face it, there's no one perfect application that suits everybody ....

I don't know, Chocolate comes pretty close!

Keryl Raist · 10-24-2011, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

True, but Scrivener does allow you to write in chunks and then decide exactly where and how those chunks fit together ....

Let's face it, there's no one perfect application that suits everybody ....

I tried with Scrivener, and like everyone else the writing in chunks bit is great, but I prefer being able to write all the way through. Hopping from chunk to chunk becomes an issue for me as soon as I finish the plot dump phase of writing.

VydorScope · 10-24-2011, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

True, but Scrivener does allow you to write in chunks and then decide exactly where and how those chunks fit together ....

Let's face it, there's no one perfect application that suits everybody ....

I dont write in chunks, but I do keep notes about what I am writing (timelines, descriptions, character notes, etc) which is where Scrivener might be handy. Right now I keep them in an ever growing word doc that I keep open on my second monitor.

At some point I guess I will just have to try it.

frahse · 10-24-2011, 08:51 PM

If I may offer some advice on your "8 months to write. 8 months to revise."

If that means that you spent 8 months writing, and then stopped writing (so to say) and then started 8 months of revising, then that is not efficient.

You need a better plan to begin with. You would probably end up with, say, 12 months rather than 16 months total.

That of course is only my opinion (from a distance) for whatever it is worth.

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10-20-2011, 03:33 PM	#32
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Hey cool feature. Currently working book 3 and MS Word says 63 hours for 77k words, but that is just my first draft. My second novel, which is published, is 88k words and took 135 hours. So I guess I am half way there! LOL

10-22-2011, 12:12 PM	#33
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Thank you so much for the great responses!!!! So it does sound like one will expect the first novels to take longer. And that the time taken will often be very roughly 500hrs +/- 300hrs. Pre-plotting and/or editing would probably push the overall "publisher ready total number up". I realize that these will widely vary, even for a given author, but this is like gold for me to get even this glimpse of what people are spending. Much appreciated!!!! Btw, that's a great tip about MS Word. I might even use that when creating documents at work. For those of you that use specialized writing software, I believe that many of them also track time and words, so if you are curious, it might be worth digging through the menu options or doing a search in the manual.

10-23-2011, 06:24 AM	#34
GeoffC Chocolate Grasshopper ... Posts: 27,599 Karma: 20821184 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW	Scrivener does track words/characters and you can set targets for your projects ....

10-23-2011, 09:49 PM	#35
Keryl Raist Zealot Posts: 140 Karma: 379182 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Charleston, SC Device: Kindle for PC	I love Word. Every week or so I learn about some new, cool little feature it has. I know a lot of people prefer avoiding MS, but for me, that program rocks! The downside is, yes, I now know how many hours I've spent on my novels, but I have a tendency to stop writing, go off and do something else for a few hours (overnight) and all that time is added in as well. So, I can't give a good number hourwise. I can say my first novel 257k words took eight months to write and eight months to revise. I have about two hours a day six days a week to write, and an additional six hours on the seventh. So, at best I'm cranking out 18 hours a week, but that time also involves writing book reviews as well. Sorry the numbers are so fuzzy. I write as long as it takes.

10-24-2011, 09:29 AM	#39
Nancy Fulda I write stories. Posts: 700 Karma: 16437432 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Northern Germany Device: kindle	I doubt that feature would be particularly helpful for me. I've been known to wander away from the computer for hours between sentences. Ditto everyone else on the wonderful applicability of Word, though. I admit I love the pinboard and outlining features in Scrivener, but its word processing features pale in comparison to MS Word.

10-24-2011, 08:51 PM	#45
frahse occasional author Posts: 2,315 Karma: 2064403292 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Wandering God's glorious hills, valleys and plains. Device: A Franklin BI (before Internet) was the first. I still have it.	If I may offer some advice on your "8 months to write. 8 months to revise." If that means that you spent 8 months writing, and then stopped writing (so to say) and then started 8 months of revising, then that is not efficient. You need a better plan to begin with. You would probably end up with, say, 12 months rather than 16 months total. That of course is only my opinion (from a distance) for whatever it is worth.

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