Special Edition: Novels and Stories

Today's Ear Worm: Bauhaus "She's In Parties"
Today's Date: December 12, 2016

Okay, so this is kind of a special The Writing Process blog but yet it's not. It's about...the time that someone takes in writing a novel. And mind you, I wrote this back in September, but I had other things to post.

And this is more geared to the readers of the world, not the writers of the world. Because as a writer, we know how much work goes into a novel.

Though I swear if I hear "But writing is so easy and fun!" from someone the world may explode. It won't be pretty okay? Cause those types of writers tend to have some rather poorly edited stories out there.

Which is just URGH! It's enough to make a person rip out their hair.

First and foremost: What is a writer?

Well, when you put the word Writer into a Google Search, you get the following definition from them.

writ·er
ˈrīdər/

noun 

noun: writer; plural noun: writers
a person who has written a particular text.
"the writer of the letter" 

a person who writes books, stories, or articles as a job or regular occupation.
"the distinguished travel writer Freya Stark"
synonyms: author, wordsmith, man/woman of letters, penman; More

So there you go. It's someone who sits down and puts words to paper, or in the case of the modern age, puts words to writing program in a form that creates interesting worlds or information for those who read them.

But there are all sorts of writers out there.

There are those who write articles of all sorts, from literature to English Language to Science to Education and everything in between. There are those who write poetry or who write self-help books or This Subject for Dummies. There are writers who write to sell their stories and there are those writers who write for a fandom.

Fanfiction writers that is.

But there are still others who create these amazing worlds on their own and share it for free or on their websites.

And that's the beauty of the internet you guys! We have all of these beautiful, wonderful delightful stories and worlds and information at our fingertips.

But...as a reader...do you ever wonder just how much the writer behind those worlds' put into each story?

I mean, really think about it?

Not really, I'm betting. Not a lot of readers do. They see that they have this story on their computer, in their hands, or just a tap away on their tablets and phones, and they're good. Until they find that the story isn't done yet, or is on hiatus due to issues. Or something.

Then they sit there and go "Where's the rest of it?"

And yes, this is actually going to be, mostly, geared towards an readership that gets their stories from such sites as Fanfiction.net, Fictionpress.net, Adult-Fanfiction.org (Must be 18 years of age or older to join much less be on this site), and ArchiveOfOurOwn.com (AO3). But in a way, this to can be geared towards the publishing world to.

Now, when a reader gets a story, it's usually been written, edited, rewritten, edited some more, gone over by a couple editors/beta readers, edited some more and then put out there. Or in the case of published books, edited and rewritten to a point that looking at the first draft and the final product, you wonder how it came to be from the trash pile of the first draft.

But they don't really see that. All they see is that there's a good story there and it's not done or it's done but the next book/story in the series isn't out and won't be out for however long.

I'm sorry to say, this has happened way to often to me as a fanfiction writer. I put out a new chapter and am promptly asked:

When is the next one coming out? Will it come out tomorrow?
What? No. No it won't.
Why? You have the entire story written so why not?
Just because I have the entire thing written doesn't mean I'm going to kill my self posting how many chapters is up. That and I post one chapter at a time so I have time to write other stories and get things done. That takes time.
How much time?

And yes, that was a real conversation that I had with someone. It was interesting and actually kick started this idea a long time ago.

But I never had the time to write it because hey, research is needed.

Let's break it down shall we?

Question 1: How long does an average novel take to write?

Well, first of all, it all depends on length. The average novel is somewhere between Sixty (60) thousand and Ninety (90) thousand words.

Now, let's say someone of average speed writes about 5 thousand words in a day, six days a week a minimum.

This is a job you guys. We need to make money.

So 5,000 times six means that in a six day period, they will write 30 thousand words. That means they can write a full first draft novel between 2 to 4 weeks.

Wait a minute though: This is a PERFECT scenario though. Writers don't often experience a perfect scenario though.

So let's go for a little bit more of a realistic number. 2 thousand words a day average, 7 days a week, between life and obligations in any way possible.

So 2,000 times 7 gives us 14 thousand words a week. Times 14,000 by 4 and you get 56,000 words a month. That's actually about average for what I get in a good month myself. Usually.

On average, the first draft takes a month minimum to write.

Okay, so question 2: Is the novel done after that month?

Not even close. Sorry to say it guys, but not even close. Even the most prolific of writers usually take up to six months to have a novel ready to publish. But they have this amazing team behind them and while it's sitting there, they've already started to write the first draft of their next book.

Some writers take years to get a book ready for publishing. They also tend to have a backlog of books that are just finishing going through the editing process.

Myself when I get to that point? I'll have at least one series fully written, several others with at least one book written and editing, and a bunch of stand-alones to fill in some gaps. That's my plan. It's a good plan to since I'm not doing the traditional route, but it also means that I'm liable to have about 10 different readers and editors for the damn things.

Then what are you doing with the novel?

Well, first of all, I'm letting it flee from my brain. All of my notes are packed up and put away, the files are saved, moved and tucked out of sight, and I forget about it for anywhere from two weeks to a month.

Why? Because I want to come at this novel to rewrite or edit it with fresh eyes. I know some writers who edit it a few days after they finish it. I could never do that actually. Not really. It would still be to fresh for me to be objective enough to tear it apart.

Yes, I said, tear it apart. I'm going to sit there and make my manuscript bleed red. I'm going to do it at minimum 3 times. With at least two full rewrites that will take me around 2 to 3 weeks to do each time.

I'll then send to my editor and wait for her to make her little green marks and her comments while I work on the next story.

It's a never ending cycle of write, write, edit, write, rewrite, write, edit, write, wait for the editor, write, and then edit some more.

Once I get the file back, I go through all the pages (usually around 200+ pages on a long fanfiction and just as much for an original), and fix the little things, catch a few others, rewrite a few sentences.

Then it's ready to go out.

Question the 3: But does that work for saleable publishing writings though?

Yes actually. Because it's the same process that the better fanfiction writers employ. And the same process that a published author uses. The difference is: the published authors usually have those who are paid to focus on their book and to tear it apart for them even after they themselves tear it apart.

Fanfiction writers are usually the ones who tear their own works apart to put them back together before a volunteer beta goes over it for them.

A good story is good because of the time taken to edit it. Writing the first draft is like putting up the foundation, basement and skeleton of a house. The potential to be something great is there, but it takes that editing, the detail work, to make it truly worth anything.

4: So how long DOES it take a writer to get out a story or book?

That's actually a really good question.

And one that depends on the person. On average, a fanfiction writer who lives their lives and have things going on will have a story once every month or two. Or if they're like me, and they have a story fully written and spread out a chapter to every week or so, they're already working on the next story if they're still writing.

For me, and this will probably carry over into a publishing career, I will have a story ready to read in about 6 months to over a year. But it'll be added to the queue for publishing.

Guys, readers all over, we love you. We love your reviews. But we want you to understand something. We take a extremely long time to get a book or a story just right for you guys, so to see a review demanding the next chapter right now is just kind of like telling us that our work is good but our time should be dictated by your needs and wants.

Calm down. You'll get your story.

Just let us writers know that you're loving the story or book. Reviews are our lifeblood after all. And keep patient. We'll get it out there. It just takes us time to get it to where it's not bleeding red each time we take a damn editing tool to it.