People sometimes ask me how long it takes to write a novel. Having just completed one, this is a good opportunity to explain how difficult a question that is to answer. I started writing Enemy of the gods: the Legend of Nicholas in June of 2015 and I finished drafting it just this week. So the simple answer would be about 11 months. However, the idea initially came to me about 25 years ago. It struck me that the true historical person that inspired "Jolly Saint Nick" would make for a fascinating story, so I started researching him and the time period, outlining a script for a movie. Then other projects came to the forefront, and I set it aside for a later date. Over the years I came back to it once in a while, but never quite saw it come together in a way that seemed to work for me. Neither could I drop the idea. Then last year, sometime after having completed another book (12 Tales for the Christmas Season), I took a fresh look at the concept and saw a way to write it as a novel. Mostly, I did my writing on weekdays, during my lunch breaks. So if you're curious about how many hours it took, a rough estimate would be about 220 hours, or 220 lunches. That doesn't include the time researching it, and thinking over scenarios while doing other things; but how many other creative endeavors involve thought time while away from it? Maybe you have an idea you've been sitting on for a while (hopefully not so long as mine). Pull it out and do it. It might only take you 220 lunches to complete.
No comments:
Post a Comment