In honor of all the amazing people participating in the NaNoWriMo marathon, I thought I’d pose a question.
Do you write fast or slow? Somewhere in between?
I write faster when I’m not working. (I neglected to mention my degree in rocket science on my profile.) I pumped out almost half of my novel in the two-and-a-half months break this summer AND managed my first edit too. But when I’m working I’m lucky to get in 15 pages a week. I’m really looking forward to winter break- that’s when I’m planning on cranking out a full revision for HATSHEPSUT and a big written chunk of RELUCTANT QUEEN.
Yes, I just unveiled the temporary title of the new WIP. Yippee!
So, which are you- the tortoise or the hare?
I write fast, but edit slow.
Hard to say – I feel like I write slowly (and like Susan, edit like a turtle), but given my actual turnaround time, I'm guessing I'm not as slow as I think.
Tortoise. I write slow in most cases, and it can be extremely frustrating.
I am learning to accept how the story comes even if it is only in snipets.
I'm a hare. Hare-brained, even. I like things to be DONE. I love writing to find out what happens, and then edit like the wind because I just want things DONE.
I am impatient, etc. etc.
Love the working title! Can't wait to hear more about both books 🙂
It depends. Sometimes I'm a speedy writer, sometimes I'm a slow writer. It can change with scene, chapter, paragraph … you name it.
I try to edit slowly though, and am realizing how much more time I need to spend on doing that.
I'm averaging about six weeks per manuscript to crank out the first draft, at a rough 100K per book. But I'm not doing anything else, either. When I was working and in school I had a terrible time sitting down and writing with any regularity, so I can't say what I would end up writing if I were doing something else as a career in addition. Editing is different–but revisions take time for several reasons: 1) I have to wait for people to read and get back to me with their remarks, and 2) I have to put the book away and give myself space before I can go back to it. Those resting periods are kind of critical for me, so I'm still revising the book I finished July 4th, (nevermind the two that cam after it) and I'm hoping to get that work done in December. Six months to revise, and six weeks to write? Maybe they balance out to a reasonable rate of progress.