Good question. Tough question. The bad news is that there is no simple answer to the question how long it takes to write a novel. The good news is: You can work on getting faster. At least to a certain extent.
Now, instead of going down the many rabbit holes that come with questions about the genre, the intended word target and whether you are writing full time or just in the evening, before work or at the weekend, we’ll give a (hopefully) more helpful reply.
Many authors take about 6 weeks to 3 months to finish the first draft of their novel. Some take longer – again, depending on various factors. Some can do it much quicker. In fact, some authors get their first draft done within 10 days but this is not advisable for beginners.
Something that has worked for many was the good old National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) before it closed its doors following a scandal or two. During its good times, the goal was for every participant to write a first draft of at least 50.000 words within the month of November. How many books that would result in depends on the format of the book, font size and more, but as a rough idea you’d end up somewhere between 200 and 300 pages.
The second thing to keep in mind is that those first drafts that were written under pressure to meet that 30-day goal often require much more editing than other drafts that took longer. But again, that’s a manageable timeframe for a draft – even one resulting in more words.
Pressure helps
While this is much quicker than the estimate of 6 weeks to 3 months we provided above, please keep in mind that many authors are both hyper-prepared and laser-focused for that event so that’s nothing they can pull off three, four, five or six times a year – though there are of course exceptions.
Breaking it down these 50.000 words in a month clock in at only 1667 words per day. Depending on your very own level, this may sound like a lot, but think of it like this: If you reach the goal every day (even if not for a day or two (or three) while also scoring very effective days resulting in 2.500, 4.000 or even 5.000 words, you are quickly above those 50.000 words.
Then again, don’t underestimate the motivational factor that comes when participating in such an event. Trying to write a first draft in about 4 weeks on your own can be significantly more difficult.
So overall we are back at 6 weeks to 3 months. But that’s the first draft only. After that – depending on your workflow – a few rounds of editing are waiting for you. Some back and forth with your external editor and/or your cover designer, your agent or publisher. All in all the whole process from start to finish can easily take a year or more, especially if more parties are involved. Rest assured, though, you’ll have enough breaks in between to focus on other tasks – and probably another manuscript.
One last piece of advice for now: These breaks are much needed to clear your mind between the different editing rounds. Otherwise you’ll have a hard time figuring out the differences between sessions.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading, stay focused and happy plotting!
