{"id":2615,"date":"2011-12-22T06:09:36","date_gmt":"2011-12-22T11:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/julijasukys.com\/?p=2615"},"modified":"2012-01-19T08:31:48","modified_gmt":"2012-01-19T13:31:48","slug":"how-long-should-a-book-take-to-write-on-a-writers-natural-rhythms-and-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/julijasukys.com\/?p=2615","title":{"rendered":"How Long Should a Book Take to Write? (On a Writer’s Natural Rhythms and Pace)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Recently, a fellow writer (who publishes short essays and pieces of travel writing) told me about a book she\u2019d just finished reading. It was an excellent book she said, but added with wide eyes: \u201cIt took him seven years to write! That\u2019s crazy. I could never do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have this thing I do when I\u2019m not sure how to respond: I involuntarily freeze stone-faced for a few seconds, thus allowing my brain to work. It\u2019s what happened after my friend’s remark. All kinds of thoughts whipped through my head, as I stood there motionless, considering what to say next: Wait, I\u2019ve spent at least that long on my book! What does that mean? Is it really crazy to do that? Am I crazy? Have I wasted my life? Does the fact that my book took me so long to write mean that I\u2019m a bad writer?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In the end, I shrugged and tried not to seem defensive: \u201cThat\u2019s how long my book took me to write.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a bit of a white lie. Truth is, it actually took me longer.<\/p>\n

I doubt that anyone who picks up Epistolophilia<\/a><\/em> will guess that it was twelve years in the making. For one thing, it’s not even a particularly long book. But even though\u00a0I didn\u2019t write consistently for twelve years, and accomplished a lot of other stuff during that period, from the first discovery of Ona \u0160imait\u0117\u2019s story to the appearance of the book, that\u2019s the amount of time that elapsed.<\/p>\n

There are many reasons why it took so long to complete. First, I had to gather research materials from five archives in three far-flung countries. Once I’d collected these, I had thousands of manuscript pages to sift through. What’s more, to read a large portion of these documents, I had to remember how to read Russian (a skill I hadn’t used for some ten years). When I actually started writing, I made some false starts and took some wrong turns. Finally, I had a baby. That slowed things down even more.<\/p>\n

Had I known then what I know now, I could have saved myself a few years. But I didn\u2019t, so I couldn\u2019t. Live and learn. Write and get better at it.<\/p>\n

How long should<\/span> a book take to write? My answer: as long as it takes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Writing, in large part, is an endurance test. The creation of a book is a marathon, not a sprint, so one of the most valuable traits a writer can cultivate is patience \u2013 with herself, with the industry, and with the creative process.<\/p>\n

Some writers work incredibly quickly. \u00a0I applaud them and, truth be told, am slightly envious of them. But if you\u2019re like me, and write at a snail\u2019s pace, that\u2019s OK too.<\/p>\n

Make peace with your natural pace and rhythms, whatever they are. That\u2019s how the best work happens.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Photo: cishore<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n

This post is part of a weekly series called “Countdown to Publication” on\u00a0SheWrites.com<\/a>, <\/em>the premier social network for women writers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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