How long does it take you to write a story?

[Series 6]

I look at the number of stories submitted by some writers and they seem quite prolific. Especially writers who can submit multiple stories for a contest. Currently there is one writer who has about 13 stories submitted for the Nude Day Contest.

I feel like it can take me a couple of months to just crank out one story. I'm not saying either is bad or good, I just find it amazing that someone can write so much, so fast.

 

[sr71plt]

I usually write a story in one sitting. So, anywhere between 2,500 and 5,000 words in two to four hours. When I'm writing on something of longer length, it's about 4,000 words a day--and, again, I try to write in chapter lengths without stopping. I write nearly every day, and average about 4,000 words a day--when I'm not working on some other aspect of putting it together, like reviewing and polishing it, formatting it, and composing any blurbs that have to go with it to the publisher, reviewing proof copy when it comes back from editing, cleanup, etc.

 

[Darkniciad]

Never know. I've finished tales in one sitting, and I have stories that are two years old that have something that doesn't feel quite right, and still aren't finished. I pick up Barren Harvest every year in late August and start mulling it over again. One of these years, it will make it out for the Halloween contest.

My highest view and highest vote stories are both 1 or 2 sitting stories.

 

[sr71plt]

My highest view and highest vote stories are both 1 or 2 sitting stories.

I'd say that was because their flow was the most natural and least contrived, because they were less studied--at least in the writing. They could be highly studied in the research and work well.

 

[Darkniciad]

I'd say that was because their flow was the most natural and least contrived, because they were less studied--at least in the writing. They could be highly studied in the research and work well.

More likely it's because they're pure, unapologetic smut. *laugh* Setup and screw is all there is to them. Right in the butter zone of the average Lit reader attention span ( a little over two pages ) and MILF stories, which have a broad range of appeal.

 

[sethp]

I used to write my stories in one sitting but they were only 700-900 words or so. Now...I don't have the time to write in one sitting but that lets me write longer stories and well with focused writing an hour a day every day.. a week or two is good. but then it goes to the editor and then back to me for a rewrite and revisions. so that means at least a month from start to finish blah! and then if my editor says that it requires a massive re write because it doesn't make sense. well. I can either ignore her and finish it or do as she suggests ( which is always good but...I'm a writer, I'm sethp, I have a big ego lol) so it depends. I can crank one out in 2 weeks if life is kind. a month or more if it's not.

 

[sr71plt]

More likely it's because they're pure, unapologetic smut. *laugh* Setup and screw is all there is to them. Right in the butter zone of the average Lit reader attention span ( a little over two pages ) and MILF stories, which have a broad range of appeal.

Ah, well, I usually have a plot or theme in mind--and the fact checking--done before I start writing, so I don't think the smut gets written any faster than the story elements do.

 

[lovecraft68]

I look at the number of stories submitted by some writers and they seem quite prolific. Especially writers who can submit multiple stories for a contest. Currently there is one writer who has about 13 stories submitted for the Nude Day Contest.

I feel like it can take me a couple of months to just crank out one story. I'm not saying either is bad or good, I just find it amazing that someone can write so much, so fast.

This also varies on what you have going on in your life. Odds are if you work full time, have a family etc... you may sometimes write at a slower pace.

While in work I will find myself itching to write (my job bores me) and feel like I am going to go home and go nuts on the keyboard. Sometimes it happens. Other times I get home and I'm tired or I just find out that my 18 daughter did something stupid and now I'm aggravated. Or the wife shows up with company claiming she told me (okay probaby did)

So there are a lot of factors, My big days are Saturday and Sunday and I wusually do a little on weekdays. My chqpters are also pretty long these days. Around 15,000 words, start to finish with editing I have been averaging around 7-10 days.

 

[PennLady]

Most of my shorter stories took at least a few days to write, and that's quick for me. It also means that I had petty much the whole rough outline in my head, which isn't usual for me, but it's helpful when it happens. My longer stories have taken months.

So much of it, though, is a function of life (as for everyone) -- I'm a SAHM with two kids, and both home right now as one is off for the summer. Believe me, that cuts into writing time. I'm in fact very frustrated lately that I've had so little time to write; my hub offers to help, to take the kids for a night or a few hours on a weekend, but he's been so busy with work and we've had to do some family traveling that that hasn't happened, either. Sigh. I do try to write after the kids are in bed, but then it's late, I'm tired, etc.

Sorry, didn't mean to go on.

Anyway, for me, if I have the whole rough outline start to finish in my head, the story gets written more quickly. For longer stories where the whole thing hasn't come to me yet, it takes longer, and that in turn is affected by other things. So I wouldn't go expecting a story will take a certain amount of time to write -- it takes what it takes, and what you have to give it.

My first couple of contest entries were written in three or four straight nights of writing, probably 2-3 hour stretches, maybe four. Numbers Game, going by the posting dates, took me more like four months.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

Initially, I was completing the first draft of stories in two or three days. Now, it is taking me about a month to write the first draft and another two to three weeks to get it to my editor twice for revisions and corrections. The increase in time is due to having less time during the week to write; more attention to detail; and increased length.

 

[Kurokami]

Back when I was writing by my lonesome it'd take a few days for me to write a full story, from writing the first sentence to completing editing. That's because I write fast, and the nature of my job can sometimes allow me long stretches of waiting with just me and my laptop.

Later, I befriended an individual who became my editor, and it started taking a little longer. Which is fine, we both have lives, and the end product has definitely become better because of this.

By this point, I'm writing each story with creative input from my wife, (who'll often distract me during the course of a writing session with some silly argument or another ) having her edit for grammatical errors and the like, and then sending it off to my editor. The actual writing is still solely my domain, but the process of cranking out a completed submission now takes about a week, week and a half, tops.

That said, with kids on the way, who knows what it might be like by the end of the year?

 

[cfuhrer]

It typically takes me month to get a first draft on paper, but its usually close to word perfect when it hits the page. However, its handwritten. I carry a small notebok with me handwrite a paragraph or two as time allows. The hard part as a writer, and as an editor, is getting what's on the paper into the computer; for some reason that process faces the most pitfalls and set backs.

 

[Great_Brit]

If you just write the same story over and over again it needn't take long.

An example is Barbara Cartland who wrote 825 novels in some 80 years which is almost one a month. These were full length romances.

She wrote, in her later years at least, by dictating her novels to a secretary.

 

[Series 6]

This also varies on what you have going on in your life. Odds are if you work full time, have a family etc... you may sometimes write at a slower pace.

While in work I will find myself itching to write (my job bores me) and feel like I am going to go home and go nuts on the keyboard. Sometimes it happens. Other times I get home and I'm tired or I just find out that my 18 daughter did something stupid and now I'm aggravated. Or the wife shows up with company claiming she told me (okay probaby did)

So there are a lot of factors, My big days are Saturday and Sunday and I wusually do a little on weekdays. My chqpters are also pretty long these days. Around 15,000 words, start to finish with editing I have been averaging around 7-10 days.

I think work may be a big factor with my pace. I work full time and my job is really boring. As a result I find myself surfing the net a lot, so I end up jumping around a lot from one thing to another. It probably causes me a bit of attention deficit syndrome and prevents me from really sitting down and focusing.

Plus sometimes I find writing the sex act portion of the story challenging. I feel like I have some good ideas that lead up to the sex, but go blank on describing the sex.

Plus I feel more motivated to write during the day when I'm fresh than at night when I'm a little worn out. I would write at work, but getting caught would be quite the career limiter.

 

[mynameisben]

I approach every story I write the same way I approach a great big yak. First, I cut off his balls. Then he kicks the holy shit out of me. After I dust myself off, I discover that I am bleeding and limp my way back home.

I hope that helps.

 

[Kurokami]

I approach every story I write the same way I approach a great big yak. First, I cut off his balls. Then he kicks the holy shit out of me. After I dust myself off, I discover that I am bleeding and limp my way back home.

I hope that helps.

This is possibly the finest metaphor for the process of writing that I have ever read.

 

[sr71plt]

This is possibly the finest metaphor for the process of writing that I have ever read.

I'm certainly glad that isn't my metaphor. If it was, I just wouldn't write. Seriously.

 

[Series 6]

I approach every story I write the same way I approach a great big yak. First, I cut off his balls. Then he kicks the holy shit out of me. After I dust myself off, I discover that I am bleeding and limp my way back home.

I hope that helps.

So what you are saying is it's quite a fight.

 

[lovecraft68]

I think work may be a big factor with my pace. I work full time and my job is really boring. As a result I find myself surfing the net a lot, so I end up jumping around a lot from one thing to another. It probably causes me a bit of attention deficit syndrome and prevents me from really sitting down and focusing.

Plus sometimes I find writing the sex act portion of the story challenging. I feel like I have some good ideas that lead up to the sex, but go blank on describing the sex.

Plus I feel more motivated to write during the day when I'm fresh than at night when I'm a little worn out. I would write at work, but getting caught would be quite the career limiter.

I know the feeling. First am your mind is very fertile but I am in work by 7am. My wife thinks I'm nuts but I get up at 5am on Saturday for the sole purpose of writing and I do very well.

I do some edits at work sometimes and will write a little but only the story parts. So nothing racy.

I know what you mean about the sex scenes. Sometimes I find myself stalling to get to them because I don't have a set one in mind. Usually once I start though I get caught up in them.

 

[roomfor1more]

For me, the length it take me to write a story is a function of the time that I have available and how easy I find writing it.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

I look at the number of stories submitted by some writers and they seem quite prolific. Especially writers who can submit multiple stories for a contest. Currently there is one writer who has about 13 stories submitted for the Nude Day Contest.

I feel like it can take me a couple of months to just crank out one story. I'm not saying either is bad or good, I just find it amazing that someone can write so much, so fast.

I have started a series called "A Quickie From Sister" which is very short. And has garnered no praise either. But I have also been writing a much more thoughtful, engineered story called "Zombies - A Love Story" which has gotten great reviews this far.

Doesn't take much to write about sex. But intertwine the sex with a good plot and there you have it.

So how long does it take? Weeks at the very least, perhaps months for the less prolific.

Just saying.

 

[SydneyBlake]

What a relief to know that some of my favorite Lit authors have the same struggles as I do.

I do my best writing in the early morning, when it's still dark out. I make coffee and enjoy the silence in the office, just me and my laptop. On weekends, I can enjoy this solitude until about 8am; then the house starts waking up, and I'm fucked. During the week, I have to give it up around 5:30-6 to get ready for work.

I also do a little writing at work, but I can't really "get into it" there. No, they wouldn't be too happy if they knew I was writing.

I think I normally crank out about 10,000 words in about a week or so, from first draft to finished product (without benefit of another editor). The sex scenes are easy. I'll put in a placeholder for a sex scene and continue with the plot. Some things flow out of my head nearly perfect. Others are quite rough and need a great deal of hammering out. But when I'm on a roll, I don't want to quit for anything, not food, not sleep (but maybe for sex).

 

[HeyAll]

For me, it depends on how clear the vision is for that story and how excited it makes me, not to mention being in the writing mood.

The shortest time it took for me was 2 days for one story, and the second shortest was one week.

The longest is about a month, with writers block in between.

 

[JackandJilldo]

I guess it differs for everyone. Some people just have the ability to come up with ideas and type as fast as they come to mind.

My record, while writing one of my novels, was 17 pp in one day. Those were Word pp in 8.5x11 format. When the book was published, I think it came out to around 42 pp, in paperback form with #9 font. That particular book was started in March, and was in print by August, so it was kind of a speed write.

Not everyone is a speed writer. Some people have good ideas but take longer to get them down. Others can write a lot of junk and never say a damned thing. Some can do both, while others can't do either.

As long as you are writing and are happy with your work, don't be concerned about what others are doing. This isn't a race; it's just a place to post your own stories.