Why do (my) books take so long to write?

 

“A (good) book may be late for six months, but a book published too soon is bad forever” by Rachel Aaron

 

I’ve received a few emails from you guys asking “When will the book be ready?”

Soon, I promise! Honestly!

But here’s a quick look at the whole process to show you why Swift Escape isn’t out yet. It’s a bad excuse, I know, but at least it offers some explanation 🙂

Here it goes. (Feel free to skip lines 1–40 😉 I won’t mind.)

1. Plotting: I’m not great at it yet, which is why I sometimes need to trash many thousands of words. It’s a bad mistake, and many writers will understand this. I’ll work on it for my next book.
2. Finishing the first draft.
3. Rereading.
4. Rewriting.
5. Rereading again.
6. Deleting a lot of stuff.
7. Rewriting again.
8. Reading a few more times, with corrections and self-editing.
9. Taking a few weeks to “let it be” and doing something else: plotting or researching another book, reading a book by a different author, or doing something totally not book-related like swimming in the ocean!
10. Reading my book again.
11. Hating it! Wanting to delete all copies and backups of it on all computers because it sucks!
12. One day later, changing my mind, realizing that deleting it would be dumb.
13. Rewriting: Fixing plot holes and working on deepening the characters.
14. Reading the book and rethinking the story again.
15. Spending a few months on more rewriting.
16. Finishing the rewrite and feeling quite happy with it.
17. Sending it to my developmental editor.
18. Getting feedback from my dev. editor a few weeks later.
19. Digesting the feedback for several days.
20. Rewriting the book to incorporate the feedback.
21. Spending a few months removing, rewriting, and fixing logical errors and flat characters.
22. Reading it again, with a few last rewrites.
23. Sending it to my editor for copy/line editing.
24. Waiting for a few weeks but being too nervous to start writing anything else.
25. Getting feedback from my copy/line editor several weeks later.
26. Starting another rewrite based on the comments and corrections. This usually takes a few weeks, since it still includes some small storyline edits.
27. Giving my manuscript to my treasured beta readers, including my home-based editor aka my husband.
28. Finishing the rewrite based on the copy/line editor’s feedback and waiting to hear from the beta readers.
29. Incorporating feedback from the beta readers – a few days.
30. Incorporating feedback from my husband – several weeks.
31. Getting really, really tired of my book. (This is where I am now.)
32. Finishing adapting the super-useful feedback from my extremely detail-oriented husband.
33. Sending the manuscript to my copy/line editor for a final proofread.
34. Writing the blurb, designing illustrations, and writing pre- and post-novel text.
35. Completing the book within a few more weeks.
36. Sending the manuscript to a different proofreader (fresh eyes!) for the really final check.
37. After another few weeks, the book is REALLY finished.
38. Reading the book one last time, making sure it’s exactly how I want it.
39. Phew!
40. Publishing: Usually with Amazon kdp. Usually within five mins.

 

Why am I telling you all of this?

In the end, the book needs to be the BEST it possibly can be. The best I can possibly make it.

If I read it and realize there are still things I don’t like, I will need to revise it. And I will keep working on it until every single word is exactly as I want it. Because you—my readers—you deserve it to be the best that I can make it for you and nothing less.

So, yes, the book is late. I wanted to have Swift Escape ready for Xmas 2016 (ha ha!), but at that time it didn’t read as I wanted it to.

Although there’s been a slight delay, the novel you get will be better for it.

 

All right, enough of blogging. Time for more writing!

 

Yours truly,

Tara Jade