tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post2971167858129367494..comments2024-01-12T00:00:04.996-05:00Comments on The Paper Wait: How Long Does It Take to Write a Book?Eileen Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147679493619958932noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-9987033080260806902009-02-18T20:20:00.000-05:002009-02-18T20:20:00.000-05:00Btw, Meg, your comment cracked me up.Btw, Meg, your comment cracked me up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-59741664355193502972009-02-18T20:19:00.000-05:002009-02-18T20:19:00.000-05:00Meg: What's an extra "r" between friends?Meg: What's an extra "r" between friends?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-31061478945502090722009-02-18T13:29:00.000-05:002009-02-18T13:29:00.000-05:00Okay, so another reason why I'll never win a NEWBE...Okay, so another reason why I'll never win a NEWBERY...<BR/>I can't spell it!Meg Wiviotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16178051434999444739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-43232055245000920552009-02-18T09:51:00.000-05:002009-02-18T09:51:00.000-05:00About a million years ago...at one of the first On...About a million years ago...at one of the first One On Ones I attended another writer (member of our group and commenter on this post) was paired with Gail Levine right after ELLA ENCHANTED was made a Newberry Honor. This friend relayed to me that Gail Levine said something like, "in the years it took me to write Ella..." and the friend and I were APPALLED that it had taken her years.<BR/><BR/>Like I said, it was about a million years ago and that friend and I are now taking years to write our novels (neither of us thinking any of our work will ever be a Newberry Honor).Meg Wiviotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16178051434999444739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-77402225795386859622009-02-17T17:34:00.000-05:002009-02-17T17:34:00.000-05:00J.A., I prefer revising too. It's just that it's s...J.A., I prefer revising too. It's just that it's such a long road. Each round of critiques results in a new draft. Each new draft means more stops and starts from the reasons I mentioned. I'm just anxious to be done--for better or worse!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-75050667169745666982009-02-17T17:01:00.000-05:002009-02-17T17:01:00.000-05:00I'm the opposite. I draft in fits and starts. I'll...I'm the opposite. I draft in fits and starts. I'll write tons for a few weeks, than nothing for a few more. On again. Off again.<BR/><BR/>Revision, on the other hand, I relish. I can keep going on a revision. Then, it's on again, on again, on again as the manuscript really takes shape.J.A. Palermohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18325616361174334630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-25035450173741738792009-02-17T11:08:00.000-05:002009-02-17T11:08:00.000-05:00Sharon: You're welcome. I'm encouraged by your com...Sharon: You're welcome. I'm encouraged by your comment as well. :-) Thanks for stopping by. <BR/><BR/>Hi Bish: So glad you like the quote. I never thought of it as being Zen...until now. Cool.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-56186339607183967992009-02-16T08:20:00.000-05:002009-02-16T08:20:00.000-05:00Love the quote. It's very Zen.Love the quote. It's very Zen.Bish Denhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13359927719391990534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-20727078424814846422009-02-16T07:48:00.000-05:002009-02-16T07:48:00.000-05:00Writing for me is slow, sometimes painfully so. I'...Writing for me is slow, sometimes painfully so. I'm encouraged to read about other writers' experiences with the process. Thanks for this post.<BR/><BR/>svz (from the blueboards)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-7839736166712532422009-02-15T21:26:00.000-05:002009-02-15T21:26:00.000-05:00um, make that "much time left"...um, make that "much time left"...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-15663899700168951802009-02-15T21:24:00.000-05:002009-02-15T21:24:00.000-05:00Robin, love the quote. Gale, you are absolutely ri...Robin, love the quote. <BR/><BR/>Gale, you are absolutely right about Neil Gaiman. I'm a huge fan of one of his many wonderful "interim" books, Coraline. <BR/><BR/>Btw, I too am publishing other things right now, just not fiction. :-(<BR/><BR/>As for Margaret Mitchell, I read that she never published another book after GWTW because she lost interest in writing. Ten years after it was published, she was killed in a car accident, so she didn't have much time lef to change her mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-68853554107659651802009-02-15T15:30:00.000-05:002009-02-15T15:30:00.000-05:00But the thing about Neil Gaiman is that during tha...But the thing about Neil Gaiman is that during that 20 years, as he tried every now and then to continue with The Graveyard Book, he was constantly writing and publishing other things. It isn't as though he agonized every day for twenty years over one work.<BR/><BR/>Now Margaret Mitchell, as far as I know, is another matter. I think she did spend six years with Scarlett, Rhett and co. Can't imagine it. Wonder if she had any notion it was going to be published, or she was just writing away and hoping.Gale Sypher Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06316827256622168039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-55920301798545065832009-02-15T14:42:00.000-05:002009-02-15T14:42:00.000-05:00Great post!My process is agonizingly slow, so I lo...Great post!<BR/><BR/>My process is agonizingly slow, so I look at the first part of your list and go "whoa" and feel much more heartened by the end of it!<BR/><BR/>I know for me though I don't want to blame my process when I'm feeling unproductive. You really have to work whether you feel like it or not. That's the kicker.<BR/><BR/>One of my favorite writing quotes is from Barbara Kingsolver... "The first draft is a work of construction, the tenth draft the work of an artist" (I hope that's the quote, used to have it on my writing desk, but now I have a new desk and can't find the darn source!!!) <BR/><BR/>Anyway, I find great consolation in that quote some days :)Robin Constantinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12702857007702547325noreply@blogger.com