How hard is it to write a book

[tidlywinksthebarbershop]

Tell me your struggles everything

It's incredibly difficult. You have to have complete peace for large chunks of the day. People who manage in different circumstances are the exception in my opinion.

It's not that hard to actually write a book.

It's difficult to write a book on a deadline, and very difficult to write a book worth reading.

@Huhokthen

It's not that hard to actually write a book.

It's difficult to write a book on a deadline, and very difficult to write a book worth reading.

This is so true.

I'm finding VERY difficult to write one that makes agents take notice of it!

I've been looking to write a book for years now, I have a story characters everything it's all in my head if this makes sense to anyone, just never made anything of it, until now. Thank you for the replies

I have written 2 books for NaNoWrimo and did complete them but quality was in short supply and it also doesn't help you edit them (which a book written in a month needs badly!)

There's only one way to find out how hard it is to write a book...

Writting a book is not the hard part. Writting one that others want to read is more tricky, writting one that will be published and will sell even harder.

I find the writing both enjoyable and fairly easy.

The editing I find boring and difficult.

The procrastination while I don't edit I find easy.

I haven't tried publishing though, so they're probably rubbish.

The question to ask yourself is "why do I want to write a book?"

(Remember the old joke "everyone has a novel inside them... and 99 times out of a hundred that's exactly where it should stay.")

Because you love spinning a good yarn that keeps people entertained?

Because you're in love with words and want to paint pictures with them (be the next big literary novelist)?

Because you feel compelled to write and write and write and can't help yourself?

Because you fancy seeing your novel on the best-seller shelves?

There's no right answer, btw, but deciding what sort of writer you are may help you decide what process you want to adopt for writing.

As for starting point - I think that is the same for all types of books - at some point you have to sit down at a desk and start to write. And keep writing. Because the story in your head isn't a book... yet.

If you want to write a book and can carve time out of your day then writing it isn't that hard. What I think is hard is writing something that is in a genre that publishers want to publish and editing it to a standard that will make agents and publishers think it's got potential. That part imo takes longer than writing it in the first place...

I feel ya. I've written a 50,000 word first draft of my novel. Sent to 2 literary agents with good feedback but also "thanks but no thanks". It did feel good to be told I write very well but I'm not sure if the story is one people want to read

Getting ideas and getting excited visualising how they would work as novels or scripts is extremely easy and something everyone does.

Writing the first chapters of something, getting bored, and starting a new book is very easy and also something lots of people do.

Writing a first draft is relatively easy.

Plugging away through the multiple drafts and edits necessary to create something that’s publication-ready is very difficult. The difference between professional writers and hobbyist writers is being willing and able to step back and objectively see the flaws in your work, and do multiple redrafted, and be committed to working and working and fixing things until it’s perfect.

For me it's finding the time. I've at a point now where I have an hour or so each evening to do what I want but too many tasks to fill it. It's also difficult at that time as I'm tired from the day and just want to passively consume rather then create. I find using my phone to make notes during the day has been a big help. It means a lot of my thinking is done already and it's just the work of putting words to page that is required.

but I'm not sure if the story is one people want to read

I might have written one of these - it is 75,000 words long and I plan to self publish it at the start of next year. I wrote it whilst baby/toddler slept in the afternoon (in between the school run) over a few years. The constant editing did drive me a bit mad and I'm still tweaking bits and pieces now. I've spent a bit of money on my book - cover and copy edit (freelancers) and I have to say it's polished the book up really well. I never wrote it to be published, when I began writing it, it was purely cathartic but it ended up with a proper story arc etc. But it is not necessarily very commercial and the five agents I sent it to said they didn't feel passionately enough about it (well 3 of them, no response at all from the other 2). I suppose at the end of the day, I wrote it for me and it is a bonus if others buy it and get something from it.

It's incredibly difficult. You have to have complete peace for large chunks of the day. I don't agree with this. That used to be me, but I have found it gets easier and can make use of the odd hour, even if that is just for editing or mapping out a chapter with notes.

If you pick away at your story even doing just 300 words a day you will find they add up!

Published author here. Think of it as running a marathon. It takes a lot of time and effort to get good at it, and some people are naturally better at it than others. But there's no magic trick. You need something to write on, something to write with, something to say, and the persistence to say it. That's it.

My best advice is to set yourself a daily word count. 500 a day, 1000 a day, 2000 a day, whatever you feel is achievable. Show up even when you don't feel like it. Write even when every word is crap. Depending on your target, you'll have a workable first draft within four months to a year.

Then you need to edit it, which will take at least as long and be at least as difficult and will about kill you, but if you do it right, you'll have a piece of work you can be pleased with.

If your goal is publication, the odds are your first novel won't find a publisher (although it might). But you will have learned so, so much from writing your first one. Writing is like any other skill - the more you do it, the better you get at it.

Good luck and get writing!

Oh, and you don't need complete peace, a beautiful coffee shop, hours of uninterrupted time or a desert island to be a novelist. Write in whatever snippets of time you can find. It all adds up.

@outrageousflavourlikefreesias how have you found being published? Is it as you expected/hoped?

Thank you all for the replies, very helpful and interesting hopefully get my head down and see what I can do

@SomeOtherGirl I don't know that I had any expectations particularly, but it's been great. Very happy with my publisher, they've really supported my work and my eighth book comes out this October. I'd definitely recommend the experience

I'm trying to write a novel and am finding it VERY DIFFICULT!

I keep changing focus and have (stupidly) rewritten my first few chapters several times. However, this time I feel like the story is going in the right direction so I'm certain I won't rewrite (and I was able to salvage some of my recent chapter 2 and make it chapter 1).

My problem is that I'm clear on the overarching story but I don't have enough 'stuff' to fill the novel with. Years ago I used to write scripts and found them easier as you can be more succinct and brief.

My worry is that I won't manage to write a novel as I won't be able to think of enough drama / action / stuff to fill lots of chapters.

Most people overwrite but I underwrite and all my scenes are really short.

It depends on what sort of book it is, and on what sort of writer you are.

One thing that makes it easier is to have a routine. Set a time in the day when you are going to write, and then make sure you write. No excuses. It takes showing up for work every day to get to the end of an entire book.

Writing a first draft is relatively easy. Plugging away through the multiple drafts and edits necessary to create something that’s publication-ready is very difficult

This is what I mean about its depending on what sort of writer you are. It's so different for everyone. Personally I find first drafts absolute hell, but I find editing enjoyable, and I don't mind how long the editing goes on.

There's not one answer to this, as this thread proves. I'm a novelist and after a bit, I've found that even when there's no pressure to write, I get antsy if I haven't done anything. It is very theraputic indeed- you have a whole other life being lived in your mind. It's my favourite thing in the world and I'm so bloody lucky to be able to call it my job.

@LimeLemonOrange

I'd suggest you just try writing through the novel a chapter at a time.
When I plotted one, I came out with around 10 chapters, which was going to be well too short.
But when I actually came to write it, I found that often I couldn't go from one chapter to what I thought would be the next. What I'd planned for was just the outline; I'd only looked at the main events.
But the main events need to be set up, you can't just leap from one to the other.
And in doing that I also found that some of the main events, that I'd put down as being one chapter, were two or even three chapters because it wasn't something that was done and dusted in one.
I ended up with 19 chapters.

So try writing it as it comes and it may be that you'll find there is a lot more than you think!