I came across an article about writing novels for Kindle. It seems this author was turning out a book every nine weeks. That is fast novel writing time.
Now, I can write a novel draft in four weeks. NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) has taught me how to do that.
The steps are easy. I get an idea and think it through. Then I write down a bullet point list of plot ideas which may or may not appear in the draft. The last step is writing the draft of at least 50,000 words.
This is a rough draft. The characters aren’t really fully developed until half way through. Sometimes they even change names.
The plot has holes I can drive a semi through, if I drove a semi. There are side trips to places totally unrelated to the plot.
Facts are made up. I plan to check them out later.
In short, this is a draft, not a novel. It may be fast novel writing, but it isn’t ready for anyone to sit down and read.
Finishing Writing a Novel
Rewriting and editing can take months. All those facts need to be checked out. If I guessed wrong, the whole premise may fall apart leaving me writing an entirely new draft.
There is another reason I will never do fast novel writing for Kindle. I have a life outside of writing.
An author in my old writing group wanted to make it as an author. She raised sheep at the time. She sold all of them. Her husband joined her as they went to conferences.
The last I heard, she had made it as an author. All she did was research and write for her novel series.
I like my life. Going hiking and taking plant pictures. Milking the goats. Gardening. Watching the chickens.
Yes, I like writing. But fast novel writing consuming my life is not the way for me.