Writing a book is a huge undertaking. It takes an immense amount of time and the only real way to finish it to chip away at the task a bit at a time.
So how long do you spend writing a week on average?
For me, I had very little time to write for a long time, but now am able to carve out more time for it. I’m now writing around 15 hours a week, but it doesn’t feel like enough!
What about you?
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Art: Portrait of Stanisław August Poniatowski with an hourglass by Wincenty de Lesseur
While writing a novel, I aim for three days a week for six hours a day. Bearing in mind that some of this is editing as I go, it equals 18 hours a week.
In the midst of revisions, this fluctuates: more hours if I’m on deadline, fewer if I’m not. This doesn’t include the time I spend writing for my travel blog, Atlas & Boots. (There is certainly something to be said for keeping your passion a passion and not a job!)
Wooah… no more editing capability on comments…
I’m in a different situation to the average writer because I’m disabled, therefore my work is always open in front of me, except I’m at the dining table and life happens around me. One advantage – my butt is always on the seat! lol! I squeeze in snippets of writing/editing when I can. I love weekends because carers aren’t here as long and I get a block of time, not snippets. I perhaps average 3/4 hours on a good day, it just fluctuates depending on distractions.
Great question, Nathan, great blog!
My initial reaction was “too many.” But, I digress.
To answer your question, though, I think you have to separate “writing” from “marketing (blog, newsletter, social media).” In addition, you probably want to separate out client correspondence and time spent planning coaching calls, client critiques, etc.
In my case, the total would be 40-50 hours a week.
Writing: (books) 15-20 hours
Marketing: 20-30 hours
Client correspondence and planning: 10 hours
Another factor task that that has to be addressed is–if I do things “right,” the writing for my blog and newsletter actually does double or triple double duty, because it is reused in my book. Or, put another way, the writing for my blog and guest posts is also used for my book.
Thank you for bringing this important topic to everyone’s attention!
Roger
It varies wildly (such is the life of a freelancer). If I have too much work, I can’t write at all (we try to avoid this). If everything is working as I’ve planned it, I get 10-15 hours per week.
If I have no paid work at all, then I get a miraculous 30-40 hours per week! But I can almost never focus solely on writing for that long, and I usually end up doing 10-15 hours per week anyway and goofing off the rest of the time….
So maybe it doesn’t vary as much as I think. Hm.
I write anywhere from 20-30 hours a week, between 2 different projects.
I aim for 5 focused hours, four days a week. The ‘focused’ is a big key for me– no internet, phone, etc. Figuring in breaks and lunch, it takes me about 7 hours to get those 5 hours logged.
Lately I’ve been falling short of that mark, and have been coming in closer to 18 hours/week.
7-noon = 4/5 depending on interruptions
1-3 = 2
7-9 = 2
————
9 x 7 = 56
Had no freaking idea!
I write approximately 10-12 hours a week. That’s writing, not reading blogs, researching, etc.
I’m resurrecting a novel that I shelved a few years ago. I’m eliminating all the mistakes I made and creating a much livelier protagonist. A lot of work. I’d about two maybe three hours a day. Rounding up about 15 hours. Like you, I wish I could do more.