30 days if you do NaNoWriMo.
Jack Kerouac wrote On The Road in under a month (though he'd made previous attempts). Bukowski did Post Office in a little over a fortnight. And I think I read somewhere that George Simenon could produce a book a week.
Richard Ford's latest, though - Canada - apparently took 20 years. In an interview, he says he wrote the first 20 pages in 1992 - then put it and all his notes in the freezer compartment of his fridge! At that point, he knew the title, and knew it was about a boy crossing the border of the US into Canada, but "I didn't know why he was going there. I didn't know why two parents would have abandoned him."
Over the next 20 years, he'd from time to time "get a little idea about how a person would get into that situation, and write it down and add it to the envelope in the freezer."
The book was finally published last month, to huge acclaim. I like his fiction - especially the short stories - so I look forward to getting hold of it.
Ford added in the interview: "Writing never came naturally, and I still have to force my hand to do it."
Gives us all a little hope, perhaps!
alibob | June 30, 2012 - 12:40
I attempted NaNoWriMo last year, failed miserably, and learned that I am first and foremost a short story writer. So when I write my novel, it will be a series of interlinked short stories!!! And I will write my novel. One day...
Stan | June 30, 2012 - 13:43
Sounds like a good idea, alibob. I entered last year for the first time and managed it - with a lot of padding! It's the one I've been posting on here - In The Day. Like you, I never in a million years dreamed I could write a novel and have always felt first and foremost a short story writer. But the experience of NaNoWriMo last year made me think that perhaps I can work with a broader canvas - though what I produced isn't a 'conventional' novel in terms of plot or structure, but is more like a series of interconnected episodes. A journal, really.
Like you, too, I'm thinking along the lines of a series of interconnected short stories for my next attempt. Have you read 'Winesburg, Ohio'? That kind of thing. Alice Munro's stories, too, have overlaps that give them novelistic qualities. To be honest, the short story has always been my favourite form of fiction. More satisfying to read - and a lot tougher to write. I think novels are hugely over-rated!
Zalgradis | July 11, 2012 - 15:37
I'd love to write a novel but my patience is ridiculously absent. I might follow Fords example, that was an encouraging thing to read Stan, cheers *S*
Love short stories though, especially ones that aren't linear.
Stan | July 13, 2012 - 01:08
I could suggest a few, Zalgradis. Give 'Winesburg, Ohio' a try if you haven't already. Bit of a blueprint for the 'short story novel'.
shep5377 | July 14, 2012 - 14:17
It depends completely on the time and commitment you can give to the task. Tolkien took years and years, but that was mainly because he created his own languages and back stories, never really intending it to be published.
I recently started a novel/novella, but I haven't been able to dedicate anywhere near the time required for it. I've just bought myself a netbook so I can do a little bit more. Here's hoping!!
Stan | July 14, 2012 - 14:28
I did that, Shep. The Netbook has been a boon for me. Using Word only, the battery life is phenomenal - up to 12 hours - so I can use it just about anywhere. Screen size is the only let-down, but it's a minor thing.
It's true what you say about the time, of course. How much research you need to do, etc. I only managed NaNoWriMo last year because most of what I wrote was limited to stuff I knew, so I didn't need to do much research. It was only a short novel, anyway.
Some writers, like Salinger, only seem to have the one novel. Others, like Stephen King, seem to just be able to keep churning out these bricks (though he reckons to try to get a reasonably manageable 2,000 words a day... which is still 730,000 a year). I suppose he's got nothing else to do, though.
There's no hard and fast rule. It takes as long as it takes.