Ashley
asked
Taylor Jenkins Reid:
This may have been asked before, but how long (on average) would you say it takes you to write your books? I'm an (aspiring) writer and I feel sometimes like I may never finish this book! Have you ever experienced that? P.S. I ask this because I have loved ALL of your books and you are one of the only people I consider an auto-buy author! I wish I was half as creative as you! :)
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Hi Ashley,
I tend to work in spurts -- I write a first draft very quickly, maybe two months. I'm fortunate in that I've been able to dedicate weeks of time to my books without having to do anything else. But when I had to write on nights and weekends, it took much longer. My first book was very short and I barely got it done in under a year. (I was frantically writing at midnight on New Year's Eve 2009 to try to finish that book so I could finally say it was done.)
My advice is to create structured time so that you can look ahead and say, "In [x] many months it will be done." If you write/edit a certain number of words per week, how long until you're at your final word count? (i.e. probably somewhere between 85-95k)
That way, you get rid of that feeling that it will never be done. It can take years if that's what you need. Some great writers take over a decade.
Just don't give up if you love it!
xo,
t
I tend to work in spurts -- I write a first draft very quickly, maybe two months. I'm fortunate in that I've been able to dedicate weeks of time to my books without having to do anything else. But when I had to write on nights and weekends, it took much longer. My first book was very short and I barely got it done in under a year. (I was frantically writing at midnight on New Year's Eve 2009 to try to finish that book so I could finally say it was done.)
My advice is to create structured time so that you can look ahead and say, "In [x] many months it will be done." If you write/edit a certain number of words per week, how long until you're at your final word count? (i.e. probably somewhere between 85-95k)
That way, you get rid of that feeling that it will never be done. It can take years if that's what you need. Some great writers take over a decade.
Just don't give up if you love it!
xo,
t
More Answered Questions
Anne Feldman
asked
Taylor Jenkins Reid:
Hi Taylor, I love the complexity of your plot in all of your stories but particularly in your latest, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (I loved every word of this book btw). Did you come up right away with the idea of constructing the story as you did, i.e. having Monique's POV and then having Evelyn tell the story? It works so well. I just finished the book on an airplane today, and I miss your characters!!
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