What's the shortest amount of time it's taken you to write a novel?

Question

Hi! I was curious, for all authors out there, what was the shortest amount of time it's taken you to write a novel. I've heard of authors that take years to write a novel, while others write them in two to three weeks. Thank you so much for any answers!

Answer 1

I've been writing one for about a year, and I'm almost done.... only about twenty-forty more pages.  Hope that's a good enough answer, cause it's the best one I have :)

Answer 2

I heard Stephen King writes a couple before lunch everyday....lol

Answer 3

For a first draft I could probably get one out in two or three weeks.

But I never do, because I can't control my urge to edit as I go along, so I keep starting again...

Three months is about my average.

Answer 4

The amount of time it takes to write a novel hinges on two things:  the amount of effort required to write a novel, and the amount of effort the author dedicates to writing it.  Therefore, it can take days, months, or indeed years to complete.

My current project began as a series of short stories following the adventures of a young demon fighter, but has now become a trilogy of novels.  The short stories were easy to write, but not so easy to join together, as they were all intended to be their own stories before.  They need to adapt to each other, even grow into each other.  Whenever writing a series, of course, you need to be more careful with each book in the series, taking even longer.

Also, when telling a story, you must understand the setting.  If it is set in this world, say in the city of Chicago, then all you need is knowledge of Chicago.  That can take months, maybe years, depending on how much detail about the setting will go in your story.  When writing a fantasy story, then you must create an entire world for your characters to inhabit.

Preparation always takes longer than the actual writing, but that's because it is so important.  So, really, it's very difficult to actually say how long it takes to write a novel.  I've been working on Book One of my trilogy for arguably five years, now.

Answer 5

Well, for NaNoWriMo, I got 50,000+ words in 30 days. All would-be authors are to write (and not edit) their novel. You win just by finishing (though most of us don't have anything published from this).

I did a play in a few days as well as a screenplay in a less than a week, but the story had been building in my head prior to putting it on paper.

Answer 6

I can probably write a decent written short story in about 3-4 days. The shortest for a well written novel for me would probably be a month of nothing but writing(: