This question may just be burning in your brain: how long does it actually take to write a chapter? Well, with Otherworld, it took me about one to two hours, unless I was in a particularly intense part. Since my book was about 50,000 words, and I had about 40 chapters…well, it averaged maybe 1,000 words per chapter.
For my new book, I’m aiming for 2,000 words per chapter. You kind of get a feel for how long you need to write to get that amount of words. Tonight, it turned out to be about four hours.
The good thing about historical fiction, since I’m basing on the sagas, is that I don’t run into writer’s block. Actually, I didn’t have any with my last book. Once I get into my characters, I’m just trying to figure out what I need to do to them next. With my last book, I had a very rough outline, knowing which chapter needed to have my “turn-around” action.
I’m at the point in my life where I really enjoy writing. Unlike poetry, which I write for myself when the spirit moves me, I write books for people to read. And yes, it would be nice to get paid something for it!
So right now I just finished chapter seven, and I’m about 13,500 words into the book. Looking forward to getting to chapter 40 on this one!
–Heather