A few days back I read a writer’s interview. She said
that her plan was to write four books each year and self-publish them. I was
quite shocked. I felt that four books in one year is a bit too much. It takes
most of us so much time to write just one book, what with life, work, social
commitments and other things interrupting our writing.
The writer not just spoke about her ambition of
writing four books in one year, she was actually doing it: writing one book,
editing another, revising a third and outlining the fourth. My eyes nearly
popped out when I read her interview. I am wondering whether I should ask her
how does she do it? Maybe she has a time-turner that gives her extra hours in a
day or perhaps her muse is extra generous with her. Or maybe she writes in her
sleep too.
Maybe I am wrong, but I feel that when writers write
so many books in one year, the quality of the writing is compromised. Good
stories take time to develop and take shape. The writing improves over several
drafts and revisions.
I have read that some writers take years to write
each single book. Well, to each, his own. I also read that when one signs up
with an agent, agents expect a writer to write one book each year.
What are your views regarding writers writing
several books every year? Do you think the quality of writing suffers when
writers write many books in a year? What is your personal take on this? Have
you written several books in one year? What is your writing pace?
