A WRITER'S LIFE

Answers to Your Questions

by Joelle Steele

What is a writer's life like? Well, it depends on the writer. Here are some answers to questions readers and students have frequently asked me over the years.

Do you get lonely? Never. Writing is not my whole life. It is my career, it is important to me, and I love everything about it. But, my priorities in life are my family and friends. Most of my ideas for both my fiction and non-fiction have usually come from people and places in my life and my own hobbies and interests. I also do genealogy, so some of my writing is genealogical histories for my clients.

How often do you write? I work on writing projects every day of the week for at least four or five hours per day. I do have places to go and people to see, so sometimes I can only manage to get two hours writing in on those days, but never less than two hours.

How long does it take to write your novels? No easy answer. It takes however long it takes. No two novels (or novellas), no two books, are ever the same. There's research, character development, plot charts, outlines, and as many as four edits/rewrites. And for me there's also cover design, and typesetting the book. In general, a novella can take the same amount of time as a novel. I've written novels that took me about 30 days working an average of five hours a day. I've also written ones that took me four months, working the same number of hours per day.

How long does it take to write your illustrated non-fiction books? They take much longer, mainly because in addition to writing them, I have to come up with all the graphics, charts, photos (either doing them myself or purchasing them online), bibliographies, glossaries, and indexing (which I do by hand for accuracy). Like novels, they require research to augment my knowledge. I also typeset my non-fiction books so that I can make sure the images line up where I want them to in the book. That often requires that I rewrite the text slightly to better fit the page.

How long does it take to write an article? If you know how to write, can type 70-80 wpm, and know the subject matter inside and out, not that long. It mostly depends on how many words a client or publisher needs. For 250-500 words it should take about an hour; 500-1,000 words, about three hours. 1,000-2,000 words, about five or six hours. If you have to do research too-- which you should anyway -- it can take about an hour or more longer. Interviewing experts would add time to the process, and so would finding or taking photos.

Where do you write? Mostly in my home office. I have always had a home office, and I've lived in everything from small studio apartments to my current 3-bedroom house. I write on my desktop computer to keep my posture correct and to avoid fatigue or pain in my neck and back. I also have a stepped keyboard so that I can touch-type quickly and accurately. But I also write away from the office on occasion, and then I write in spiral notebooks because I don't like the keyboards on laptops.

Every writer has to find what makes them the most productive, especially if they have a "day job." I have a lot of interests, many of which I write about, and they keep me busy. So, I have to find the most expedient ways of doing everything that will allow me the time to write.