They say a week is a long time in politics. Three years is a long time in the life of a writer.
My fourth novel, Troll Life, was published in October 2018. It sold well, and I knew what I was going to do next.
I had an idea for my fifth novel, and I had the experience of the previous four to know that I could get it written, edited and published within a year. … More Burying the doubts.
The final edit. (How long does it take to write a novel Part 6) It was way back in June when I last did one of these blogs on how long it was taking me to write my fourth novel, Troll Life. At that stage I was up to 271 hours (40 planning, 80 writing … More The final edit. (How long does it take to write a novel Part 6)
I’ve been a little busy recently and have neglected my blog a bit. There’ll be some more detailed blogs coming soon but I thought I’d give a quick update on what I’ve been up to and what’s coming up in the next month. A lot of my time has been spent on freelance writing. I … More The busy life of a full time writer.
Should you edit already published work? As a writer, or even an artist, a filmmaker or any other creative type, there is a temptation to look at your previous work and wish you could have done it slightly differently. The general rule is that you should keep moving forward and not dwell on the past. … More Should you edit already published work?
It’s been quite some time since I last gave an update on my editing process. Back in October I was up to 197 hours worth of effort in writing and editing my fourth novel, Troll Life. This week I hit a major milestone when I finally sent copies to my review team for their critiques … More Time to write. (How long does it take to write a novel? Pt 5)
Finding time to blog. It feels like a long time since I’ve written a blog so I thought I’d pop in to let my readers know what I’ve been up to and that I haven’t abandoned them. Editing I’ve done a lot more editing on Troll Life and I will post about that separately. I … More Writing, editing and my celebrity lifestyle.
Editing workshop. Last week I was asked to do a last-minute editing workshop for Year Nines (13-14). With little time to prepare and not much information on what they wanted or expected from me, I had to come up with something quick and adaptable. I’m currently eighty hours into the editing process of my latest … More My top ten editing tips.
It’s been a while since I posted about the editing of my new novel as I’ve been a little bit busy with other stuff. More to follow on that in another blog soon. In my last blog on how long it was taking to write Troll Life, I was up to 158 hours. I’ve had … More Time to write. (How long does it take to write a novel? Pt 4)
In my previous blogs I have tried to outline how long it is taking me to write my latest novel. I’d got up to the second read through of the first draft and that had taken me 140 hours. Synopsis and character profiles – 10 hours Plot outline – 30 hours Write first draft – … More Time to write. (How long does it take to write a novel Pt.3)
As discussed in my previous blog, I’d been dipping in and out of the idea of writing Troll Life for about a year or so and did some work on a synopsis and character profiles in the summer of 2016. I don’t know how long I spent on it in total but I’m going to … More Time to write. (How long does it take to write a novel Pt.2)
Alan Parkinson 