on writing speed

Someone mentioned that I seem to write fast compared to other writers. This amused me, because I’ve encountered people who can do a novel in a week.

But I do write pretty fast. Two reasons why.

One, since 2011, I’ve written exclusively for ebooks. So that means we don’t have to deal with all the stuff of legacy publishing – typesetting and page proofs and warehousing and shipping and all that.  In the old days you could only print so many books and stay profitable, which was why writers had to write slow. Now I can write as much as I want!

Second, I’ve had a lot of practice. I believe FROSTBORN: THE DARK WARDEN was my 33rd novel – 12 GHOSTS books, 7 DEMONSOULED books, 6 FROSTBORN books,  4 in THE TOWER OF ENDLESS WORLDS, 3 in THE THIRD SOUL (I count the first five novellas as one book), and my one attempt at a thriller novel that sells one copy every other month. I’ve done this before, and when I type “CHAPTER 1” I know exactly what I’m getting myself into.

Writing novels is a lot like baking elaborate cakes from scratch. The first time, you go very slowly. But after enough practice, you can go much faster, and the cakes will actually taste better than your first one.

-JM