Just How Long Does It Take To Get A Novel Published?
My Journey
When did I first know I wanted to be a writer? I’m not really sure. There was no one day that the desire struck me. I always liked books. Couldn’t wait for the Weekly Reader book orders to come in. Remember those? What joy to mark the list which books you wanted. Then the box comes in and the anticipation of getting the new books. Holding them and smelling them. What a treat.
I do remember in high school when our teacher gave us pictures and told us to write a story. I loved it. But there was no encouragement. Add to that the fact that all the books we read in school were written by authors who were long dead and the idea of writing for a living just wasn’t on the radar.
One summer, my best friend and I decided to try and write another book with the characters in the book Hawaii. We didn’t get very far, but I guess that shows the idea of writing was inside me although it stayed dormant for quite some time.
One starting point came when I read something in the paper and it made me mad. So I wrote a letter to the editor. And they published it. That definitely sparked a desire inside me. But with a young son and a pet store to run, I didn’t think about trying to write for a living.
Maybe, six years after that event, I discovered the Writer’s Digest Magazine. I didn’t know such a thing existed. I bought a subscription for a dear woman that lived with us. She was an English teacher and had a desire to write. That opened a door for my growing curiosity about the writing world.
A year or so later, we attended a small writing conference. Now I was hooked. Soon after, ideas for stories and novels wafted through my mind. Could I do such a thing? Could I really write a book?
I went to more conferences. Joined a critique group that met once a month. I loved it. Learned a lot, mostly that I had a lot more to learn. The ideas came at me like windstorm. So much so that my crit group dubbed me the book-of-the-month writer. Not that I finished them, but every month I came with the start of a new book.
Finally, in 2006, I decided that I needed to finish a book. This is my starting time. And on August 31, 2006, I finished my first complete novel. Golden Dreams. A historical set in 1865. Not published, but a good story. And I learned so much.
That’s enough for now. Have to go and edit my latest WIP.
