First, I would like to say, no, this post does not give you a mathematical equation to literally figure out how many hours, days, months, years, whatever, that it will take you write your novel. Obviously there are a lot of factors that depend on you personally as a writer.
But what this post does give you is a questionnaire that helps you determine how complex your novel is, which will then, hopefully, help you gauge what kind of effort and energy you will need to complete your story.
While some authors write faster than others, some stories, frankly, take longer to write than others.
And it doesn’t just depend on the length of your manuscript. Some stories have simpler structures, others more complex. Here are some questions you can ask yourself when plotting your novel to help you gauge how long it will take to write it.
Keep track of your answers. They run from simple to complex, with the letter “A” being simple and onward, more complex. Remember, the more complex doesn’t mean the better your story is. Simple stories can be powerful too.
(Note that I created this myself, so if you have any ideas for improvement, please let me know. This was the best I could get it at this moment.)
How large is your cast of characters?A. Small cast of characters
B. Medium cast of characters
C. Large cast of charactersHow many different settings are in your story?
A. Story takes place in mostly one area. (For example, the character never leave the farm.)
B. Story takes place over a lot of different areas I’m familiar with
C. Story takes place in another time or place that I will need to research extensively
D. Story takes place in another time and place I will need to research extensivelyorStory takes place on a completely different world I need to create from scratch
How thematic is your story?
A. My story doesn’t have much of a theme. I’m just writing a story.
B. My story has a bit of a theme that came alive all on its own.
C. My story has a specific, thorough theme that I need to plan carefully to best impact the reader*Note that you may have multiple themes, which makes your story even more complex.
Lengthy but well worth a look. Sometimes authors get in over their heads. Every story needs a different level of attention. My first book took about two years to write. The second and third are both almost done, because I did them for NaNoWriMo and actually succeeded. I’d streamlined the process quite a bit by the time I got to them. They still need to be finished, but perfecting the first one is my priority.
What’s the longest time you’ve spent on a single story?