Alle responds to: "Takes how long for draft of first novel?"

(By the way, a review for my first novel.)

Many writers make the mistake of wanting to get the book written ASAP in order to get it OUT THERE.

Readers do not care how quickly you get the book to market. They want to identify with the characters, love the setting, be pulled as if the plot were riptide, then surf the ending.

Here’s the thing: it doesn't make any sense to put out a book that's not your absolute best. If you are taking writing at all seriously, you will :

• write four or five drafts

• find some people to look at it

• go back to work for a few more drafts

• hire an editor (if you can—if not, trade ms. with someone)

• repeat the cycle again and again, until you feel ready

As unhelpful as the above seems, there are no exact numbers to give you. It really does take exactly as long as it takes.

• My first novel took seven years to get to a first draft. Another fifteen with revisions all along before I had a book deal.

• My second novel took seven years to get into agent-shape.

Settle in for the long haul. The secret is to enjoy the work! There will never be less pressure or expectation than there is now.