Q. How long does it take to write a children’s book?
A. No one knows! What we do know is that there are three steps to becoming a published author.
- Write the book.
- Revise the book.
- Sell the book.
As a rule of thumb, the longer the book, the longer it takes to write. That being said, some books take a long time to figure out even though the book is very short. Yes, it can take years to write a picture book. (My picture book Road Work Ahead was 25 years in the making.)
I’m not saying it takes years to write words on the page. Quite the opposite! It’s easy to sit down and write words. Making those words into a story is the hard part. Shaping a story into a coherent narrative is what takes time.
The legendary writing teacher William Zinsser wasn’t the only one who talked about easy reading and hard writing. Check out the Quote Investigator’s page for Easy Reading Is Hard Writing.
Don’t be fooled by the size!
If you want to write a “little” children’s book because you think it will be easy, you will be in for a BIG surprise.
Yes, you can write a picture book in an afternoon. You can write an entire novel in a month . . .
. . . but that is just the beginning of the process.
Easy writing makes hard reading.
To write a book that communicates your story clearly, you have to revise. So don’t write a children’s book because you think it will be easy.
Write the children’s book story that only you can tell.
The stories that only you can tell are worth the time it takes to write hard . . .
. . . so the book is easy to read.
Copyright © 2016 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
