Thursday 24 June 2010

Fast or slow - which is best?

Tomorrow is the copy deadline for my next book. I have 15,000 words left to write and am covering 3,000 words a day. I have a sneaky feeling that this pace delivers a better book than the Utopian 'chapter a week' rate we set out to do but never start soon enough.

I book written slowly, intertwined with everyday life and work is a book where you can't quite remember what was in Chapter 3 by the time to start writing Chapter 6. That can be very embarrassing as case studies you'd like to use and decide to use, are in your mind because you've used them already. Points get made twice and favourite phrases pop up with startling regularity.

Right now though, I'm doing it my preferred way. The book is my entire life, dominating every waking moment and every section builds on those it follows in a logical and structured way. I feel that only by achieving this level of intimacy and total focus as I write the book, can I even aspire to a close connection with my readers who will be buying the book in November.

All authors run over their deadline - maybe it's for a good reason. I'll argue that books are better for being written this way. Do you agree?