How long (on average) do you think it takes for a WIP to be completed and published as an HG?

General
21

This is super interesting to read. as a non-serious writer lol

It reminds me of this infogrpahic about how long famous novels took to write

the picture is big lol

1_tLXwRws998aZSZn_p36S-Q
1_tLXwRws998aZSZn_p36S-Q2000×3206 898 KB

Obviously with COG it’s a whole game so there’s the time to design branching plots, choices, code etc. I’m not sure if this is okay to ask, might be a little off topic and I don’t want to hijack you thread but I’m very interested in knowing… How do you stay motivated and passionate when you’re writing something for such a long time? Does your story start to feel bland?

6 Likes
22

I started Fallen Hero late 2014 (first demo jan 2015) and it was finished nov 2017 and published march 2018. But, there was about a year, year and a half break in the middle because the company I was working for moved, so I did the same, had to move, bought a house assorted real life drama.

6 Likes
23

For me, never! :slight_smile: The only thing that slows me down is lack of free time and too many other projects—the voices and stories of my characters are so vivid in my head that I feel like I have to tell them, so I never slow down. (That sounds crazy, but that’s how it doesn’t get bland for me, anyway!)

5 Likes
24

The…The Boy In the Striped Pajamas took 2 days? O______O

3 Likes
25

No. It has happened in the past with books, and for me that was a sign that something was missing. None of those books got finished, though some got reworked into other things. Fallen Hero was one of those.

2 Likes
26

I was shocked too! Wish I could write a novel in two days, really crank those things out

@rinari thank you for answering my question! And damn that’s awesome, knew you were cool for a reason. That’s the epitome of passion I guess!

@malinryden ooh, interesting. It’s amazing that no idea/story is ever a wasted effort. I’ve never thought of it like that, even the ones that don’t get finished can be reworked or revisited or learnt from :thinking:

4 Likes
27

Well, I started writing mine in 2016, too, and it’s just been finished! :partying_face: Well, assuming I don’t have to rewrite loads after beta testing… :sweat: I did certainly have several rather unproductive months in there, though, so I’m not sure how they’d be counted. :confused:

So, do you know how the lengths of time were calculated? :confused: Because I imagine that if they were self-reported there’d be a lot of room for error…

12 Likes
28

Aw thanks @hachimachi, you made me blush! :blush:

CONGRATULATIONS!!! That’s an amazing feat, I’m so excited for you! Yay for @ParrotWatcher!!! :tada:

3 Likes
29

I wondered that too. It does seem to be self-reported and claims that the authors have made but I can’t find any good sources. All I know is that a lot of places use that same data so I can only hope it’s a little accurate in some cases. The two days sounds crazy but I don’t think it factors in editing and revision time just the writing

Also congrats on finishing your story! That’s huge! I’d send you a cake but I’m worried what mailing it might do

2 Likes
30

I haven’t finished my WIP yet. I’m probably 2 and a half months away before submitting it for publication but I have some thoughts I’d like to share anyways.

I spent about 7 months writing Hong Kong Blood Opera in Notepad before I did any coding. I won’t be doing that again as I don’t think it was a very productive use of my time. Not only is writing and coding a more efficient use of my time but it also results in a better “game”.

The project moves a lot faster if I consider state tracking variables as I write.

I’ll give you an example. I have a character called Spin. He has three variables associated with him spinrel (the strength of your friendship) spinrom (how romantic your relations are) and spintre (Spin’s personal dilemma). In every scene with Spin I’m thinking about these three variables as I write. I’m also thinking of them occasionally even when Spin isn’t around.

Thinking about these variables also serves as a writing prompt which helps me when I get stuck. What kind of choices would improve or damage your relations with this character. What kind of choices would improve or destroy romantic feelings between you. What kind of choices would make Spin’s dilemma better or worse?

As I get more experienced in Choicescript the “how long will this take?” question has turned into the “how organized am I?” question.

7 Likes
31

The truest of statements.

10 Likes
32

Short answer: it varies.

Long answer: the rate at which a story is written relies on a great number of factors. The working tempo and writing style of the author themselves is obviously a major determinant, as the previous replies have made obvious, but even within a single writer’s body of work, there can be a lot of variation.

Sabres of Infinity took about 14 months from first word to publication. However, for about 7 or 8 of those months, I was effectively not writing. That period of my life was a rather uncertain one. I was contemplating switching my major from Political Science to History, and I was considering abandoning work in flash games, which had served as my part-time job for the prior few years. I was sceptical about the earning potential of a Hosted Game, and for long periods of time, I mostly refused to abandon the project entirely because the first few WIP chapters had elicited enough of a fanbase to make writing off the manuscript feel like a betrayal.

In the end, it took me about 5 months of writing to do 180 000 or so words, and it took CoG about three months to prepare the manuscript for release (it wasn’t copyedited, which explains why the post-production period was so short).

The Hero of Kendrickstone, on the other hand, was written under altogether different circumstances: I’d just moved into a new apartment, and I needed the revenue of a new title to pay for my rent and student loans, so I wrote as if my life depended on it. Altogether, it took maybe 7 months from conception to publish date (which included copyediting). Size: about 300 000 words. Total writing time: about 11 weeks.

Ultimately, there’s no set metric as to how fast any author (or even a particular author) might write a title. However, if you can take a step back, and account for living conditions, mental health, and other pressing obligations (important, as I think I’m the only non-staff writer here who does this sort of thing full-time) you might be able to make an educated guess.

13 Likes
33

It has taken me 2 years or so to write each of the CCH stories. And the publication queue and production work has generally added 3-4 months to the process.

I just find it a LOT more time intensive writing/coding IF, especially branchy parts, as opposed to writing traditional stuff (which I have very limited experience doing)

5 Likes
34

They created the new :partying_face: emoji just to celebrate!
(So proud of you :hugs:)

4 Likes
35

I’m quite proud of how quickly Blood Money was written and published, especially because there’s a high degree of complexity in the final chapters. My record as an editor is 366 days from contract to publication for The Superlatives: Aetherfall. It’s almost the same length as Blood Money but I do believe by the end of beta my dear author never wanted to see my name in her inbox again. :laughing: But of course, there’s a sequel under contract now.

10 Likes
36

The same time frame worked for me in the same time frame. For Winter Wolves, Planet Stronghold: Colonial Defense took 2 years (roughly) and was over 200,000 words with the free DLC. Love Bites took almost exactly 2 years for roughly 140,000 words.

As others have pointed out, real life also takes its toll. There is the normal bit of the dayjob; a person has to eat after all.

And I can appreciate other things that can stymie as @Cataphrak. Top of this is just coding. If you were just writing a book, it would be roughly half as fast.

In my case? During PSCD, I started to swell in my feet/legs, and got a series of infections, one of which even ended up with me in the hospital, for a little over a year. So while I was trying to write, I was also dealing with being sick, as well as anxiety and depression for it.

Love Bites had its own issues. Some people know that my sister died last year, and this brought about another case of anxiety/depression.

And in between those 4 years I was also making changes; some of which also hit writing capability. I actually made positive changes over the last 4 years; I went down a whole BMI body category, and kept it off (I was morbid obesity to just obesity). I’m actually on track to go down another category sometime next year (while I won’t deny I could go faster, but the fact I’ve kept it off is more important).

It also means I’ve already managed to get off one blood pressure medication entirely, and will be off the final one sometime in January at the rate I’m going.

However, as you can guess this meant that exercise takes up a large part of my day. I try to get between 30 minutes to 1 hour in, even if it is just light exercise like walking.

And yes, going to therapy takes time, though I’m pleased to say that I’ve managed to cut back on that. However, this also takes its toll.

That is why I’ve been more than grateful to @Eiwynn and @JimD for their understanding on my delays…

12 Likes
37

I found out about the contest in mid-June of 2017, and finished my 139,000 word entry January 30th. So about seven and a half months to get that much. I then did editing and such in May and submitted it to HG on the first anniversary of my starting it this June.

That was a couple months ago, so I am sure with the glut of stuff from the contest it will be a while longer before it sees the light of day. Almost certainly not this year. It hasn’t even showed up on the docket yet.

3 Likes
38

Oh? How long ago did you submit it, and did you receive confirmation that they received it?

1 Like
39

Yes, Rachel confirmed it went through a few days later. I don’t think anything has been added to that main post for a while, they just edit with release dates when stuff gets ready.

2 Likes
41

Oh man, this question has no real answer. Even an averaged number from the answers you receive will likely be inaccurate for most people.

People go through phases, and, as was previously mentioned, CoG/HG is totally a hobby for the majority of writers. I’ve got two (public) WiPs that I write intermittently for when I’ve got the drive and free time to do so (work an average of 60 hours per week, plus various personal life things pop up).

When I’m on a roll, I can put out 25,000 words (not including code) in about 2 days’ worth of writing (read: not 48 hours)…when I’m not, it can be months and months before I even open the file; then, when I do, I just edit the code a bit and lose all will to continue actually writing.

Not everyone is Stephen King, unfortunately. Some of us are George R.R. Martin, instead.

5 Likes