Confessions of a Slow Writer

by Katherine Kingston

I keep hearing from all the sites and newsletters for independent authors that the way to succeed is to write fast and put out a lot of stories. I understand that. As a reader, I always want more from my own favorite authors. There are several writers who don’t put things out nearly fast enough to suit me.

I don’t know that I’m anyone’s favorite author, but I’m definitely one who doesn’t write fast enough. I’ve been published for over twenty years, but in that time I’ve probably written a dozen or so novels and novellas and maybe two dozen short stories. Most of those have been published by Ellora’s Cave for the last ten years, but I’ve withdrawn everything from there.  I’m gradually re-releasing those, some as stand-alones and some in anthologies, but they’re all being re-edited and some rewritten a bit to make them more like my original vision.

I’m still writing new material too. Almost all of my stories in the Naughty Literati anthologies are written specifically for those. I have two novels that are in progress. One of those is close to completion.

But the truth is that I’m just not one who can put out a lot of stories quickly. I have a day job, a family, and friends that take up a lot of time. And there’s the need to promote the stories I have available. That takes up way more time than I’d like.

Add that to the fact that I’m not the kind of writer who can churn out a sentence here and a sentence there when I get a few minutes. I need to have the time and mental space to be able to sink into the world I’m creating, to give characters room to breathe and develop. I need chunks of connected, quiet time to make the stories come alive in my head so I can write them down for you.