# So how many Dopers are writing books? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 20, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465 "2006-09-20T19:46:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/1 "2006-09-20T19:46:05Z")
It seems like quite a few questions on this board are couched along the lines of: “This character in my book is doing X. Is that plausible?”. Are there really lots of budding novelists here? (And if so – stop wasting time on here and WRITE, dammit 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/2 "2006-09-20T19:48:38Z")
Nor am I! ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/3 "2006-09-20T20:17:52Z")
Me. Finished one, doing edits on another, hoping to get a third started during Nanowrimo. Science fiction, though not of the spaceship and alien type. ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/4 "2006-09-20T20:30:55Z")
_sheepishly raises his hand_ At least I am making a go of it. I’ve tried starting books before, but this is the first time I have ever really felt a connection to a story and been excited about the time I have set aside for writing each night. So I think that there is a good chance I will be able to finish this one. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/5 "2006-09-20T20:40:52Z")
Two finished. One published (but it’s poetry, not a novel). Finishing one (mystery). Starting one (YA or younger fantasy). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/6 "2006-09-20T21:13:38Z")
I’m still revising my NaNoWriMo from 2004. I doubt that I will try to get it published, however, since the situations are close enough to what I have experienced since that is easiest to write, it would be very easy for people to assume that I have the attitudes and issues of the protagonist (is there a term for the opposite of a Mary Sue?) ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/7 "2006-09-20T21:37:53Z")
I am. It’s a novel set in the Tudor age. I’ve been working on it for a year now and I’m about 3/4 of the way through the first draft. It’s huge-- I probably have about 700 pages already. In the last few months I’ve hit sort of a lull. There are some things that need to be redone and I’m not quite sure how to go about it. Since I’m not working on a deadline, I’m waiting for inspiration to strike rather than “forcing” it. Whether I ever get it published or not, I’m still pretty proud of it. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/8 "2006-09-20T21:41:42Z")
I’ve “started” two, one a treatise on the Bible as a tribal myth, the other a novel. I have a couple of characters for my novel and a situation I’ve gotten my hero into that I can’t yet figure a way out of. But considering that both of these “works” have been sitting on my computer for several years with a paragraph or two attached every so often, I wouldn’t expect to see them published in my lifetime . . . unless I live to be about 236. If you’re lazy and you know it. . . just sit there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/9 "2006-09-20T21:49:49Z")
I am. I’m about 3/4ths done a [young adult novel](http://geocities.com/mulderscreek/blog/neoxblog.html/10), and I’ve recently started one for adults…because I deal with writer’s block by starting new projects. I’ve written other novels, but haven’t published them. These, on the other hand, I am still hopeful about 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/10 "2006-09-20T21:54:57Z")
I have a few going, and several more doing the rounds inside my head. ---
**Author:** ![Lilairen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lilairen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilairen)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/11 "2006-09-20T22:01:08Z")
One novel finished and in submission; one finished and in editing before submission; several others half-finished. One cranky theology book in planning stages and currently on hold while all my reference books are in storage. Published as contributor to a book about the Boston Red Sox. Didn’t write the whole thing, but I got a royalty check off it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/12 "2006-09-20T22:15:36Z")
I’ve written six, varying in length from 150 pages up to nearly 700, all set in the Shadowrun RPG world. [All of them are posted on my website](http://www.magespace.net/ratfiction.html). I’ve had some fiction published in official Shadowrun stuff (the opening story in the Shadowrun 4 core rulebook is mine, and I wrote the first full-length published SR 4 adventure) and I’m hoping very strongly that I’ll get to write an “official” SR novel one of these days. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/13 "2006-09-20T22:49:14Z")
Two finished manuscripts, third one needs top-to-bottom rewrite, plus blockbuster masterpiece in outline and sketch form. I don’t actually hope to ever get anything published, but it’s cheaper getting rejection letters to paper the walls with than to buy paint. And it keeps me occupied on those cold, cold nights when I say something really stupid to the little woman. DOH! Like just now. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/14 "2006-09-20T23:13:34Z")
Not a novelist, but I’ve published one and have one more (plus a shorter booklet) currently at the printers. The first one is on bird conservation in Panama, the second is a guide for birdwatchers visiting the country. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/15 "2006-09-20T23:59:52Z")
Just finished the first draft of my sixth (how did _that_ happen!) book, to be published in aught-seven, and am trying to lay the groundwork for the next. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/16 "2006-09-21T00:52:37Z")
I’ve written a ton of erotic-spanking/BDSM fiction, with one ongoing story approaching novel length - does that count? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/17 "2006-09-21T00:55:37Z")
I also started last year at [NANOWRIMO](http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/xoopsfaq/index.php?cat_id=1) and am now on book 4 of a series, book 3 in beta reading by certain relatives. It is too much fun. No idea if I’ll get to being published, but I’ll probably try in the next year, why not. I have one character, Deke, who keeps tweaking the plot, but since he’s that sort of person, it makes sense. “For Deke, it’s like the old saying, it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.” Deke: “Why would I ask for either one?” ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/18 "2006-09-21T00:56:43Z")
My GQ question today was concerning my \ sixth book. I have a seventh one in first draft, and an eighth that’s just a synopsis. I’m rewriting the last third of that sixth book because an agent said she’d look at it again if I made some suggested changes. ---
**Author:** ![Freelancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@Freelancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freelancer)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/19 "2006-09-21T11:11:16Z")
I’ve been planning to TRY and write a novel for oh 4 years now (and I’m 19, go figure). So it might be time to start. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465/20 "2006-09-21T13:16:23Z")
I’m working on one (slowly – I’m working more on short stories these days). I’ve written about nine; two have been published. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-dopers-are-writing-books/373465.md?page=2)