I noticed in another thread that a quite a few people are writing books or hope to get published, and that got me wondering what everyone is working on and what their process is.
So:
How far along are you?
How long have you been working on it?
How often do you work on it?
Do you have a publisher?
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)?
How far along are you?
I had about 15000 words (the first three chapters, rough draft) written when my old computer died. :smack:
I’m now rewriting. And telling myself it’s going to be improved for the rewriting, instead of editing. If you can think of more silver lining, I’d love to hear it.
**How long have you been working on it? **
This idea is only about a year old. I started the actual writing this summer.
How often do you work on it?
Daily. Even if it’s just to scowl at a scree and put up bad punctuation.
Do you have a publisher?
Not yet. Let me finish the book so I have a product, then I’ll try selling it.
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)?
Romance.
Okay, you can stop laughing now. 
Of course I have SF/Fantasy elements to the story. I could just as easily call it a ghost story, or a crime story. However, I’m writing it for the specific market of romance publishers, and hope it will go easier than some other works I have in progress that have stalled for reasons I don’t care to go into.
When the sappiness got to me while I was writing the original, I had alternated writing this with a bloody look at what Mary Reed’s daughter might have grown up to be. But that story needs more real research than I have quite done, yet, so the romance is what I’m recovering, first.
I had a great sort of Shakespeare’s histories bunny for NaNoWriMo last year, and although I’m not aiming at all to get it published, I really want to finish it. I love the characters (both the original Shakespeares and the place I’ve taken/expanded them to) and
I finished NaNoWriMo last year, at 50,000 words, but I get derailed about 30,000 words in. I’ve got 30,000 words of prose, some relatively solid characters, and recently (like a month ago) I had a plot epiphany.
Since November '04, although the inspiration struck in October when I saw the Henry VIs at my regional Shakespeare company.
I’m working on it “on and off,” which is a nice way of saying “when I feel like it.” Every so often the impulse will strike, and I’ll pull out my pen-and-ink plot pyramid and try to figure out where everything goes, but lately I’ve just been playing around with the characters in my head.
I have…my LiveJournal and threes of adoring fans.
Historical fiction, or romance in both the contemporary and pseudo-Byronic sense. Margaret of Anjou and the Earl of Suffolk have this great sort of power-play sexy mutual-manipulation/mutual-attraction adulterous romance. That’s in the Shakespeare, and I took that dynamic and added more plot. And boats!
It’s a lot of fun to write and plot, and the two characters are mad crazy fun to have in my head. Although it’s gone through about four massive overhauls, and I have a sneaking suspicion it’ll end up a bodice-ripper (which isn’t really what I was/am going for, but it seems to be headed that way), I love it to death. It’s my baby. 
How far along are you?
The book is written (about 150 pages), but awaits me to have a solid month of free time to edit everything, rewrite some scenes, etc.
How long have you been working on it?
I decided the story during my frst year of college (1998ish), wrote it out while job searching after graduating (2002) which took about 6 months, and am still waiting for the about solid month of free time.
How often do you work on it?
Zero. I can’t do a little bit every day. Once I get home from work, I just want to loaf, and I need weekends to catch up on sleep.
Do you have a publisher?
No.
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)?
Heavy literature. But unlike modern literature, I decided to actually include action–which means that it will probably end up in fantasy and proceed to turn off everyone who picks it up expecting such. (yay.)
The story is about a group of children in a world where as people grow up, they are overcome by an inability to do anything or care about anything but glut and orgy. Fearing for their future, the children decide to flee, to find some other place where they can be saved.
It is fairly readable as is, without the final edit, if anyone wants to read it. (But I won’t be accepting criticism, as I already have enough stuff to fix when I finally get my month.)
I have not 1 , but 2 in the works as of right now , and both , it they should sell , would be the first in a series based uon the same characters.
How far along are you? - In the first , about 200 pages. It is a pain-staking labor of love. In the second , only about 50 pages, but it is ‘lighter’ writing and will move on much faster.
How long have you been working on it? - The first…I am embarrassed to say this , but it has been in my mind for 16 years . Yes , you read that right. I have started it several times , scrapped it , started over, revised… this time it’s moving along the best it ever has. The second, I have only been working on a couple months, if that.
How often do you work on it?- As often as time allows. I have been in a ‘funk’ lately and have not felt the mood to do serious writing.
Do you have a publisher? - not yet. I want to get at least one of them finished first . Then… the hard part begins.
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)? - The first is a sword & scorcery fantasy/romance with wizards and heros and unicorns and hot sex and political intrigue. The second is a story of 4 good ol’ boys from Oklahoma that have a dream of being county stars, and go to Nashville to follow their dreams . Lots of romance & angst and hot sex there too. 
I’m a hundred pages into mine, but I’m sick of it. It’s too derivative, and the main character just can’t do what I want him to. I’m starting an outline for a second book. I might go back to the first and try it from a different perspective.
When I’m writing I have a goal of three pages a day. It usually takes me between an hour and 90 minutes. I write off and on. Some months I’ll write every day. Some months hardly at all.
No publisher, though I have a friend with some books published, who’s promised to help me out. All his books are OoP though, so I don’t know how much help he’ll be.
My first book was about superheroes. The main character was a teenager, and Sky High pretty much knocked the wind out of my sails. My book was much better though, and very dark. The new book is old fashioned Space Opera. I’ve got the universe set up, and most of the characters. I need to finish the plot outline, which is always the hardest part for me.
How far along are you?
I have a little over 70,000 words right now.
How long have you been working on it?
Since Nov. 2004, when I started it for NaNoWriMo, but only got 23,000 words written in that month.
How often do you work on it?
Pretty much everyday. I don’t write as fast as I’d like, but I have a full time job and a chronic illness, so I cut myself a little slack.
Do you have a publisher?
Nope.
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)?
I guess it’s horror, because of some of the graphic violent content, but I see it more as a story about relationships, and how one wrong choice can change your life forever.
Basically, the main character is so depressed that he ends up in a relationship, and partnership in crime, with a serial-killer girl, because he erroneously thinks that no one else would ever want him or love him. The story centers on how she slowly changes him into something less innocent and more like herself, and how she uses all his natural desires for affection and love and belonging against him, to hold him with her until he’s so messed up he doesn’t even realize he should leave anymore.
How far along are you?
Well, I’ve got the beginning done. I recently decided to refocus my efforts to make it easier to work on. 23,000 words so far.
How long have you been working on it?
A year.
How often do you work on it?
Not nearly as much as I should. Whenever I have something to write.
Do you have a publisher?
When I have something worth publishing, I’ll worry about getting a publisher.
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)?
Historical fiction, set in the middle ages.
60,000 words
About a year and a half. Going very slowly right now.
Not often enough. It’s going slowly, which makes me reluctant. Plus I’m working on short stories.
No
Fantasy novel. Still trying to figure out a the story, but it’s main character is a woman who is accidentally turned into a man.
I’ll expand on my answers.
I wrote a 40,000 page horror story a couple years back. Had a lot of fun doing it.
And after I showed it to a few friends(who all liked it), I’ve been thinking of writing a sequel. Soon after, I decided to make it a prequel as well, kind of like in Godfather 2 where you have the past/future stories alternating with each other.
So I wrote a big chunk of the prequel, and just figured I needed a couple more scnes to expand it. However, I never could make much progress on the sequel. I’ve got pages of story on notebook and just as much on computer, but have realized that there’s very little of it I want to keep. I’m holding on it for now, but now I’m pretty much back to square one(part of his being because I still am rather lost on how to realisticly depict one of the main characters who is very important to that part of the story.
Withen the last week, I basically decided to forget about the sequel until I get the prequel all done, and I’ve also decided to greatly expand it past the point where I left off. I’ve been holding off doing what I am going to do because the idea I’ve come up with isn’t terribly original, but I’m hoping that by the time I’m done, it will be well written enough that it doesn’t matter much(plus, if done right, it’ll have a lot of moral ambiguity that should be fun to play with).
The genre is mystery, it’s about 10 or 20 thousands words from being done, and it’s about 70,000 words long as is, and I’ve been working on it on and off for about two years. Just gotta write the denoument and it’s in the can, but I’m working a time-consuming gig right now and it’ll probably be a few months before it’s finished.
When I’ve finished it, I’ll self-publish. Here’s the promo for it, already developed (I published parts of it in serial form a couple of years ago):
The Final Veil
The Victim
Who kidnapped April Dancer – a beautiful Gorean slavegirl who’s also the best damn belly dancer on the planet? She’s been all over television, a living advertisement for the beauty and grace of belly dance, and an openly acknowledged Gorean slavegirl? When she disappears, the call goes out to John Bowman.
The Detective
John Bowman – a detective for the new millenium. Plugged in, turned on, online, and yet an outsider. With his crew of technical specialists, and his personal willingness to make it with beautiful women and knock heads with bad guys, he’s able to bring resouces to bear that get results. His special skill is interviewing – he has a feel for liars. His meat and potatoes is tracing big-time ripoff artists for banks, credit card companies and such. But when a friend asks for his help on April’s behalf, he’s there.
The Suspects
Was her kidnapper one of her lust-crazed fans from her days as an exotic dancer? The Mothers of Propriety, a collection of morally snooty types? Or the ALFALFAns (the Alliance of Lesbian Feminists Against Legalized Fucking and Assault) a collection of womyn who despise myn? Was it a jealous Gorean master? Was it the wealthy businesswoman whose retirement community may be more than it appears to be? Was it some random psycho who saw her dance on TV and decided she had to be his? What about clues that indicate that rogue elements from the CIA are involved?
Can John Bowman untangle all these threads and find her before someone decides that murder is no worse than kidnapping and leaves no witnesses?
Damn you. My thread is prolly gonna get closed or die a languishing death now.
Anyway, in regards to my book:
5683 words
Since 8/16/05
Several times a week, writing at least 500-1000 words/time
Sadly, I do not.
Nonfiction, working title being So You Got Knocked Up: What to Expect When You Are Unexpectedly Expecting. It’s a guide for those of us with surprise kids that aren’t 15, in the back of a Chevy, and worried about finding a pregnancy prom dress. Oh, and I talk about my raccoon ass incident.
I have various forms of sublime wonderfulness in stages of middle to near completion.
When I get stuck, I just start a new one.
I have at least 25.
Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shiny penny!
I’m writing a few articles right now that I’m pretty much committed to, but they don’t count.
I’m writing a science fiction story now which looks as if it will fall far short of novel length. I’ve been reading it in installments at a local writing group, and I’ve been happy with the response.
I’ve got material for three more “fact” books sitting in immense loose-leaf binders in my den. I just have to buckle down and write them. My last (and first) book I wrote evenings, after supper. I find that having a daughter cuts into this severely. By lthe time she’s in bed, I’m too worn out. I gotta rally, or find another system.
How far along are you?
Written a first fantasy novel >170k words. ~30-40k words into a sequel. Stalled dead at the moment.
How long have you been working on it?
Volume 1 took about five months of time, leisure and/or pilfered from my employer, in 2002. Volume 2 has been entirely on my own time and got some attention in 2002, a little more in succeeding years, but hasn’t moved for months.
How often do you work on it?
See above. On a good day I could whack out 2-3k words.
Do you have a publisher?
I wish. Trying to find an agent sapped me of about 90% of my enthusiasm, the story of the remaining 10% might sound too much like whining.
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)?
Fantasy. A spoiled Faerie princess, talented and beautiful but in need of a complete personality rewrite, helps herself to a military pegasus and causes only slightly less trouble than did Phaeton. So her father rewards her with the opportunity to learn how to fly properly… and she gets thoroughly kicked into shape in the process.
The sequel: she is now a reformed character and a junior officer in the aerial cavalry, with a small command of her own, a jealous superior, and a national threat that not everyone seems to be taking seriously, as well as some odd hangovers from a spoiler-related character development at the end of volume 1.
I have odds and ends of other stuff all over the place, too, but my arse-to-chair coefficient seems to be too low at the moment to get on with any of it.
How far along are you? – I’ve got about 44,700 words. Roughly 163 pages. It’s kinda done, but needs a lot of work.
How long have you been working on it? – 3/30/05
How often do you work on it? – Almost every day, for a few hours.
Do you have a publisher? – Alas, no.
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)? It’s a non fiction memoir.
Hmmm…
A - 1 kids’ book done, but it’s probably unpublishable as is; the characters are too young for the level of reader that’s required (kids’ books have some pretty rigid rules) … I’m going to wait 'til I’m rich and famous and then pitch it as a cartoon, instead.
B - 1 YA book done, waiting for my agent to pitch it after my other books get printed and released and my publisher is ready to think about other projects again (and has sales figures)
C - 1 adult comic book, scripted; character sketches done, but not full drawn
D - 1 sci fi novella about 1/5 written
E - 1 contemporary novel just barely begun
F - 1 sprawlingly huge scif fi/historical fiction novel/series that I have notes, outlines, and some text for
I’ve been working on some of them for several years, some for several months. I have other publishing duties (i.e., paying ones), so the unfinished ones can take a long time to finish. I attack them quite infrequently, often not touching them for months or a year at a time.
Yes (for other books), though it remains to be seen if they’ll pick up any of these projects.
How far along are you?
3 chapters. I don’t count words, as this is my first “novel” and I’m still figuring out what I’m doing.
How long have you been working on it?
Um, from concept inception: 16 years. From first start of writing, Almost 2 years.
How often do you work on it?
At 20 months and 3 chapters, apparently not often enough!
Do you have a publisher?
Nope.
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)?
Historical/military supernatural/gothic mystery first person narrative.
The story opens in June 1941 in Lithuania. The narrator is an idealistic young SS recruit carrying out the final solution manually. Mysterious killings and mutilations, supernatural in origin, an ancient horror is tracking the Holocaust. Who are our real friends and who and what is really a monster?
I have about 3 chapters near finished the rest is still draft.
23 years.
I pretty much stopped working on it when oldest daughter was born, I hope to get back to it when she can drive herself to her activities.
Nope
Fantasy
How far along are you?
170 pages, with about 40 more to go, but story is finished.
How long have you been working on it?
Started on it about 5 years ago, but only recently picked it up and finished. So about a year.
How often do you work on it?
Depends on my time - but usually 3-4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
Do you have a publisher?
Nope.
What is the genre (and gist of story, if you’re so inclined)?
Gay murder/mystery novel set in the near, but different, future. About 50% humor, 40% tight mystery plot with twist, 10% gratuitous, graphic, sleezy, only- one-hand-on-the-book, pornographic sex.