How long did it take for J.K. Rowling to write a book?
On 11 January 2007 the author stepped out of Edinburgh's Balmoral hotel having completed the last novel in the Harry Potter series — the culmination of 17 years of writing. But that wasn't all J.K. Rowling wrote while she was there…
J K Rowling's writing success
In less than ten years from the publishing of her first novel, Rowling had amassed a multimillion-dollar fortune and had become the most successful literary author of all time.
We can only work for so long. Pretty much, Rowling writes for six hours a day. That is a good amount of time and acceptable for a writer who is doing this for a living.
J.K Rowling took six years to write Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first book in the Harry Potter series. It was published on 26 June, 1997 and the bestselling fantasy novel series is marking its 20th anniversary in 2017.
J.K. Rowling's pitch for 'Harry Potter' was rejected 12 times — read the now-famous letter here. The letter F.
Soon after she began to write the Harry Potter story, her mother tragically died and Rowling fell into a deep depression, abandoning her writing. Trying to pull herself out of her sadness by teaching English in Portugal for a year, where she hoped to finish Book #1.
J.K. Rowling was about 30 years old when she finished writing Harry Potter in 1995. She was born on July 31, 1965 in Gloucestershire, England. Today, Rowling is one of the most successful authors of all time and is a multi-billionaire.
Stephen King: 2000 Words
In his memoir, King says it's best to write a minimum of 2000 words a day to avoid “the smooch of death.” “Read and write four to six hours a day. If you cannot find the time for that, you can't expect to become a good writer.”
The developing and writing of the novel took 5 hours 35 minutes in total, after which the book was edited, proof-read and printed. The first finished copy was ready at 7:25 p.m. and the timer stopped.
Most adults — including writers — need 7 to 9 hours per night. Getting more sleep may be the best favour you can do for your writing.
What did J.K. Rowling suffer from?
While Miss Rowling has spoken before of her battle with depression, it is the first time she has admitted that she contemplated killing herself.
She told another fan on Twitter that she received “loads” of rejections before she finally got published – Little sent the manuscript to 12 different publishers before it ended up with Bloomsbury.
J.K. Rowling's thoughts
In choosing the number of the concealed platform that would take young witches and wizards to boarding school, I decided that it would have to be a number between those of the Muggle platforms – therefore, it was clearly a fraction.
Jesus Wept: "The Shortest, Short Story Ever Written and Published," Guinness World Records book… In a 2 worded sentence in a book in the New Testament portion of The Holy Bible, God Himself revealed both the Divinity and the Humanity of His only Son, Jesus Christ, with "Jesus wept."
The best-selling book of all time is the Christian Bible.
The Guinness world record for the longest book title belongs to Vityala Yethindra for his book “The Historical Development of the Heart from Its Formation From …” In all, the title contains 3,777 words and over 26,000 characters!
The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas
Irish novelist John Boyne has stated that he became so engrossed in this gripping story of a boy living through the Holocaust that he wrote the entire thing in two and a half days, barely stopping to eat or sleep throughout the ordeal.
Speed demons
In 2007, Ann Jones read all 199,797 words of the final Harry Potter instalment in 47 minutes. That's 4,251 words per minute.
Rowling denied that she was a billionaire in a 2005 interview. By 2012, Forbes concluded she was no longer a billionaire due to her charitable donations and high UK taxes. She was named the world's highest paid author by Forbes in 2008, 2017 and 2019.
When Chris Columbus signed on to direct “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,” he agreed to adhere to J.K. Rowling's mandate that only British actors star in the big-budget fantasy adaptation. The “Brits only” rule famously resulted in Robin Williams being rejected from the film.
How many times did J.K. Rowling fail?
It's so hard to imagine that one of the most popular books ever written was rejected 12 times!
Rowling is the first author in history to have her net worth valued at $1 billion, yet prior to her first Harry Potter book being published, she lived a very ordinary lifestyle, much of which was spent in relative poverty.
Among the (ostensible) reasons for rejection were too conventional, too long, too weird or too old-fashioned. As if any of these things matter to the audience for which Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone!
By 2004 J.K had become a billionaire while still only halfway through eight Harry Potter films and well before the launch of the Fantastic Beasts movies which would prove to be a cash-cow.
J.K. Rowling has explained her conspicuous absence from “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts,” stating that she declined an invitation to be included in the special.
J.K. Rowling first had the idea for Harry Potter while delayed on a train travelling from Manchester to London King's Cross in 1990. Over the next five years, she began to plan out the seven books of the series. She wrote mostly in longhand and amassed a mountain of notes, many of which were on scraps of paper.
It's absolutely possible to write a novel in a day using dictation.
Erica Vetsch: The true answer is—it depends. If I'm on a deadline of some kind, I can write from 4-6 hours a day. Mostly, I write from 2-4 hours on weekday afternoons. I do lots of other writing tasks like editing, marketing, blogging, etc, but for writing on the manuscript, I average about 3 hours per weekday.
King replied: “Here's the thing: There are books and there are books.” He explained that he writes for three or four hours each day and tries to produce a half dozen “fairly clean” pages in that time. “So if the manuscript is, say, 360 pages long, that's basically two months' work — but that's assuming it goes well. “
Chris Fox has written a book in as little as thirteen days, reaching speeds of up to 5,000 words an hour. John Boyne wrote The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in two and a half days.
Who is the fastest writer in history?
Barbara Blackburn was an American typist and writer, best known for achieving the Guinness World Record for the world's fastest typist. Her peak speed was 212 WPM on a Dvorak keyboard. In 1980, she maintained a sustained typing speed of 150 WPM for 50 minutes. By 1984, she had achieved 170 WPM on minute tests.
The world's fastest writer is Spoorthi Pradhata Reddy Katukoori from Warangal, Telangana State, India, who set the record on September 16, 2015 by writing 132 numbers in 60 seconds.
Many of our favorite and most well-known authors like to write at night. After all, night is the time when most people are winding down, going home. or going to bed. Finally, writers get what they so often need: peace and quiet.
On average, it's best to write in the mornings for the following reasons: You have the highest levels of willpower earlier in the day and are less likely to get distracted. The brain's creative activity is at its peak just after it dreams and sleeps, and becomes more analytical as the day progresses.
The one thing about writers that everybody can agree on is that most writers are really good at sex—since it's kind of part of their job description. How can they write about something that's as crucial to the human experience as sex is, if they've never done it?
She wrote her first book at the age of six – a story about a rabbit, called 'Rabbit'. At just eleven, she wrote her first novel – about seven cursed diamonds and the people who owned them.
J.K. Rowling first had the idea for Harry Potter while delayed on a train travelling from Manchester to London King's Cross in 1990. Over the next five years, she began to plan out the seven books of the series. She wrote mostly in longhand and amassed a mountain of notes, many of which were on scraps of paper.
J.K. Rowling was about 30 years old when she finished writing Harry Potter in 1995. She was born on July 31, 1965 in Gloucestershire, England. Today, Rowling is one of the most successful authors of all time and is a multi-billionaire.
How long does it take to write a 300 page book? A 300 page book can take 4 – 9 months to write at an average of about 80,000 words, writing 1500 or more per week. The average fiction book that's at a higher level than middle grade will run about this length.
It's so hard to imagine that one of the most popular books ever written was rejected 12 times!
Is J.K. Rowling a billionaire?
Rowling denied that she was a billionaire in a 2005 interview. By 2012, Forbes concluded she was no longer a billionaire due to her charitable donations and high UK taxes. She was named the world's highest paid author by Forbes in 2008, 2017 and 2019.
Soon after she started writing Harry Potter, Rowling was pulled away from her work by the devastating death of her mother and sank into a deep, grieving depression; To get herself out of grievance, she took a job teaching English in Portugal for a year.
This is after J.K. Rowling spent five years developing the world of the Harry Potter books – and then wrote and re-wrote the first book until she was happy with it! So in essence, it took her seven years from first getting the idea to getting the book publishing, and that was with an agent.
"The idea that we could have a child who escapes from the confines of the adult world and goes somewhere where he has power, both literally and metaphorically, really appealed to me" stated Rowling in an interview. This was the basis of Rowling's belief when she started writing a story of a young hero.
So, yeah, J. K. Rowling is rich. In fact, she's richer than the Queen of England.
JK Rowling (Net worth: $1 billion)
The controversial British author and movie producer is well-known for the Harry Potter series, making her one of the wealthiest private British citizens.
In 2004, Forbes reported Rowling was the first person to become a millionaire by writing books.
How much can authors expect to earn from their books? A first-time author with a traditional publishing deal might expect an advance of $1,000-$10,000 and 5-18% royalties once they “earn out” their advance. Self-published authors do not receive advances, but their royalties can reach up to 70% for ebook editions.
Out of 97% of people who begin writing a novel: 30 out of 1000 go on to finish it. Only 6 out of those 30 go on to see their novel published.
How fast can I finish a 500 page book?
Answer: the average reader takes about 13.9 hours to read 500 pages. You might take more or less time than 13.9 hours to read 500 pages, depending on your reading speed and the difficulty of your text. The average person's reading speed is around 300 words per minute (WPM).