I have most recently been giving many school conferences, both in elementary and high schools. I had a little more free time this spring, so I was busy with everything from school conferences, to language review, to university teaching assistant... In short, you will have understood that in my attempt to fill my free time, I ended up having no time at all!
But I'm getting off track, as I often do, I let my thoughts run their course... An attention deficit, some would say. To be continued!
Back to those school lectures now. Many, many students have asked me: How long does it take you to write a book? How long do you write per day? I thought it was interesting to hear them ask this question, because it raises an even more fundamental one: how do you prepare yourself mentally to write a book? Is it really that long?
Many young people dream of one day writing a novel. I was one of those kids when I was their age. When they ask me about it, I don't lie to them and tell them that it will happen very quickly. But I have to be tactful: I don't want to crush their hopes! The main reason I give school conferences is to encourage these young people to follow their dreams. I want to show them that anything is possible, no matter what their age. So how do I tell them that if they want to pursue writing, they will spend a large part of their lives doing it?
I begin by answering the question directly. Volume 1 of L'ennemie de Sylfar took about a year and a half to write; volume 2, a year; volume 3, nine months. Devoria was a two-year collaborative project; Objectif Trésor, a one-year project. So the writing time of a project necessarily varies. How does it vary? According to the time you devote to it each week. The time we set aside for writing can be short or long, depending on our other daily activities. In my first series, I was juggling writing, high school, extracurricular sports, social life, family life, etc. So you have to understand that I couldn't write five hours every day. My fourth novel came out during college; my fifth, during university. All this to say that I don't often have much time to write. On the other hand! I have a fairly consistent writing speed when I do get around to it. Generally, I write around 1000 to 2000 words per writing session, all within two to three hours. So, about 1000 words per hour are typed on the keyboard. 16 words per minute, when I take out my calculator (math is not my strength...!). It's still pretty good.
It also goes faster when I already have a clear idea of what my chapter will contain. Patrice Cazeault would be proud of me: I now always work with a plan when I write. Well, sometimes my story is only planned for the next four chapters to be written, but still!
But when I take a step back to get some perspective, I find that I also put a lot of pressure on myself. I still have this need to perform, I am unable to do nothing. My closest friends will tell you that I spend many evenings in front of Netflix, but from a broader perspective, over the course of a week, a month, a year, I generally keep myself very busy.
That's pretty much what I had to say about it. I loved doing my school conferences this spring, in Trois-Rivières, Charlevoix and Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier. It had been a while since I had set foot in a school to talk about writing, but I decided this year to get back into it more and more. I love encouraging our young people, I love inspiring them to follow their dreams. Because if I didn't have had literary idols, I probably wouldn't be where I am today...