Ever wonder why that would-be writer is taking FOR. EVER to produce something? I mean, Where’s the beef? You’ve been at this for, what? –a year? So and so writer churns them out with the regularity of vegan bowel movements, and you’re still just…writing?

Here’s how non-writers regard book-writing. They take the time it took them to slog through their fifth-grade state report (which topped out at three double-spaced pages), and they multiply that by a hundred. There. That’s how long it should take. Most of us spent an evening on those state reports. So, really, I should be done in less than a year, right?

Au contraire, mon frère. That doesn’t include revision time.

Word keeps track of how much time you spend working in a document (not just with it open). I’m not sure if I should admit this. My total editing time on BOOKWORM as of today is 24,347 minutes. That’s 406 hours, folks. And I’m still writing the ending scenes, which are hugely important and will require lots of time. Plus, I keep getting gems from my Citizens’ Police Academy classes, and that means more edits to breathe honesty into the cops in my book.

This is why it takes FOR. EVER to write that book you hope will be devoured by a reader in an evening or two. I am an extreme revisionist, which is to say I spend too much time tinkering with words. But can you spend too much time with words, really? No.

People ask how my book is coming along, and I tell them, “It IS coming along.” I feel like a more exciting answer is expected, but I don’t have it. Here’s how a book “comes along.” A person wakes up, glues her butt to the couch, and plays the keys like Motzart for three to four hours every morning. This is non-negotiable.

The dog begs to be walked. No. A friend wants to meet for coffee. No. The body aches and would very much like a yoga moment (or that dog walk). No. A blog post, maybe? Something that will actually get read? No. No. No. The kid is sick and has to be picked up from school. No—well…all right. But can I finish this paragraph first?

How it “comes along” is you make it the priority. It’s easy for writing to slide off the to-do list because gratification is years away. I know. I struggle with the idea that I’m just wasting my time. But when that happens, when I start thinking I should Google Best Jobs for Women over 40, I remind myself: Failure stays down when it feels down or is knocked down. My job is to finish. Becoming a traditionally-published writer is a journey of faith and grit. And learning to use car time judiciously.

Oh, and my page DID get read. The agent saw some redundancy. Also, I was told some could be condensed. CONDENSED?! I.e. strikeouts. That advice given to the Strikeout Queen herself. Hmmm…lesson: Fall in love with the delete key.