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Comment by tjic | Hacker News Reader

Having been working on a science fiction novel that covers economics, futures markets, genetic uplift, AI, finance, combat, and orbital mechanics, and having been working on it for 3-5 hours per day for 18 months ( http://morlockpublishing.com/the-book/ ), I'm somewhat underwhelmed with anything that can be done in three days.

I suspect that I spent more than three days on researching lunar geology, minerology, titanium refining, the compresibility of air, etc.

Not to mention that my first draft took 9 months, and my revisions have taken 12 months.

Some things require iteration and polishing. Writing, IMO, is one of those things.

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tjic, it CAN be done. e.g. Michael Moorcock's "Write a novel in 3 days" or Lester Dent's pulp master plot

http://boingboing.net/2011/08/05/write-an-adventure-novel-in...

That being said, it's different for every project. Some subject matters / genres follow a certain cadence/form that can be fast tracked through.

Any research or period elements though tend to slow it down.

I do have some experience with writing/publishing :)

PS: my current book took me 4 years to finish :D

I've long wanted to set aside a long weekend for writing a book. I really think it can be done, and am delighted to know someone did it. Of course, subject matter matters for how long it takes: a deeply creative endeavor may take years, while what amounts to a 200 page blog post could take a short vacation. There's enough material rattling around in my head that the latter should be very doable.

That said, following your progress reports has been entertaining. Looking forward to the finished product.

I have not read your book or the OPs, but would you mind combining the two

I would far far rather read a book written by you in three days on orbital mechanics and what is feasible and what might change. Then another on lunar geology and moonbases.

I am having a hard time getting back to fiction these days and my brain craves idea candy. And you seem to be stirring that sugar into a healthy and nutritious meal.

Bu sometimes consumers just want to lick the bowl

"I would far far rather read a book written by you in three days on orbital mechanics and what is feasible and what might change. Then another on lunar geology and moonbases."

This is an orthogonal point, though. He said he's writing a novel, and you're saying don't want to read novels, because you like quickly digestible information.

He's not trying to write an informational book about orbital mechanics. He's saying he spent time researching that subject in service of his work of fiction. Presumably, he did that research to help flesh out the world of his story, and to make sure his science fiction is informed by real science (something few SF writers these days actually take the time and effort to do). I don't think his goal is to "stir sugar into a healthy and nutritious meal," but rather, to stir nutrition into what would typically be a sugary snack.

J.R.R. Tolkien famously spent a great deal of time creating an entire language before incorporating it into his Lord of the Rings series. That doesn't mean he should have written a dictionary of the language instead, and then kept the novel a separate work. His primary goal was the novel, with the linguistics being a (very fleshed out) supporting detail.

I am not saying what he should do, I completely accept that he may well just care about his novel.

I just want, tasters ...

Signed up for the email list by the way - space battles with rusty oil tankers, sounds fun :-)

I also have an appetite for such small "complex stuff distilled into a simple essence" books by people who've spent a long time researching and understanding the topics at hand. I find Wikipedia does the job admirably in most cases but certainly not all.

Got any recommendations? Any topic whatsoever

What, of good Wikipedia roundups of a topic, or topics that would be good in concise, summary form?

These:

>"complex stuff distilled into a simple essence" books by people who've spent a long time researching and understanding the topics at hand

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