of course he was writing "a few hours a day" it's called treating it like a real job

people think because the average modern author takes 2 friggin years to shit out a tome that it must require this herculean effort to write a novel. it doesn't, you're just lazy and indecisive and have never learned to be productive. it's easy to start stories but finishing them is a skill most dabblers and wannabes never develop because they spend eternity polishing turds