Novel writing is serious business, and usually takes a long time, but most people don’t give enough credit for just how much effort is involved.

A new initiative from novelist Joshua Cohen ​lets you watch him write his next novel, in real time,​ with video.

Called PCKWCK, it’s a Google Docs style app that lets you watch the novel develop from start to finish, complete with typos, re-writes and other mistakes.

It’s hypnotizing to watch when he’s online and gives real insight into a writer’s process, that really provides a feel for how much work goes into writing a novel.

You can chat with Cohen and anyone else watching, and highlighting text in the live view sends ‘hearts’ to him, similar to Periscope.

Watching people create is weirdly fascinating — I also got sucked into live streaming coders building their next app in the past, which is a great learning process.

As a writer, it’s also weird for me to think about. I’m sure I’d feel incredibly uncomfortable if you could see all my mistooks in real-time.

Perhaps, though, creating in public is better for everyone, as it shows the effort involved and helps everyone else learn from your process.

➤ PCWCK

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