Although I am indeed able to write a sonnet in far less than 15 minutes, (I have written six months worth of these at least one per day, and) I find that typically I spend several hours on each one; although this may include research or additional constraints on the form. I could add a few more weapons to the arsenal of method, so to speak, that… you have briefly provided above, in fact.  If…  I am devising a new form, it might take a bit longer–although this depends greatly upon the subject matter and whether it requires research and study, and/or how much it might require.

I do draw a distinction between research and study, in fact when I encountered my first course in any of the humanities, and not some auto-didactic process, I was (quite young, of course, but) quite surprised that “research” meant “looking things up” rather than “devising ones own processes or experiments and utilizing <em>method</em> to employ them.”  In some cases the former may take more time and effort than the latter; more often, this is not the case.

To this effect, some sonnets may take days to complete or even weeks, and, as in one in which I am currently engaged, even months.  Though…  to be sure, I have many in the works that are of this kind and many that encompass “method” or “aspect” with which I am already familiar.

via How to Teach Writing Sonnets | Wanderings in the Labyrinth

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