It’s been a hell of a year on the writing front. It may be that I will have three new books out by the end of the year. Talk about London buses!
The bus analogy fits on more than one front, as this has been a journey which has involved an awful lot of time sitting down. In the world of published novels, the editing is key. Writing the novel is the ‘easy’ bit (a relative term of course) in that it is the product of your imagination. Then begins the editing journey. There’s nothing like a fresh pair of eyes seeing through your more flamboyant moments, mixed metaphors and solipsistic similes. You have to drop the defensive shield (to use a suitable metaphor!) and work things out for the benefit of the reader. I like to think I write in a concise style, but sometimes one becomes obsessed with finding the perfect analogy, to the detriment of the novel’s impact.
A good editor is worth his, or her weight in gold. Combined with an objective beta-reader, they can make all the difference. I’ve had novels published which have ended up roughly fifteen thousand words longer than my original manuscripts, thanks to excellent editorial input. I thought the novels were complete when I submitted the manuscripts – I was wrong.
I would stress here, that you work with the editor. They should no more lock themselves away in their own worlds than you. I believe, if it’s working well, you never forget the reader and the editor never forgets you. Put another way: you never lose your audience and the editor never loses your voice. I know authors who felt their work ceased to sound like them, which is a shame. The flip side of that coin is, we need to be saying something readers want to hear, even if they’re not hearing what they want.
If you are just setting off on your journey, whether published or self-published, allow enough time for the process that follows completion of your first draft. I’m talking here about the creative side, not the marketing, printing and so on. The writing in itself can take years even, and the editing takes as long as it needs. Recent months have been intense for me. One novel in particular, due out in the coming months, has required me to revisit, reread and rework my manuscript three times. The timeframe of the plot has been particularly challenging, as it is the third novel in which DCI Ben Logan appears, following the previously published This Changed Everything and The Armistice Killer – the challenge being that it takes place both before and after the other two stories! You can imagine the complexities involved. For helping me see the wood for the trees, I thank David Imrie, the author who worked me on the first two.
Right, I’m off to do some exercise 😊
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