Springy

Spring has almost sprung. Not that you'd know it in Texas because the weather has ADD, but whatever. Oh, yeah. Now I have an hour less every day to write and make this deadline. So, thanks for that Daylight Savings Time.

On my author blog, I posted about the middle muddle. Well, sorta. The post was actually about how I got to that place in the book ... you know, the part where the doubts roar to life and I worry that the 200 pages I just sweated over day after day after freaking day SUCK. I love it, but me loving what I write doesn't mean a helluva lot. Readers decide what is awesome. Well, first the publisher, editor, production, and marketing decide what is awesome. Then readers get a shot.

For published authors, writing a book becomes a group project. I'm okay with that. The reality is that you can be an AR-TEEST or you can be a working writer. Sometimes it's difficult to balance the creative with the business of writing, but that's just part of the job. And as awesome as it is to work in my pajamas and take Rock Band breaks whenever I want, it's still a job. I get paid for what I do, and I want to do it well.

Some novels require more blood spilled than others. This one I'm finishing up now has that magic. The flow. I sit down and the story is there waiting. Sure, there are still snags, plot points that get gnarled, characters that get lost, but even that stuff smooths out. I see it like a movie, scene by scene, unfolding in a way that makes me eager get it all down on the page. That's the first part of the process ... the best part. Sure, there will be edits, changes, questions. I'll have to deal with the *&%$#@! copy editor, too. I have to take my ego out of the process and remember I'm not the only one invested in the work.

But for now, it's just me, the book ... and those damned doubts.

Comments

Brenda Hyde said…
I hate Daylight Savings Time...just wanted to whine with you about it:) I hear you on the doubts, but I can't imagine that what you writer would ever suck. Nope, don't think that would happen. To make you feel better think about this: I have to write an article today on growing peas. PEAS. No, they can't be blood sucking, sexy peas. They are just peas. Sigh. *snicker*
Michele Writes said…
Do you know Arizona doesn't do Daylight Savings Time? LOL.

Peas? Yikes. I'm very glad I'm a novelist and not a freelance nonfiction writer. I did that for a while. Worked for Fodor's, did features for independent newspapers, wrote magazine articles. I don't miss it.
Brenda Hyde said…
I finished the pea article. My husband actually said to me. "OMG, you aren't going to talk to me about peas again are you?" Geesh. I don't mind writing the articles, but switching back and forth between fiction and nonfiction is hard. I didn't know about Arizona- I wish we didn't have it. It will take me 2 weeks at least to get used to it!

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