Okay, I've sent off Part One and man-o-man are things dire for our boy Fleance and Scotland. Part Two is written but as I was editing through Part One, a number of consistency problems arose as well as a few questions that didn't get sorted in Part One so I have a list of 'to dos' beside me and I shall make my way through the second half of the book fixing those before sending it off to my publisher.
This is the nerve wracking part of being a writer - probably worse for me than waiting for reviews. By the time the book is published, you've had a great team working on the novel to make it fantastic. My editor and agent are crazy amazing at picking up sloppy writing, typos, places where things need more developing etc and I think it's one of the hardest things a writer has to do getting back the manuscript from the editor. I guess it would be like giving birth and the midwife or doctor saying: oh, no, not quite good enough - let's put that baby back inside for another three months! Ouch!
On a positive note, I have stumbled across quite wonderful writing which I forgot I'd even done. I like those moments.
I was trying to twist a scene into shape yesterday during my lunch break when a couple of Y12 students came in early for class. I was muttering away to myself and then told them how rubbish I was as a writer. 'Here, listen to this,' I said. I read them a couple of paragraphs. 'See, rubbish!'
'Ah, actually, I liked that.'
'yeah. That was really good.'
It was enough to stop me pouting like a stroppy child and keep going. I now have a serious twinge in my right shoulder from being hunched over the computer all evening but I think it has been worth it.
I feel like I'm now at the top of the hill about to glide down the other side. Will post again when Part Two has been sent off and I can have a break before Katie and Josh (editor and agent) hit me with all their 'suggestions'
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