29/10/2005
Just checking...
My first books were written on an electric typewriter and sent in the form of copious sheets of A4 paper to my publishers.
This allowed for corrections- i.e. crossings out, notes in the margins and pints of tip-ex, with the occasional re-typed sheet proving necessary.
I'm now at the 'checking' stage of this year's 'November' book. Set in the desert with the totally edible Sheikh Shahin, this manuscript needs to hit my ed's desk on Tuesday. Of course, it will be in e-format.
I finished the book on Thursday and started checking yesterday... given what I told you about my earlier books you would think this would take... 3 hours... 4,maybe...
WRONG!
Trouble is- the world is my oyster now I use a computer... I can tell the same story an infinite number of different ways...
'Would this scene work better there?' 'Should he tell her this now, or later?' 'How about I change this scene to his POV?'
You catch my drift, I'm sure!
And anyone practical (like dh, maybe) who tells me to restrict my tweaks to checking spelling and punctuation, isn't hampered by the writer's mind... that flighty, whimsical thing that's always speeding off at tangents, asking time-consuming questions like, 'What if?'
Back to the cave to ask myself some questions!
Love to all, and happy reading everyone!
Susan
This allowed for corrections- i.e. crossings out, notes in the margins and pints of tip-ex, with the occasional re-typed sheet proving necessary.
I'm now at the 'checking' stage of this year's 'November' book. Set in the desert with the totally edible Sheikh Shahin, this manuscript needs to hit my ed's desk on Tuesday. Of course, it will be in e-format.
I finished the book on Thursday and started checking yesterday... given what I told you about my earlier books you would think this would take... 3 hours... 4,maybe...
WRONG!
Trouble is- the world is my oyster now I use a computer... I can tell the same story an infinite number of different ways...
'Would this scene work better there?' 'Should he tell her this now, or later?' 'How about I change this scene to his POV?'
You catch my drift, I'm sure!
And anyone practical (like dh, maybe) who tells me to restrict my tweaks to checking spelling and punctuation, isn't hampered by the writer's mind... that flighty, whimsical thing that's always speeding off at tangents, asking time-consuming questions like, 'What if?'
Back to the cave to ask myself some questions!
Love to all, and happy reading everyone!
Susan
