Sunday 1 September 2013

The first draft of anything is shit- Ernest Hemingway

The first draft of anything is shit- Ernest Hemingway

There is a time in any authors journey through writing a novel when they stop mid sentence and think - this is utter drivel. I am going to tear it up (more likely hit the delete button - in this modern age it takes more effort to be romantic about such things) and start again. I ma sure some writers actually do this and then the next morning 1) regret it  or 2) think it was the best thing they ever did and start again.

With every book that I write I think this at least fifteen times during the first draft. Perhaps less on the second and third and then by the time it is published I never want to read another word of it again because I am so embarrassed about it! It shouldn't be like that but it is. Will it get better as I gain more experience? I hope so!

I haven't blogged for quite a while. This is partly because I used to blog in my lunch hours - now I don't even now what a lunch hour is. I have been a busy bee at work and because I am usually drained after work I don't generally have the strength to write anything. I am trying to change this though. I should be able to manage both. I have managed to do some writing here and there. Mostly on Sunday afternoons - a bit like today whilst H busies himself with the hedge and the football I can sneak off to write for an hour or two. I have now written 40,000 words of Poison in the Water - I am loving writing it. I get to relive my days spent in Hong Kong - and now that I think about it I have been there about 5 times in my life as well - I would never have thought I had been there so many times. In 2008 after travelling my sister bought a flat out there and we spent some time there furnishing it and the likes. We had some fun times there. Perhaps once I have written the first daft of Poison  I'll take another trip out there.

So I haven't been completely idle. I also finished going through the final proofs of The Bittersweet Vine and just last week I received the first copy of the finished product! Of course we had to go out and celebrate. What an achievement! I am glad it is out there - my first traditionally published book. I have to say - it was an easier process than self pubbing and if you have been following my blog you will probably have gathered that.

Instead of writing Poison I really should be concentrating on marketing Bittersweet. I must do a blog tour in October and I have an official book launch in London at the end of October- Watch this space for details. It's all coming together but I know this is where the real hard work starts. i must put an evening aside each day for marketing Bittersweet. I am hoping it wont be as hard as when I released Goa Traffic because a lot of the learning happened the first time around. But I am sure there will be more learning to do.

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