Tuesday 25 February 2014

Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.

“Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.”
—Larry L. King, WD

The frustrating thing about editing this ‘raw’ version of Poison in the Water is that I keep looking at the word count thinking yes 60,000 words to go. But I have noticed that during my last fit of editing the word count is just increasing so the 60,000 words is staying static! It’s so frustrating. The WIP is now 90,000 words. I am sure I will have to trim the fat at some point but I fear for my sanity by the time I finish editing the first draft.

When I was editing The Bittersweet Vine I had a different tactic. Short sharp edits which involved me doing at least three re-drafts by the time I reached this deep clean edit stage. Instead of going through chapters quickly I have decided to sit done with each chapter and do somewhat of a semi-deep clean edit. I’m taking my time with each chapter but not perfecting them as I go as I am sure there will be changes to be made to some chapters in retrospect. I am hoping this tactic- although more arduous at present will save me time (and the will to live) in the long run.

I am itching to start writing The Body in the Bath however I have forbidden myself to do so until PIW is done! Nevertheless there is more to life than editing and apart from eating and sleeping my other two favourite pastimes I have been doing some reading. Quite a bit of reading. I have read Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussman which I absolutely loved, The Shadow Year by Hannah Richell and Muscle by David Barry (another Thames River Press author- I thought it only polite to read some other books published by the same house as me). I also read Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnivall, which sadly did not meet my expectations (I found it all a little far fetched) and I’m currently reading Wanted by fellow writer Tim Arnot. Its part of a trilogy and it’s the first book. It’s set in the future and is a young adults book. So far I am really enjoying it even though it’s not something I would normally pick up. That is the great thing about knowing some authors! You don’t get stuck to your genre. You can check out Tim’s blog here: http://timarnot.blogspot.co.uk Tim has written a couple of short stories set in the future and you can get these on Kindle for not much money (Perhaps for the price of a packet of crisps!) so be sure to check them out! 

But speaking of genre after having a break from reading thrillers I am itching to read some Jo Nesbo and perhaps I’ll get round to reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn- Better late than never.

All this reading and it’s only February! Although I am enjoying reading at the moment- I’m having one of those moments when I feel I really need to catch up on books that I have been dying to read but haven’t had the time. This year is all about making the time to do those things I want to do! – Or perhaps its just distraction from editing and not to mention marketing! The Bittersweet Vine is falling in the ranks and I need to get my act together in marketing the thing…. So difficult when I am desperate go get Poison into a readable state! Well here is a bit of marketing – Looking for your next read? Check out this fast paced psychological thriller on Amazon. And if you have read it – please write a review!!!  – until next time…


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