I’m putting the finishing touches on my tenth novel today. Then I’ll send it off to the proofreader and betas and for formatting.
As I was reading through the manuscript this morning and accepting/tweaking all my changes from days of editing, I realized I’d hit the turning point and that my work in progress was actually reading like a novel.
I’ve somehow written another book.
My tenth book.
That’s surreal.
Seriously. I’m not quite sure how this keeps happening. Granted, I spend a lot of time writing, then I send huge hunks of that writing to the editor … and then voila, it becomes a novel.
I’m not sure this will ever become my normal, even though I appear capable of producing a novel three times a year.
Is it because each story is a different sort of struggle to tell? Each comes with its own unique problems and quirks? Or is it simply that once the editor adds his touch the prose somehow becomes its own entity, rather than a collection of words and sentences intimately connected to me? Thus giving me breathing space and some perspective.
I’m not sure. But the moment of realization is always a thrill.
I’ve written a novel.
How cool is that?
Well, almost. I have a few chapters to smooth yet. 😉
I can’t wait for the final product!
I’m getting excited too!!
Very cool that it is still exciting and surreal for you…. you’re not taking it for granted and still enjoying the thrill of the journey!
Most definitely. But I think I might be in a somewhat unique position in that I only write what I desperately want to write and I still manage to pay the mortgage (so far). So all day, every day I’m playing in my own tiny sandbox, occasionally stepping out to replenish the chocolate stash. 🙂 Lucky, lucky me. But still … odd. Delightfully odd.
Meghan – I am pretty sure YOU have written the books. From an outsiders point of view…the editor polishes the gem that the writer created.
I’m very happy you can write 3 novels a year! I am impatient!
Don’t doubt yourself; you did it!
Oh, I didn’t mean it that way. For sure it’s 95% me. The editor moves commas (pretty much all of them – LOL) suggests new words for clarification, double checks facts, fixes typos, asks for more info in places, then he makes suggestions on how to deliver the story more clearly, cleaner – tweaks that I’m too deep into the novel to see myself. Just after I’ve absorbed all his notes, the novel looks different to me … and it suddenly reads like a actual book! It’s a metamorphosis, and it hits me at different stages every novel.
🙂
You are a creator. We consume what the creator creates with great abandon and glee. Keep on creating!
Yay! Well, I’m happy to keep creating. More than happy, ecstatic!
Okay. Greedy, graspy hands aside — YAY YOU!!! YAY books, and yay writing, and yay you!! Congrats!
Thank you so much! I’m still a couple of more hours away from sending it off to the proofreader, but so, so close!
Also — are you using Scrivener? I need to sit down and really learn the process of the program. I’ve been trying to use it exclusively, as I’ve heard that you can use it to generate the files needed for the various e-book formats without having to use other programs. (I have a story subscription thing that I do, small scale, and I’d been writing in OpenOffice, and converting the file into .mobi and .epub for my peeps, but am interested in a more efficient method, and I’d heard that that was one of Scrivener’s perks). I have to gotten the indentation down, and am noticing that you don’t seem to have any in your screenshot, and was curious what you were using.
(am going to commit to learning it for my needs more, soon. Have been in a time crunch that will ease after December, when I can then allow for learning curves.)
Er. /word processor geekery.
Yes, I’m using Scrivener and I love it. I use tabs while I’m writing for clarity, but they screw up the compile for the ePub/Word document, then editor spends too much time reformatting (he’s lovely that way, but it’s a waste of his time) so this time I fixed it before I sent him the file. Now when I compile it adds the proper indents back in.
I can’t rave about Scrivener enough, and I barely use a quarter of its functions. Love, love, love it.
Do spend the time on the tutorial. I usually never do, but I did years ago (when I got the program) and I was glad I did.
I closed up all my files folders, etc on the left before I took the screenshot – too many spoilers. 😉
Oh! Yes, I think there is an easier way to do the indents, add them to your master template, then just hit return? But I have a terrible habit of just hitting tab that I haven’t done anything about yet.
You should be proud of yourself! You are an awesome storyteller and I love your books! Sadly I am not a writer but I am definitely a reader!!! So looking forward to Oracle 2. Twenty more days!!! Whoo hoo!!!
Thank you and I’m glad you are looking forward to Oracle 2!!