The Difficulty of Being a Writer

I worked more on doing the hand edits on At The Queen’s Command today. This means I sit, read, mark things up, make notes, then take breaks to do laundry, pick things up, and other chores I hate doing. Somehow, however, they are more fun to do than sitting and editing.

The editing process is necessary. The book, as you know, was written over a two month period. There are lots of little details that I manage to forget, so in reading it over, I’m simulating your experience of the book. Do I hit a particular point too many times? Is there a progression of thought on subjects, suggesting character growth? Do previous experiences or comments provide influence and motivation later in the book? If not, can I connect them up?

On this read-through I can load everything into my brain to check those connections, which would have been tough to do while writing the book. By making the connections, or strengthening them; and paring away anything that’s not part and parcel of the book, I can really tighten things up. Given this book’s length, tight is very good. We like tight.

And, of course, all the while I’m doing this, I’m thinking about other things to write. We’re not just talking stories set in this universe, either, but brand new things. On Sunday I was doing some research and rounded up all sorts of examples of early detectives who were contemporaries of Sherlock Holmes. I mentioned The Thinking Machine stories by Jacques Futrelle, which I’m in the process of ordering by publication date so I can read through them all. And in collecting up examples of those detectives, I started running across occult detectives; so I started pulling examples of their stories together. And this leads to thoughts of Merlin Bloodstone and yet another character I’ve jotted notes on for years but have never done anything with, but who falls into the occultist detective mold. So my brain is trying to fit him for a story or two.

I also have a couple other projects that I want to play with including, but not limited to, making epub versions of the stories and books I already offer in my store. And as I deal with those ideas, more story ideas crop up, so I have to make notes, which leads me back to making notes on the copy of the book I’m editing, and so on.

It’s a vicious cycle, and reminds me of beginning writers who wonder, “What will happen if the ideas stop coming?” That really isn’t a problem. The idea spigot constantly drips ideas. Some you catch and use, some you don’t, and some come around again in a slightly different form. It’s a blessing to have them come, and a curse when you know you can’t use them all.

Still, this is what makes the job so much fun. There is always something going on, so boredom isn’t an issue. After all, if I want my work what others turn to to dispel boredom, I can’t ever let myself get caught up in boredom! So let the ideas flow, and I’ll make of them what I can when I can.