Above:
three years of work
six drafts
of one book:
The Great Unexpected
(due out 4 September)
By the time
I reach this phase
it's a bit like having been pregnant
for ten months
maybe eleven
and I am thinking
I did the best I could do
I love it
but
GET IT OUTTA HERE!
xx
Ouch!!!!
ReplyDeleteYay! I can't wait to read it! I've been looking forward to this book.
ReplyDeleteHello: what a lovely stack of author-enchanted paper! I love seeing such artifacts of the writer's life, I think we all do. I enjoyed the marked up ms pages accompanying your interview in the Leonard Marcus book. This week I was taking a much needed break from the tedious final stages of my masters thesis for library school, and so Monday read Chasing Redbird, and Tuesday read Absolutely Normal Chaos. They got me through, and reconnected me with a smile and some warm humanity. Thank you, a fan
ReplyDeleteNEXT PLEASE!!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to its release on my daughter's birthday. :—)
you did a very fine job and now it is the reader's turn to love it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great reality for writers to see - and I can't wait to read it! Congratulations on your new addition...
ReplyDeleteSo, it's true. Writing is, at times, a love/hate relationship. Is there ever time for remorse that it's over? Or is it just moving on to the next best thing? Can a true perfectionist ( not me for sure) ever survive as a writer? Is it possible? I'm talking someone who always believes it could be better, no matter how many drafts. I would think insanity might be lurking soon for someone who can't utter the words, "Get it outta here!" What do ya think?
ReplyDeleteA manuscript can *always* be better, but if you didn't ever let go of it, you'd never accomplish anything else. Fortunately, editors let you know where it needs perfecting and when you should let it go. In any case, you get kind of sick of it by about the fifth or sixth draft and you are more than ready to say 'adios'.
DeleteSo encouraging to see that! I'm grateful for its long gestation, as it's a lovely child. :)
ReplyDelete