There must be a good many people who’ve thought that over the past year—David Cameron and Theresa May among them.
But it’s not just out in the wide world that life can scatter all your preconceptions like a ball plunging into a set of skittles.
I promised myself I’d do a bit of work on that other project (a contemporary novel) and return to my historical novel in the autumn, after it had been rested for about five months or so. All very sensible and organised.
Well, that was more than a year ago. Life (and, sadly, death) intervened and I’ve only just lately been able to return to that ‘resting’ novel.
At least it’s meant that it was almost like reading something completely new. I came to it with fresh eyes, able to see what was good about it and what needed rewriting. Of course, I’d hoped there’d be very little to change, that it would all seem wonderful.
It didn’t. In fact, it was very clear that the book needed a complete re-write. It wasn’t a disaster, but it definitely wasn’t working as it should. The bones of it were there, but that was all. It was a skeleton without flesh and life. The good thing was that I could see quite clearly not only what was wrong with it, but how to start putting it right.
So that’s the task now, to put flesh on the bones and breathe life into them. I don’t regret the long break—it’s been an ideal way to approach the final stretch of this novel. And at long last I have time to write. In theory anyway.
I know that my plans for a summer of writing could well be interrupted, by small distractions or major upheavals, good or bad, domestic, national or international. You never know what’s round the corner.
This entry was posted in Authorial voice, Random Thoughts, Self-publishing and tagged break in writing, editing, first draft, Historical fiction, historical novels, how long to write?, new novel, self-publishing, work in progress, writing life. Bookmark the permalink.
Hope your writing takes you to some great places this summer.