The Deadline that isn’t…
Writing|I’ve struggled the last couple of weeks. I’ve had a definite love/hate relationship with the computer. This useful little tool also provides me with a thousand ways to procrastinate and when the writing isn’t going easily that’s a proverbial recipe for disaster. My old PC — the one I owned before this one — I actually took all those little card games off. You know the ones, like Spider Solitaire. Oh, for goodness sakes, someone stop me playing Spider Solitaire…or FreeCell…or Hearts. I do have more absorbing games on here but I’ve been avoiding those and wish we’d never bought them. It’s not even that I particularly want to play a game on the PC…I just want to find ways to avoid writing and “I’ll just have a quick game of…” too easily enters one’s thoughts. So does “I’ll just email *insert name*” or “I’ll just see what’s happening on the writer’s loops.”
Actually, some of the loops and author chats probably wonder what’s happened to me but the fact is I can promo my books or I can write new ones. It’s increasingly difficult to do both so I’m having to be choosy. I think moving made me realise how much strain I was putting on myself to get everything done. I’ve not sat down for a few hours ‘just to read’ in ages. I’ve grabbed ten minutes here or there instead of immersing myself in a book, which means I’ve been reading increasing light reads. Nothing wrong with a light read, but that’s not the only type of book I enjoy. In addition, if the writing isn’t going well, I tend to want an easier read too. Add to that the pressure of a deadline that isn’t one but feels as if it very much is and I’ve had to evaluate where and how to spend my time.
To explain the invisible deadline, this week the first of my Swithin Spins came out. I’ve planned for approximately four of these — short novels, all around the 50,000 words mark. I thought these wouldn’t be difficult. I was kidding myself. I’m lucky I know this ‘world’ as much as I do but I have to recall what characters have done previously, their speech patterns and the like. The first spin was my first lesbian love story. I wanted to do it justice. I need to thank my editor for this one because it was a case of trying so hard that I muddled a few lines here and there and her eagle eyes did their fair share of spotting. But finally it was done. It was out. There’s a surprising amount of work to do when a story comes out even to list it in a few places and while this was going on I was trying to write.
One book was due out, for the second the draft was finished, and I was trying to write the third. The third…I was stuck. I’d been stuck awhile, and then suddenly as is often the case the floodgates opened and after Christmas I started to write it again. Problem was, I’d told my editor I’d send her the manuscript for book two. So there I was, one book screaming “write me, write me” and the other staring insolently declaring “you promised to edit me.” What to do?
Which is where we come to the deadline that isn’t. You see I’m under no obligation to sub anyone another book. I don’t ‘have’ to line these up and knock them out. However, I and the publisher know that in this industry a series — even one such as these spins which are related to the same world but can all be read independently — it’s best to put them out regularly, with a short space of time in between. Then there are the days when I feel as if I’m being juggled between those who think I’m prolific and those who think I’m not — a subject I’ll cover another time. What it comes down to is that I have to ultimately do what’s best for the book, or I should say the story.
In the end a promise is a promise and I decided to edit the ms but I know I’ve let a few awkward lines slip through and I will grovel at said editor’s toes for helping me catch them should the book be accepted. I then finished the rough draft to book three on Tuesday and started thinking about book four on Wednesday. Last night I wrote 3,700 words. That’s a lot for most writers, although I’m a fast typist and if it’s going well, it’s not unusual for me. Today, I don’t have so much time to spare and I feel a bit flattened out; possibly by that rush of creativity one might say. I’ve another weekend of tiling and grouting to struggle through (we’re laying tiled flooring in two rooms). Struggle is the word. I’m a bit sick of it now, even though I will be delighted with the result, which sometimes is how every writer feels about their work. We can’t help it. It comes with the job. Of course, there’s also many other things I want to get on with and write and that’s where we come to another angst many writer’s have to suffer — the desire to ‘have written’ not to have the work still to do. By necessity this weekend I’m taking a break from ‘the story’ so you’d think that would be a relief, but no…because you see the story is there, in my head. It’s jostling the characters and events into order as I type this to you…
