A Supernatural Underground Riff … When A Book Is “Really” Done
As you know, the 1st of every month is when I post on the Supernatural Underground.
Being under the copyedit hammer right now, this month’s post focused on that—not surprisingly, perhaps, since both my blog and the Supernatural Underground are writers’ blogs!
One might say, in fact, that posting about what’s happening in the writing life stands to reason. 😉
However, I did mention a few other things…
…like a whisper, among the hedgerows, that my USA and UK covers for Daughter Of Blood may be revealed Very Soon. [Claps hands!]
To Come: “The Chaos Gate”
And that although there is a proofing round yet to come (the “first pass proof”) the copyedit is really the author’s last major round in terms of working on a book.
It’s always the point (when finished) at which I feel: yep, this particular book is really done. In story terms, it’s a wrap.
Conversely, concluding the copyedit is also the milestone after which I really feel freed up — to concentrate fully on the next book. In this case, as mentioned on the Supernatural Underground, that book is The Chaos Gate (working title), otherwise known as The Wall Of Night, Book Four.
And as we all know, The Wall Of Night Book Four is also the final book in the WALL series.
So next time I do a copyedit, I won’t just be saying it’s a particular book that’s really done; I’ll be calling it a wrap on a series.
However, that day is still quite some way off yet. (Think Aragorn at the Black Gate: “Not This Day”!)
So in the meantime I’ll be sticking to my knitting and staying focused on getting to the moment when I can say that the copyedit for Daughter Of Blood is a wrap.
In an update on that, at present I’m just over 70% through the manuscript.
Exciting! But perhaps also a bit sad, to have come to the end of the story that has been part of your life for so long.
The covers being revealed soon, and the prospect of getting DAUGHTER through the copyedit, are both exciting—but you are right, Marion. I think it will be quite sad to farewell the WALL series, both the world and the characters.
But we are not there yet, so I shall not dwell on it — ‘sufficient unto the day’ and all that. 🙂
I admire your energy Helen! Do you ever take a total break from writing (and proofing), or would that feel really strange? I ask as I am hoping to have a week soon without doing anything relating to writing. Although sometimes that releases ideas, and poetry is a very different beast from prose, as you know.
I have felt that one of the biggest mistakes I made in writing Daughter Of Blood (WALL 3) was going straight into it without a break from writing The Gathering Of The Lost (WALL 2). There were “reasons” for that, mainly that I was already behind schedule on the series because the 18 months of earthquakes over 2010-2011 really took their toll on both writing and schedules!
However, I am now trying to be better at having breaks, even if it’s only for a week or so after hitting a milestone like submitting a ms or completing an edit round. The trouble is, as you’re probably all too aware as a writer yourself, that “other stuff”, whether family and friends, doing one’s tax, reclaiming the garden wilderness, all tend to try and crowd into those short “writing breaks”, so that sometimes I don’t feel terribly rested by the time I really have to get back to the writing desk.
But in terms of breaks and changes of scene releasing creativity, I believe both are an essential part of the creative process, as is having the occasional “busman’s holiday.” So in that respect I don’t believe poetry and prose are different. 🙂