My word count for today was a shade over a thousand, about average for me. While they weren't great words, they were pretty good. Acceptable. I'll polish them tomorrow until they are all bright and shiny. Either that, or I'll kill 'em and start over. My problem today? I was winding down a very intense opening chapter. See, the new book (unnamed so far; cast your vote below!) opens with a bang. It drops you, the reader, into the midst of a suspenseful and horrifying situation and then, well, rubs your face in it.
God, it was fun to write.
My previous book, THE DEVIL YOU DON'T KNOW, opened a bit more sedately (see its prologue posted Dec. 17). I intentionally sought to create more of a moody, eerie feeling, as though something just isn't quite right. Then it pretty much goes into a straight narrative, telling the story from start to finish. Eventually, the reader discovers exactly what it was that happened during the prologue -- one of those ohhhh moments I so dearly love.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting for a call from the book editor who is finishing up her edits on DEVIL. I am terrified. What if she hates it? What if the plot doesn't hold up? What if the characters are cardboard and the story structure falls apart after Chapter 4?
My God, what if the whole thing just sucks?
Crap. I should have stayed at the damned newspaper! Arrrggggggg!!!!!
(Breathing deeply)
Ok. I'm fine now. Nothing a little coffee and my third cigar of the day won't cure.
I'm jealous, I've never had fun writing. I've had fun doing research, but never the writing part. I love it when I'm done, but to sit down to start hammering it out always feels like I'm entering a torture camp.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, is this at a publishing house or is this a freelance editor looking it over before you start shopping it around?
Ooohh, Terry, Terry, Terry. We must share the same brain waves.
ReplyDeleteWaiting SUCKS! But, it looks like you make good use of the in between. I was just telling another fellow blogger (what a stupid word) how I have these little epiphanies during that time. Usually right after the panic and anxiety leave my body, a light goes on and things become a little more clear and I can breathe again. I forget to do that sometimes.
All of my good thoughts are with you while you wait.
G~
Marty,
ReplyDeleteHa. I WISH writing was always fun. It's not, at least not for me. Often, it's painful as hell. I'm one of those people who get far more satisfaction from "having written" than "currently writing."
But I DID have fun writing that particular passage. Killing people and creating mayhem apparently appeals to me. ;)
And to answer your question, the editor is a freelance editor with connections in NYC. If she likes it, she will suggest it to her connections and then, God willing, we'll see. But I am still at the very beginning of the process.
And thanks Gina! Yes, we seem to be very much alike. Poor you ...