It’s been a busy week. Firstly, the 3rd draft is now complete – two weeks ahead of schedule. And I’m happy – very happy with the way it’s gone. Considering the first draft was a bit of a mess, the almost entirely re-written 2nd draft needed very little revising. What I have changed are turn-of-phrase, speech and some descriptive passages. I’ve also tightened the plot slightly, and the more overt fantasy/science fiction sections have been blended into the main plot without the jarring that occurred terribly with the first draft and less in the second.
And in the spirit of celebration for the end of the 3rd draft - as in David Isaak’s and mine comments to Lucy’s 20 questions about her (click here) - Sarah and I went out for a meal and a film (Ocean’s 13 – not overly challenging, but fun) and I bought myself a printer to replace the dead one that’s been gathering dust in my study (in the spirit of Roger Morris’ Taking Comfort – which I’m currently reading – it’s a Cannon Pixma iP2500, and does the business!).
Yeah, I’m really happy with the way it’s gone. And without much ado, onto the 4th draft. The first three drafts were done entirely on the trusty laptop, but with the 4th I go to paper. There’s something about reading your printed words that brings into focus the writing – especially the flaws. After all, the book will probably only reach you gentle reader in the printed form. Not to read a printed version will be like the digital photographer entering a competition without seeing a printed picture, or the musician never listening to one of their CDs. It just seems – well – wrong.
After the 4th draft, a copy will be sent to Louise, my scrutinising sister who will pick up any other flaws, before a mad rush of a couple of weeks and then I submit it to Will at Macmillan New Writing no later than 24th August (a self-imposed deadline, but I promised Will it would get to him this summer).
Apart from the new book, I have a date pencilled in for a live interview and chat about the whole Macmillan New Writing thing at the Bakewell Art’s Festival (click here). I’ll be speaking on August 7th, and while the details still require confirmation, it will start roughly around 7:45pm, followed by an unplugged band session (tbc) as part of the festival at 9pm.
The talk will be structured around my experiences with MNW, the process of writing, as well as the new book (which I’ll be reading from), followed by a Q&A with the audience and probably a signing. Once I know more, I’ll post details here and the website.
Finally, as I go through the process of drafting the new book (and making a decision on the title!) I’ll be considering the future of this blog.
For me, this was only going to be a short-term thing and after I submit the sequel to MNW, I might decide to call it a day and go through another medium, perhaps My Space, perhaps a completely new blog. We’ll see. I’ve learnt a lot through the blog – from those regular and not so regular commentators, and just because I might not blog after the 24th August doesn’t mean I won’t be dropping in on everyone else’s.
I will of course keep the blog going until then.
And of course, I’ll write a final blog entry on whether or not Macmillan New Writing accept the new book.
Not to do so would be just “mean”.
And in the spirit of celebration for the end of the 3rd draft - as in David Isaak’s and mine comments to Lucy’s 20 questions about her (click here) - Sarah and I went out for a meal and a film (Ocean’s 13 – not overly challenging, but fun) and I bought myself a printer to replace the dead one that’s been gathering dust in my study (in the spirit of Roger Morris’ Taking Comfort – which I’m currently reading – it’s a Cannon Pixma iP2500, and does the business!).
Yeah, I’m really happy with the way it’s gone. And without much ado, onto the 4th draft. The first three drafts were done entirely on the trusty laptop, but with the 4th I go to paper. There’s something about reading your printed words that brings into focus the writing – especially the flaws. After all, the book will probably only reach you gentle reader in the printed form. Not to read a printed version will be like the digital photographer entering a competition without seeing a printed picture, or the musician never listening to one of their CDs. It just seems – well – wrong.
After the 4th draft, a copy will be sent to Louise, my scrutinising sister who will pick up any other flaws, before a mad rush of a couple of weeks and then I submit it to Will at Macmillan New Writing no later than 24th August (a self-imposed deadline, but I promised Will it would get to him this summer).
Apart from the new book, I have a date pencilled in for a live interview and chat about the whole Macmillan New Writing thing at the Bakewell Art’s Festival (click here). I’ll be speaking on August 7th, and while the details still require confirmation, it will start roughly around 7:45pm, followed by an unplugged band session (tbc) as part of the festival at 9pm.
The talk will be structured around my experiences with MNW, the process of writing, as well as the new book (which I’ll be reading from), followed by a Q&A with the audience and probably a signing. Once I know more, I’ll post details here and the website.
Finally, as I go through the process of drafting the new book (and making a decision on the title!) I’ll be considering the future of this blog.
For me, this was only going to be a short-term thing and after I submit the sequel to MNW, I might decide to call it a day and go through another medium, perhaps My Space, perhaps a completely new blog. We’ll see. I’ve learnt a lot through the blog – from those regular and not so regular commentators, and just because I might not blog after the 24th August doesn’t mean I won’t be dropping in on everyone else’s.
I will of course keep the blog going until then.
And of course, I’ll write a final blog entry on whether or not Macmillan New Writing accept the new book.
Not to do so would be just “mean”.
Posts
