An author experiences many different emotions at various stages of writing a novel
Well I do, and I am sure that many other authors do too. I am now at the final stage of the DI Andy Horton marine mystery police procedural novel, number seven in the series, and I am checking the words and phrases and making sure that everything hangs together. This should take me probably one more week depending on other commitments then it will be off to my editor.
At this stage I get the feeling of relief mixed with anxiety: is it good enough? Should I re-write one more time? Could I have changed anything? Too late when I’ve pressed the send button and it’s gone to my editor. I also experience a sadness. I've lived with Andy Horton and Sergeant Cantelli, with alpha male, Superintendent Uckfield and the ice maiden, DCI Lorraine Bliss for well over six months and I'm sorry to leave them. Solution? Start the next DI Andy Horton. The ideas are there and soon I'll be mapping out the plot lines and thinking about sub plots and with this stage comes a feeling of excitement and exhilaration. I enjoy watching it come to life.
With the second and third drafts come a greater sense of satisfaction that all the ends are beginning to tie up neatly and I can really put more flesh onto the bones.
And by the time I reach the END I feel pleased that Inspector Andy Horton has survived the case, has learned perhaps more about his past, and will live to solve another case soon.
At this stage I get the feeling of relief mixed with anxiety: is it good enough? Should I re-write one more time? Could I have changed anything? Too late when I’ve pressed the send button and it’s gone to my editor. I also experience a sadness. I've lived with Andy Horton and Sergeant Cantelli, with alpha male, Superintendent Uckfield and the ice maiden, DCI Lorraine Bliss for well over six months and I'm sorry to leave them. Solution? Start the next DI Andy Horton. The ideas are there and soon I'll be mapping out the plot lines and thinking about sub plots and with this stage comes a feeling of excitement and exhilaration. I enjoy watching it come to life.
With the second and third drafts come a greater sense of satisfaction that all the ends are beginning to tie up neatly and I can really put more flesh onto the bones.
And by the time I reach the END I feel pleased that Inspector Andy Horton has survived the case, has learned perhaps more about his past, and will live to solve another case soon.
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