Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Finally had to get out...

Spent most of yesterday and today working on RIHC6v2 and it's getting there. Each time I go through the story, I find something new to explain or add or cut or rearrange, no matter how often I do it. Of course, I used to pull this nonstop rewriting with my scripts, too, but in those it didn't matter as much since scripts are there to be ignored and redone by idiots who have no concept of how to make a movie, so any rewrites I did were just for me. In a book...grammer and style matter. A LOT.

I heard a story once of how John Fowles rewrote one of his books years after it had been published -- the Magus? -- and I remember wondering why. Now I know. If you're growing as a writer or fighting to find the right way to tell something without it being trite or tedious, you're always rearranging words and moments in your book. Hell, I do that with other writers' books, so much so I find it hard to read fiction, these days.

Anyway...i've given myself until next Sunday to complete this book; otherwise I'll be working on it this time next year and that's just avoidance. I think Antony and Jake and Matt and company are ready to face the world on their own. And to anyone who thinks this is just a book of erotica and it's silly for me to work so hard at getting it just right, picture a big Gallic shrug right now. If it's got my name on it, I have to be proud of it.

No package. Mom never sent it off. She finally gave it to my sister who took it to the PO Friday. So...it'll be hard for me to get it till Saturday since packages are kept in the office and they're only open the hours that I work. Irritating.

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