Derry, Northern Ireland

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

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

To illustrate or not to illustrate...

That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to let the book work along strictly in the narrative form, or if it's better to slip in sketches of what's happening, as was done by Dickens and Lewis Carroll and such. I kind of like the idea, but it's not cheap to have someone else do it; I paid below rate for the images I got for David Martin and it's never going to make its money back.

Of course, I could do it, myself, but that would not only take time away from my writing, it would also require more discipline of my work than I usually do. Better detail. Precise renderings. All that stuff. What I did just for publicity purposes for The Lyons' Den is my preferred style and that won't work for this. Pen and ink is better...

And choosing the best moments to illustrate? That would be a pain and a half.

And for a book the size of OT...I'd want more than a dozen images. More like a few dozen. No, that sounds like too many. I'd have to see. Oh, let's not forget my tendency to rewrite up till the last second. I might have a lovely sketch and have to drop it because I changed the narrative.

Sounds like I'm talking myself out of it...or into it...you never can tell with me...

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