The rewrite, continued ...
For various reasons (life in all its glorious unpredictability, mostly) I find myself re-rewriting my second novel.
It's not an unusual state, after all, all writing is rewriting (finally found the man who said it):
My new delivery date, to my long-suffering agent, is 18 April. Here's a beautiful image (from Flickr) for that day:Writing is rewriting. A writer must learn to deepen characters, trim writing, intensify scenes. To fall in love with the first draft to the point where one cannot change it is greatly to enhance the prospects of never publishing. Richard North Patterson
May my second novel (whose title, at least for the moment, is WRITTEN in WATER) bloom as beautifully, very soon.
6 comments:
Thanks for the Patterson quote. I needed that reference for a short piece on getting started as a writer I am going to offer on my blog -www.thewritersuniverse.com. Very timely. Nice blog, by the way.
Rick
Good quote isn't it? And thanks for your comment about my blog, Rick.
Hi Angela - any updates??
x
Dear Simon,
You are so thoughtful to ask ... my blog has suffered - as is obvious from my lack of blogging - for the rererewriting of my second novel. But the manuscript is now with a brilliant freelance editor who's been working with me (it's still called WRITTEN in WATER) since last November. She's been asking me questions and making the kinds of suggestions a writer dreams of. She's not at all prescriptive, but she has a knack of helping me see the mss objectively which is a difficult thing to do when you're in the thick of it. I think she's quite wonderful and I hope she'll agree to work on every book I write from now on.
The manuscript she's reading at the moment is - I fondly hope - the final draft and when I've made any last changes she suggests my agent will do her very best to sell it. But the competition's hot now: there are two Titanic novels already out and two more coming out in April 2012 (the 100th anniversary of the tragic sinking). So ... we can only hope there's a publisher out there who feels confident that mine will add to the collection.
And then I move house.
And then I begin my third novel whose working title is FOR THE LOVE OF LIFE.
I hope all's well with you? Not only have I not blogged I haven't visited any blogs either (except Dovegrey's for the W&P readathon). But I will again soon.
Best,
Angela
Hi Angela,
Thanks so much for your quick and full reply, just the sort of update I was hankering after! It sounds really positive - your relationship with your editor sounds like the sort that most writers would give their left leg for, so hurrah for that :)
Very selfishly, I am desperate for you to find a publisher, because I am desperate to read this!
I'm well, thanks - doing some writing myself this week, but on a much smaller scale - giving my first proper conference paper next week (argh!) for a middlebrow conference.
And I thought of you because I've just finished The Earth Hums in B Flat - have you read it? I don't know quite why, but it made me think of Speaking of Love.
Sx
Dear Simon,
Bless you for the comment about SPEAKING of LOVE at the end of your review of THE EARTH HUMS in B FLAT ... I'll order it immediately, the title's intriguing and beautiful, I agree, and perhaps it's the mother-daughter relationship in the novel - guessing from your review - that also put you in mind of SPEAKING of LOVE.
And I promise to ask the publishers to send you a copy of WRITTEN in WATER when it is published. But you may have to be patient for a little while longer ... once my agent has found a publisher it usually takes about a year but on that happy day they may decide to speed up the process because of the anniversary ... we shall see.
And the very best of luck with your conference paper. I'm sure you'll excel.
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