Week 47 - Beginning of the End

“The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on.”

Too right Omar (and Agatha).

There’s been a lot of that this week as my red pen has skimmed through the pages of my second draft. Mostly it's been typos, but now and again I have found inconsistencies that have so far escaped my notice.

The worst moment was when I realised that I had left a strand dangling that I had completely forgotten about. I say strand, more like the contents of a Lancashire textile factory (when they still existed).

It shows the value of this two-week process and has been quite an eye-opener. Some parts of my novel I have actually enjoyed re-reading and even found myself getting caught up in the plot.

Other parts not so much.

But that, I guess, was ever thus. In fact, it raises a point relevant to a number of emails I’ve had from people following the blog. These can be summed up from Suzanne in Surrey who asks how I am feeling about the impending arrival of week 52 and what that means for the book that's been such a major part of my life for almost a year.

What she’s talking about is letting go. From comments I have read as well as things I’ve read on other blogs, it seems that one of the main barriers that prevents new writers from completing their book is that they are not working to any time frame.

Even if they manage to reach the end of their story, there is always the opportunity for a re-written chapter here and a change to structure there. Without a deadline, the story will just go on and on...

This may be one of the main things that separates the professional from the amateur. The professional HAS to stop at a certain point and hand the book over. He or she knows that the book could always be a little better, but what good is that if it never gets to sit on a bookshop’s shelf?

It’s all about knowing when to let go.

Which is what I’ll have to do in five short weeks. It’s the only way it’s going to land on a publisher’s desk.

Of course, it won’t be easy.

It’ll be murder.