For the first time I can remember in something like five months, I actually have no writing work to do—and it’s driving me nuts.
Weekends are, for me, the best days to write. Saturday and Sunday mornings are usually quiet, and I can slam through a couple of thousand words pretty easily, or focus on editing for a long stretch without interruptions and distractions. Recently, I’ve been working on editing Mr. Gunn & Dr. Bohemia, and that’s been keeping me busy pretty much every weekend (except last weekend, of course, since we were at the Salt City Steamfest). It’s been so long since I did anything else, I’ve got used to spending weekend mornings doing that.
Today is different. I looked at the tracking sheet I use to keep up with where things are—and there’s nothing for me to do. Nada. Zip. Of the twelve chapters, two are with my copy editor, and the other ten are with my line editor. Until I get something back from one of them, I’m stuck. I want to move, do something, edit, edit, edit. But I can’t.
As Leon said, nothing is worse than having an itch you can never scratch.
I have other writing projects. There’s Smoke and Mirrors, which is, right now, a half-written first draft that was put to one side several months ago to make way for Gunn & Bohemia. But that’s a big job; I need to completely rework the timeline, for one thing, and then almost certainly rewrite—or at least edit, pretty drastically—every scene that’s been written so far. That’s not something I want to get into until I can work on it exclusively. That means not until G & B is ready to be unleashed. Now is not the time.
There’s the fantasy short I’ve been working on here and there, for Xchyler’s Back To The Future anthology contest. It’s partly written, and submissions are open until the end of the month, so there’s time. The trouble with that one is . . . well, to be honest, it’s boring. The story is complete, and I’m partway through the writing, but it’s too plain. It needs something—a twist, a surprise ending, some whiz-bang. As it stands, everything is too obvious, too easy. I need to think of something to make it stand out. If I can come up with something, perhaps I can really get that one going.
In a little while, there’s Xchyler’s release party for A Dash Of Madness (see my previous post for details and links), and I’m planning on being there at least part of the time. Another Saturday tradition is an hour or so on Skype, chatting with family. And the front lawn needs mowing; I’ll be taking care of that later. This is also the last weekend of the Colorado Renaissance Festival, and we were planning on going—but Kate’s sick with something and not up to the trip. Oh well; next year, maybe.
There are gaps to fill where the editing used to be. Editing drives me crazy at times—but not editing is driving me crazier, quicker.
I think I need coffee.
Until next time, gentle reader . . .
[Update, Sunday morning: three chapters came back from my line editor yesterday afternoon. I am editing. My day is complete.]
Pete Ford 