Lots of writers talk about the pain of writing. One memorable quote -- which I can't be bothered to actually look up -- says that there's nothing hard about writing; just open a vein and get to work. So, I wonder if I'm not trying hard enough, not going deep enough, when I say that the time spent up in my study with a pot of tea and a pad of yellow lined paper generally goes by pleasantly.
Different writers go about their business in different ways. Some aim for a certain number of words each day. Graham Greene would write five hundred words a day -- exactly. Apparently, he had a preternatural ability to know when he had hit five hundred and would get up from his desk and walk away, even if the five-hundredth word came in mid-sentence.
Some write each day until they're too tired to go on. Me? I set aside two hours every morning at the desk I pictured in a previous post. Though it comes more easily some days than others, I've never got up at the end of that time without getting something down.
So, as I say, it goes agreeably enough. And then there's editing.
Perhaps the most painful part of the process for everyone concerned is the task of making final edits. This is were the publisher finally gets to see what I've been up to for the past year or two and weigh in on what works and what doesn't.
Back in December I received my publisher's edits to "Sri Lanka," which is scheduled for publication this spring. I would guess there were well over a thousand suggested changes, from added (or subtracted) commas to disagreements on structure and character. As with my previous two novels, it's a tedious, painstaking process, and the necessary exception to the enjoyable parts of the process. I can't imagine it's much fun for the editor, either.
It took me several weeks to go over all of them, accepting most, rejecting others, discussing an alternative approach to still others. At the same time, I'm going over the text on my own, making scores of additional changes.
Does ego get involved? Oh, yeah. The challenges suggested by the edits can be painful, or downright maddening, especially on those days
when I fear the editor may be right about virtually everything. This gives rise to a self-protecting reaction, imagining that the editor is wrong about everything. I end up whipsawed between thinking I'm a misunderstood genius or a self-deluding mediocrity.
I sent my edits of the edits back to the publisher last week. She will then consider my reaction and, as I have done, accept some, reject others. She will then send it back to me for what should be the final go-round.
So, the ball is in their court for the moment and, for a couple of weeks, I can get back to work on my story set on the French canals. Then it will be one more round and finally done, and I can look forward to seeing "Sri Lanka" in print in the next couple of months.