Writing a book is a long (long) process. I used to think of it as the writing part only… you know, develop a story, characters, build the conflict, the plot, work out the twists, the red herrings, the misdirection, the resolution… that last scene with the characters after it’s all over. Yea, that part.
But now I’ve been doing this for a while, it has started to sink in that just when you think a book is “done,” someone sends it back!
After you’ve written a book, a few weeks pass and in comes the editorial letter. Here are the first major revisions -- the slaughter of unnecessary characters, the vanishing of plot lines that detracted, the banishment of bad twists and failed turns.
You tackle those and off it goes again… only to return a few weeks later for developmental edits where you make it all sharper, better, more clever (and maybe even a bit shorter).
Done? Nope! Next it comes back (again a few weeks later) for copy edits. This is where someone who likely majored in English (rather than pre-med/poly sci with a minor in Italian) tells me where the commas are supposed to go. Plus, they catch all sorts of things I’ve missed (though I’ve read the book 100 times and also, uh, wrote it).
And then… it comes back again one last time for page proofs. The last chance to get it all right, to never confuse a left eye with a right or brown sofa with a beige one.
And this process takes (in my experience) about 6 months. And during that time… uh… I’m also supposed to be writing the next book.
I am… of course I am… But really, I’m celebrating this moment as my work on White Out is… (at least I think) DONE!
So, tomorrow, I move full steam ahead on the sequel… can’t wait to share White Out with you!