Dream Job

Writers at this stage of a draft are very boring creatures. It’s all about the book. About finishing the book. And leave me alone world, I have this book I want to finish. Can you see a theme here?

The most important thing at this stage is that you’re always moving forward.

Sometimes this is about word count, sometimes it’s about cutting a sentence or a scene that doesn’t work – so moving forward can seem like moving backwards. There are very few days when I don’t do something on the story: even fewer when I’m this deep into a book. The word count’s variable, the time spent in front of the computer likewise, but I’m always working on the book.

So far book three has been the easiest book to write because, well, it has the weight of the previous two books pushing it on. Things still surprise me. I found myself crying when I was working on a scene towards the end of the book yesterday – this is either a good sign or a bad one, not sure which.

Last night I woke up at three am with an idea for a scene and wrote it down. Well, I thought I did. Turns out it was a dream.

Doesn’t matter, waking or sleeping, I know where there this book is going: it’s just a matter of carrying the story there now. That’s the challenge, to get this draft finished.

I only hope that when I do, I don’t wake up and find it’s all been a dream.

(Though if that’s the case it’s a dream where two puppy dogs are staring at me, wondering where their dinner is. Oh, and on a slightly related note my book has now gone to the printers! And, believe it or not, the text of book two is also ready to go off – who’d believe it!)