This always happens, damn it. I give myself a reasonable, decent timeframe to finish the line edit for The Persistence of Memories, and something comes along and says “OH HEY You need to get this done first, there’s a couple of errands you also need to do outside the house, and oh, by the way, Day Jobbery has been busier than usual, so chances of you sneaking any writing in during the day is slim to nil. Oh, and remember those blogs that you ignored all weekend because you were too busy shopping and doing housework, and watching the new X-Files episodes?”
Grumble grumble whine whine.
But you know, I’m not going to let it get to me. This has happened enough times that the most I can do is work around it. I’ve read too many blog writers and webcomic artists that have this same issue, and that’s all you can do: soldier on the best way you can. I say this, as it seems my original schedule has gone a bit wonky. I’m pushing the release of The Persistence of Memories out a few more weeks, mainly because after this line edit is done, I’m going to need to give it another surgery. It’s great as it is, but it’s still far too long at nearly 169k words. That’s actually about 15k more than A Division of Souls. The response to that book, by the way, has been quite positive, except for the words no writer really wants to hear: it’s too long. And Book 3 is even longer than Book 2, which is not a good sign at all.
But! But! It’s a piece of art! You’re supposed to savor the pace both when it’s fast and slow! Why does no one understand my genius?
Heh. Yeah, right. More like, “….Oh. Yeah. Huh. You’re right, that bit’s pretty sluggish. I should definitely speed it up.”
The thing with self-publishing is that you’re going to see it, warts and all. The original 150k version of ADoS is still out there as an e-book and a trade until I get around to re-editing that. On the one hand, as a writer, I feel like a failure because I put the book out there well before it was completely ready, and now No One Will Ever Trust Me as an Author Ever Again.
On the other hand, I can just get back on the horse, fix what needs fixing, present it again, and move on.
Whatever works, kids.
Granted, I’m also giving myself quite a lot to do in the next six months. Editing and revising books 2 and 3 in the trilogy, as well as writing Walk in Silence. My original plan for WiS was to have it released in April, but due to the trilogy editing and re-editing, work has been embarrassingly slow on it (about 2 handwritten pages a day, which really isn’t much). I’m thinking that one will end up being released during the fall semester. I’m okay with that…as long as it’s done by some point this year.
And then, maybe, finally, I’ll be able to work on new stuff. Maybe.
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