I’m editing the new book called Barracuda. It’s a sad and tragic tail that I will reveal to everyone once the editing is complete and my beta reader has had a chance to go over it more thoroughly. Suffice to say this project is more involved than my last efforts mostly because I am becoming more thoughtful and serious about my craft. I do intend that the rest of my works will go to my present publisher so I can get these titles in the marketplace.
Writing for fun is as I described in last week’s blog an effort in pure writing where I just write the story out regardless of errors or syntax mistakes. The real work is the part that tend to be not so fun because editing a story is an entirely different animal. In a sense, to use a metaphor, editing is like taming a wild beast.
Writing for the enjoyment of writing is creating that wild beast.
I’ve discovered through both the self-publishing and this process through an actual publisher that fine tuning into a piece that is as much a work of art than anything else, involves many sacrifices. There are darlings to kill off, whole pages that need revision, or outright deletion to make the story work. It is a process that many who write hate to go through because, well let’s face it, we hate admitting that we are wrong and think the story we wrote is infallible, when in fact, it’s far from it.
There are stories I’ve written that will not even make it to the publisher because they didn’t past muster with my beta reader or myself. Maybe after I’m dead and gone, someone will pick up that manuscript and do something with it. I the meantime, I will pursue my passion of writing for fun and later for money.
Jerry Schellhammer 