Contract!

Some writers can just keep going with writing a book, regardless of whether they have a contract or not. Me, I regard the long anxious wait, and the consequential writers block, as all part of the process. It's not without its benefits. The long gap (reflected in the gap in this blog) had me questioning my direction, planning other books for the future, and generally filing and tidying up my study and my mind, not to mention my e-mails and computer files.

Finally, though, I have been offered a contract based on the synopsis and sample chapters that have been going the rounds of the publishers. If I had started writing, most of my effort would have been wasted, because my new editor effectively wants me to scrap the first three-quarters of my planned book and focus on the last bit, which she regards as having all the liveliness and interest.

She's right, and I never saw it for myself. That's why showing your work to others is so useful, and the more professional the "other", the better. Writers, like scientist, are only too apt to fall for their own bullshit, especially when working on their own.