Anxiety kicks in

Here we go, the official period for editing and reviewing has begun and as soon as I finished the 80,000 word book demons of doubt have awaken from their long sleep (yeah, I think it was a pretty long sleep). Looking back at the text I immediately spotted mistakes, particularly in the final stage that is supposed to set the tone for its sequel. I'm not sure whether this is normal or not but I feel numb after spending more than two months writing almost every night and not going to bed before 3am, only to face the grueling schedule of lectures and my academic engagement afterwards (i.e. a glamorous life of the author in the making I guess...).

I loved writing my first novel and I think the story is gripping, with lots of utterly unexpected twists and turns but   the demons keep telling me all sorts of things that will need to be corrected. Again, is that normal? Does that happen to all writers? I'm not sure but whatever the case I shall leave it for a week now and then commence the editing. It will take a few rounds of editing before I can send it off to a copy editor, and I will also give the book to a few people to read but I'm doing it for the first time and I totally dread the prospect of severe criticism, no matter how valuable it is. I am not going to pretend, a man takes some time to get used to criticism and I'm not sure how much time I will need (go away ego...).

On a more positive side, have you ever noticed how listening a fabulous song over and over again takes away its shimmer? Why is that, I wonder? You first can't stop listening but after a while your mind and soul stop reacting. Is that the consequence of consumerism - i.e. we need a constant influx of new ever more exciting stimuli? Perhaps it's our human nature that is flourishing in consumerism though I don't feel ashamed - I got bored of one particular song recently (though I'm not going to tell you which one... cheeky!).

Train of ideas... Ideas on a train

I'm just heading to Ascot and it's only a 30 minute journey but immediately ideas are flying in from left, right and center. I have the same experience whenever I'm traveling. Why is that so, I wonder? Perhaps seeing a different environment and people have got something to do with this, I don't know but it is peculiar.

Last night I almost reached 70,000 words so I'm a happy chap today and not tired at all. I'm really happy with the book and actually look forward to editing, believe it or not. I'm giving an early morning lecture tomorrow and have a series of meetings and lectures afterwards so no writing tonight but the weekend will mark a historical milestone as I think the book will be finished by Sunday (fingers crossed, you know how life is).

OK, off to a meeting now...