Catherine Banner's Blog, page 8

how a manuscript becomes a book #1: delivering the manuscript

In the very beginning it starts with this, a manuscript:
One manuscript, complete with elastic bands When I began writing, a manuscript was a bundle of paper which you posted in a Fedex box. Now, I deliver mine by email (though I usually take a paper copy to my agent, a kind of tradition we've established). The general rule for when to submit it is when you have entered a haze of exhaustion which renders you incapable of doing anything but adding and removing the same comma while feveris...

how a manuscript becomes a book: introduction

There were two things that surprised me about the publication process when I began writing.

First, it takes a long time to get a book from manuscript to publication. About 18 months in total is perfectly reasonable for a large, mainstream publisher.

Secondly, an author is a very small link in the large and complex network of people who are involved in the publishing process. I have probably worked with 30 people, from cover designers to copy editors, on each volume of The Last Descendants. Mult...

some reflections on finishing a book

On Thursday at about 10pm, I finished The Heart at War. After 10 years working on The Last Descendants, this was clearly a very important moment, but one I haven't had much time to reflect on yet. There was just time to share the news before I collapsed into bed. I spent Friday at my other job as a teacher. Some of my students, who have been asking about the progress of the book, were interested to hear it was finally done: 'Wow, miss, so you've been working on this book for two years, and y...

the heart at war: finished

Just a very quick post today, but there's really only one thing I want to say...The Heart at War is finished. Thank you to my readers for your support over the past 8 years; it means everything. You are the reason I write.More updates to come soon, but for now I just wanted to say thanks!

a heart at war update, and some thoughts on mini books by mini authors

The Heart at Waris nearly finished! There are a few small sections which I'll rewrite for the last time before sending the whole manuscript off to my editors at Doubleday.It's been a very busy couple of weeks rereading, editing and polishing the manuscript, a stage that I really enjoy but which can be intense and doesn't always leave room for much else. So while this is good news, and something I wanted to let you know about, I haven't been able to think up a topic for a blog post this week....

writing and (budget, long-distance train) travel

When I was growing up,I loved the idea of travelling to different places. I hadn't been abroad very much at all and didn't have a passport until I was fourteen, so I'm not sure why this captured my imagination. But I think probably my wish to see the outside world came from an early knowledge that my way of seeing things didn't always match everyone else's. As a child, I was uneasy in groups based on incidental similarities of age, culture or background. I think I had an idea that by travell...

reading for inspiration

Writers are often advised, especially when they are starting out, to read as much as possible, and as many different types of writing as possible, in order to learn their craft. This is often what we do anyway, so it's welcome advice to be given. I think, for me, reading widely and sometimes even quite randomly began as soon as I could read. When I was a little kid, I'd often be found poring over a telephone directory or a dictionary, or reading the advert pages of a catalogue. A slight...

attending a convention, and some thoughts about genre

Some exciting news this afternoon: I've been invited to be a featured guest at Nine Worlds Convention, a multi-genre convention or 'GeekFest' in London, between the 9th and 11th August. I'm going to be taking part in panel discussions on science fiction and literature and meeting readers and other writers. And, never having been to a convention before, I will probably spend some of my time there just exploring what else is going on.

As a writer, and moreover a writer whose work crosses more t...

writing and the public eye

A bit of a delay between posts this month... I've been ill for a few days (one of the main job hazards of working in a school, unfortunately!), and now that I'm starting to recover I've been spending nearly all my writing time catching up with my work on The Heart at War. I'm making fewer and fewer changes to the draft, and feeling more and more content with the work I've produced, which is a very good sign that I'm near to finishing. As soon as it's with my editors at Doubleday, I'll let you...

paying attention to the world

A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world. - Susan Sontag

I think that my job is to observe people and the world, and not to judge them. I always hope to position myself away from so-called conclusions. I would like to leave everything wide open to all the possibilities in the world. - Haruki Murakami

I had an interesting conversation once with a photographerabout the similarities between photography and writing, and how good writing can be 'photographic' because it capture...