The Work Goes On

The Truth is Discovered Another New Book from C.P. Bialois

The Work Goes On

I have two short stories for Blondes, Books, & Bourbon, on my edit desk right now. I’m working on both of them making changes to enrich the story.

One story needs tightening and honing in a lot of places. I’m tackling these places one at a time, hammering out the weakness and wielding in new words and structure. It is a challenge to stay sharp and creative in the process, but that’s part of the fun of being a writer.

The other tale, a stronger story in essence, needs a section transformed from description to dialogue … my editor loves to make me write dialogue. The end of this particular story also raised a small question -the answer to which I knew – but it opened up possibilities. I had carried an alternative ending in my head for a number of months now and shared it with my editor. We both thought it might be good to write it out and see which ending worked better. So although the majority of the edits on this piece were fast, in the end, I’m left with a good bit of work to do one it.

It seems like this should be frustrating, but it’s not…to me.

This is creative writing. It’s challenging yourself to keep tone and voice, while reordering the sections – be they large or small – with-in the story.

We are moving through the edits at a good speed, so I’m not worried. What does worry me is not giving all I can to the process.

Why?

Because that means I’m not giving those who purchase the anthology – I’m not giving my readers – the best I can offer. To me, that’s cheating and it would feel like theft.

I have a busy few months ahead of me making this anthology as strong as I can. Once that’s done, I immediately get to use the same technique to make the second novel ‘ Bindings & Spines’ worthy of an audience as well.

What is that saying about rest and the wicked?