All about writing

[Derek]

How's a bald git with a pint write so much? Find out here. Ask any questions re writing and editing.

[Debra]

Hey Derek, thanks for the invite! How do you divide your time between editing and writing your own books?

[Derek]

Hello, Deb.

I have to be quite rigid about that. When I'm working on an editing commission I don't write (except for half an hour a week during my son's cello lesson). By the time I've finished the edit, I'm full of zest for writing and tend to write very quickly.

Once the first draft is finished, my own book becomes my new editing project, and when I've finished with it, it goes off to an external editor, and then back to me again.

When I'm editing other people's books, though, I still make notes regarding mine. I quite often end up with hundreds of scraps of paper and gradually refine them into something useable.

[Debra]

When I do beta reads/developmental edits for authors, I don't get any writing done either. I want to concentrate on their story, but it's amazing sometimes how an idea just pops into your head for one of your own books. It's a balancing act, that's for sure.