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Traitors' Gate - Page Proofs Edition
Feb. 24th, 2009 10:50 pmI received the page proofs of Traitors' Gate some days ago. I'm concerned, though. The page proofs did not come at the most inconvenient possible time, AND I was given an adequate--even generous--amount of time to finish them, so much so that I am done a week ahead of "schedule" (although any schedule re: Hawaii has to include the significant factor that there is no overnight mail to locations east of Denver available here; the best one can do is 2 day and that's if you get it in by, I think, 11 am or noon). Those of you accustomed to page proof deadlines will understand why this lack of emergency unnerved me.
Be that as it may, I always really start worrying at this stage of a book. Ultimately my worries spiral down to one of two major possibilities, being 1) people will despise or belittle the new novel and 2) no one will care anyway, whether or not they despise and belittle the new book.
I always feel that way, with every book, and while I haven't learned to stop the cycle I've at least learned to accept it and move on dragging my neuroses behind me. I don't know if this is a personality trait or the ethno-cultural background I grew up in, but the mere thought of stating in front of witnesses, who might take the comment for boasting or putting oneself above others, that I thought something I did was good is enough to make me want to list all the weaknesses I am aware of in my writing.
It's easy to talk about what went wrong, and far harder to talk about what went right.
So I'm here, after proofing a very long novel, the third in a three-volume trilogy (rather than the third in a four or six or seven volume trilogy), thinking that this the best book I've written yet. Now whether that is damning with faint praise is up to readers to decide for themselves (each individually, I expect, because no two readers will have the same reaction), but except for finding the usual words, phrases and sentences here and there that could be cut, and missing a few remaining awkward sentences (I never get them all), and one or two exchanges that I now see could be crisper or clearer, I am completely satisfied, today, that I did the absolute best I could at this point, with this book. How I'll feel tomorrow, or next month, or next year, is a different question, of course.
I'm mulling over a post about a decision I made years and years ago--to set myself a specific craft goal with each novel, different from the goal I'd set in the novel before and not to be confused with the general craft goal of building on what I have already learned and continuing to eradicate the usual weaknesses that always crop up--but I haven't quite figured out how to approach writing the blog post yet.
I am, as you see, a bit diffuse this evening.
Be that as it may, I always really start worrying at this stage of a book. Ultimately my worries spiral down to one of two major possibilities, being 1) people will despise or belittle the new novel and 2) no one will care anyway, whether or not they despise and belittle the new book.
I always feel that way, with every book, and while I haven't learned to stop the cycle I've at least learned to accept it and move on dragging my neuroses behind me. I don't know if this is a personality trait or the ethno-cultural background I grew up in, but the mere thought of stating in front of witnesses, who might take the comment for boasting or putting oneself above others, that I thought something I did was good is enough to make me want to list all the weaknesses I am aware of in my writing.
It's easy to talk about what went wrong, and far harder to talk about what went right.
So I'm here, after proofing a very long novel, the third in a three-volume trilogy (rather than the third in a four or six or seven volume trilogy), thinking that this the best book I've written yet. Now whether that is damning with faint praise is up to readers to decide for themselves (each individually, I expect, because no two readers will have the same reaction), but except for finding the usual words, phrases and sentences here and there that could be cut, and missing a few remaining awkward sentences (I never get them all), and one or two exchanges that I now see could be crisper or clearer, I am completely satisfied, today, that I did the absolute best I could at this point, with this book. How I'll feel tomorrow, or next month, or next year, is a different question, of course.
I'm mulling over a post about a decision I made years and years ago--to set myself a specific craft goal with each novel, different from the goal I'd set in the novel before and not to be confused with the general craft goal of building on what I have already learned and continuing to eradicate the usual weaknesses that always crop up--but I haven't quite figured out how to approach writing the blog post yet.
I am, as you see, a bit diffuse this evening.