9.24.14 - On Starting

Novel the 16th is underway. I feel like I need to start marking these moments as they happen - beginnings, and endings. So here’s a shot of my word counter at the end of today’s two writing sessions. I did 600 this morning, just spit them out, then had an interview that went longer than either of us expected, then took care of a few things (ahem… drinking tea and playing catch with the cats) before I returned to the manuscript and tossed down another 700. Perhaps not the most lightning strike of first days, but I’ll take it. Stephen King says it best:

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”

It’s so true. I am always terrified of starting. Granted, Catherine and I have been massaging the plot for this book for a couple of weeks now, and will continue to do so, probably until the very end. And I have a 20 page synopsis done and 20 pages of notes, but the actual words, the opening line, the beginning - that’s what’s so freaking scary to me.

Oh, yes, it might do to mention this is the new Nicholas Drummond novel - the third in the series. Number two, THE LOST KEY, comes out Tuesday (“WHAT?” you say. “I hadn’t heard…”) and I refuse to be cowed by the good reviews and responses like I did when I was starting THE FINAL CUT. Oh, did I not mention that lovely bit of writerly neurosis? Yes, well. Now you know.

One of my favorite reader questions is which book is my favorite? For me, it’s the one that’s just released, because there’s no more pressure, no more worry and anticipation. It’s out in the world doing it’s thing, and officially out of the my fiddling writer’s hands. 

So until Tuesday, I will fret and bite my nails and drive you mad on social media and hope that the new book is well-received, but whilst I'm worrying, I'm going to keep my head down and keep on writing the next one. 

Because that’s what we do. We write, in the face of fear and anxiety, pain and illness, joy and sorrow. 

We write.

And so it begins…