The hardest part about writing is...

Writing is hard work. Editing is hard work. Writing pitches is hard work. Making a good cover is hard work.

Why am I doing this?! I don't know, but I am - and I'm loving it!

Once the story is written it's not finished, not by a long shot.  That is, actually, the easy part.  Getting it down on paper can be a stream of consciousness with no rhyme, no reason, no logic.  From there, though...  That's where the hard work begins.


Editing is tough.  Killing your 'darlings' - those bits and pieces of prose that you love best for their sheer genius but that really don't add a thing to your story - is painful.  When they're taken out and the ends are mended into a seamless transition, the only person who will miss them is you - and sometimes you miss them so much it hurts.

I have one chapter from an early work that I adore.  I don't love it - I adore it.  When I read it I can picture the scene so easily, yet it added nothing to the story.  Here's a bit of it:

We passed into the stand of birches at the top of the meadow where the rain took on a soft spattering, pattering tone as the drops struck the leaves and branches overhead.  Heavy drops fell, smacking onto our heads and shoulders, plashing into the puddles that were forming on the ground.  The fragrance of the forest rose up, adding to the pleasure of our journey.  From between the trunks of the trees appeared an old small square stone building.  It stood in the very center of the thick copse.

I still love that.  I can see it, smell it, but it doesn't add a single thing to the story.  It's a 'darling', pure and simple and I took it out.

Now I'm struggling with a cover.  I have one I like. One of the best helpers over on Authonomy said, 'no, not right', so I'm back to the drawing board.

How about you help me decide?  I'll post four - the one I like and three alternatives I've developed and you can tell me which one would make you stop in the bookstore for a closer look:

Just tell me one, two, three or four - you don't even have to say why.  Just let me know which would stop you long enough to pick it up off the stacks if you were looking for something to read.

Thanks and have a lovely day!

Best~
Philippa

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