I am in the throws of one of the hardest parts of writing. I finished my first murder mystery. I used the editor function in MS Word. I ran everything through Grammarly and ProWritingAid. I even uploaded the novel to Fictionary. Each of these presented issues requiring attention, but then I gave it an editor.
With Finding Ted James, I felt I had arrived as an author. While I received kind reviews of my first two books from family and friends, I received enthusiastic reviews from people outside my circle of friends. I even sent it to Kirkus, and while they were not gushing over what I had written, it was a positive review.
Mexia Music Murders was written in four weeks during NaNoWriMo. Then I listened to the comments made by writing coaches after they read Finding Ted James. I tossed the first edition and rewrote the book with a focus on a single event. The first draft flowed, but the second version was challenging. A friend gave me inspiration on how to end the story.
Then I gave it to Debbie, my editor. For most of a month, I languished in writer’s limbo. MMM is not done, and I don’t want to start the next project without putting MMM to bed. Now I have my mystery back, and now I have to take what Debbie has suggested and use her comments to make this my best work yet.
I am not whole unless I am writing. My wife will attest to my quirkiness when I am not writing. If you are a writer, then you must write. I am back in my happy place as I polish my novel. But I did not waste time. I began a study guide for an Edgar Allen Poe short story and laid out the first 14 scenes of my next project.
Writers write, and that is a simple truth. If you are a writer, write! It is not how many hours you set in front of your computer or how many words you write. It is ok to write junk to practice a skill or experiment with establishing the setting. The key is writing.
Steven Wilcox 