Paksworld

Losing something you’ve written is the #1 Writerly Woe–in this case a post I wrote a few hours ago, hit a wrong key, and lost…Boom! It had been a witty (I thought), entertaining (I hoped) post about another Writerly Woe that occurred today.  Lovingly crafted to bring you the utmost in amusement  and maybe a little insight into writer psychology. 

Well…that’s not this post.  I couldn’t possibly re-create it…not even immediately after (I started to try, realized it was hopeless, and snarled my way out to the kitchen.)  For one thing, the writing in that one got seriously over the top, and I started giggling at myself, and after that I couldn’t possibly have done the full drama-queen act I’d begun with.  Sigh.  The grand gesture nearly always falls flat.

I was happily working on the Book Three today when my agent called with his response to Book Two, from 40% of the way through.   Defense alarms went off at once.   That’s writer psychology anyway.   We expect something to be wrong, and we’re always right (well, almost always.)    “I am loving it,” he said, and I waited for the inevitably three-letter-word that should be considered a four-letter-word in such context.    “But…” he began.

Yup.  There it was.    The book is not perfect.   There are some flaws.   Fixes applied to problems found by others have been deemed insufficient.   Despite other kind words and encouragement,  my spirits sank in leaden fashion, right out the bottom of my brain.   Logically, I should be happy that readers will get a better book to read and maybe no one will ever realize what a terrible fate was averted…but illogically and humanly, I was in a waily-waily-waily-woe frame of mind for awhile there.

And then, to prove to myself that I could bring drama to any situation, I had written this bright, witty, marvelously satirical piece…that cheered me up in the writing of it…and lost it to a typo.

However, to be perfectly fair I must relate the writerly good news:  two of the Vatta’s War books, Marque & Reprisal and Victory Conditions, have gone back to press.   The battle I was working on, though rudely interrupted by my waily-waily-waily-woe bit,  is now coming along nicely.

This message brought to you by the writer whose ego has a few bruises, but is still up to writing.    (Now let’s see if I can get this one posted without screwing up…)