Finished the Fourth Round of Editing on the Novel
Coming to the end of a long journey is filled with forebodings. It's like the disembarkation after a train journey, where you are a bit shaken and the ground beneath you seem to weave and your head is fuzzy with the sights you have seen. Yeah, something similar. What next? Your steps falter, you find it hard to adjust to the light, and you think what's bleddy wrong with me. You were never like this before. What's this feeling of emptiness?
The thought that is troubling you now is: how do you push this down the publishing shaft where a lot of talented writers have perished? Will it disappear into nothingness or will it be smooth sailing? A sense of danger abounds, you feel the vacuum building.
Let us end this waffling. First things first, the fourth editing of your novel Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard has drawn to a close. You are immensely satisfied by the work you have done. If anything, this novel will define your writing, your oeuvre. The last month, after the hospitalisation, has been a very productive phase in your writing. So many days of waking up at 5 a.m. has helped. You think morning is the best time to write.
But what lies ahead? Heard the literary scene is bitchy and bastardy. So much so that all the big slots are taken; and whatever is left is being filled up fast by those smart kids with their laptops and spreadsheets. Yeah, spreadsheets for plotting. What chance do you stand? What if your novel meets with failure? Face it. Every movie director encounters it on Friday; every author has to reconcile to the eventuality on the launch date.
Right now there are a hundred doubts running through your mind. You are confused. Will it succeed? Won't it? Will it be accepted, rejected, ignored, panned? Will there be polemics, will there be vehement opposition, will there be an extreme reaction?
You have heard it said that the author has to let it go at some point. But you hate to let go of your baby. You are the possessive kind. You think you will have your say on the book cover. You already have sketches of how it should look. You wish you had a good agent who can push your work. Ah, that would be nice, and then you can relax. Anyone?
You think the system is biased against new authors. Somehow there's this set notion that a new author takes long to be established in the market. Is that true? Anyone?
Meanwhile, after the fourth round of editing, you sit and fret. Is there anybody out there?
Coming to the end of a long journey is filled with forebodings. It's like the disembarkation after a train journey, where you are a bit shaken and the ground beneath you seem to weave and your head is fuzzy with the sights you have seen. Yeah, something similar. What next? Your steps falter, you find it hard to adjust to the light, and you think what's bleddy wrong with me. You were never like this before. What's this feeling of emptiness?
The thought that is troubling you now is: how do you push this down the publishing shaft where a lot of talented writers have perished? Will it disappear into nothingness or will it be smooth sailing? A sense of danger abounds, you feel the vacuum building.
Let us end this waffling. First things first, the fourth editing of your novel Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard has drawn to a close. You are immensely satisfied by the work you have done. If anything, this novel will define your writing, your oeuvre. The last month, after the hospitalisation, has been a very productive phase in your writing. So many days of waking up at 5 a.m. has helped. You think morning is the best time to write.
But what lies ahead? Heard the literary scene is bitchy and bastardy. So much so that all the big slots are taken; and whatever is left is being filled up fast by those smart kids with their laptops and spreadsheets. Yeah, spreadsheets for plotting. What chance do you stand? What if your novel meets with failure? Face it. Every movie director encounters it on Friday; every author has to reconcile to the eventuality on the launch date.
Right now there are a hundred doubts running through your mind. You are confused. Will it succeed? Won't it? Will it be accepted, rejected, ignored, panned? Will there be polemics, will there be vehement opposition, will there be an extreme reaction?
You have heard it said that the author has to let it go at some point. But you hate to let go of your baby. You are the possessive kind. You think you will have your say on the book cover. You already have sketches of how it should look. You wish you had a good agent who can push your work. Ah, that would be nice, and then you can relax. Anyone?
You think the system is biased against new authors. Somehow there's this set notion that a new author takes long to be established in the market. Is that true? Anyone?
Meanwhile, after the fourth round of editing, you sit and fret. Is there anybody out there?
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