Good news, this week I’ve completed the initial draft of book five in my Banbury Cross Murder Mystery series. It’s a stage in the production of a new book that’s highly pleasing, especially when I’ve managed to come up with a great ending. But it also points to the beginning of some seriously hard work.

This is because, for me at least, it marks the transition from the purely creative pleasure of building and shaping a new story to the more demanding and unrelenting job of re-writing, both before and after my editor has waved her magic wand.

The trouble is, my mind is already mad keen to wander off to pastures new, dreaming up ideas for more new stories. I’ve noticed this can be an incredibly fruitful time for generating ideas for new stories and even whole new series.

But that won’t do. Discipline must be maintained, so I can finish the work in hand. It will be tough. It will be time-consuming. It may even get frustrating. So, think of me and my struggles over the next weeks as I force myself to stay in line and get that new book completed.

Image by Ezequiel_Octaviano on Pixabay.