Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: geeky
  • Music: Glee, "Red Solo Cup."

Quiet milestones.

Parasite is the first book I've written largely in secret. Not because I was ashamed of it, but because first it wasn't sold, so I couldn't say anything about it. Then it was sold but unannounced, so I couldn't say anything about it. Then, when it was finally announced, I was so far into the writing process that I couldn't force myself into the normal flow of word counts and benchmarks and all the other things I use for motivation.

Pro tip: I work better with word counts and benchmarks. I know this now.

Friday I wound up staying home from my day job, thanks to an inability to breathe that was only resolved when I had another of my amazing fire hose nosebleeds, or, as I like to call them, "blood vacations." (It's not high blood pressure, it's a weakness in one of the blood vessels that runs through my sinuses. My doctor and I have discussed it. So please, no medical advice.) And once I mopped up the blood and got some clean clothes on, I got to work, and quietly, without any real fanfare, passed 500 draft one pages.

It's not a perfect book, by any means; for one thing, it's missing about 8,000 words still, and for another, it hasn't had any editorial, which means that all the Mira Grant "tics"—repetition, over-explanation, Joss-y dialog—are in full display, with no mitigation. But I can see the shape of what will be a good book, once we finish kicking the crap out of it, and that's very reassuring to me.

It will be awesome.
Tags: being productive, good things, medical fu, parasite, writing
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    switch
    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    Help
  • 100 comments

thedragonweaver

June 13 2012, 03:34:31 UTC 5 years ago

That's an odd form of inspiration, but whatever works. I sometimes get the most done around the house when I'm so insanely tired that I have to keep moving lest I turn into Evil Half-Dead Mom.

I am ever so pleased that you are so prolific. It's always nice when a favorite author decides to gift her readers with more than one book a year.

seanan_mcguire

June 14 2012, 20:15:15 UTC 5 years ago

I think I'd go nuts if I tried to cut back to one book a year.

thedragonweaver

June 17 2012, 03:08:23 UTC 5 years ago

I would *certainly* go nuts if I had to cut back to (reading) one book a year. I think my average is around 160, counting re-reads but not counting kids' books. (No, this is not speed-reading; I have that discussion from time to time with people trying to insist that slower is better. This is merely the inevitable result of reading everything I could get my hands on since the age of two and a half—practice makes for speed.)

(And a vast increase in the lament of "There's nothing to read!" Big downside since Evil Rob's that way too.)