I get great questions via twitter nearly every day, and I’d love to be able to answer all of them. But that’s hard to do in 140 characters, and even harder walking through an airport or bagging dog poo at the park. So every so often I’ll just fire off an answer on the blog. Here’s the first, and it’s especially applicable today, since I’m writing:
Twestion: christopherbmac@donmilleris How smooth is the transition from writing one book to another? Do U ever find yourself wanting to write for the previous book?
Answer: About as easy as turning around a train. Some writers can switch gears easily, but I’m not there yet. I’m convinced it’s a skill I can learn, but I’ve not learned it yet. I wrapped up the final pass of Million Miles about two weeks ago, and have since been editing To Own a Dragon for it’s new release (June, 2010) as Rogue Elephants and Real Men. I passed through the book changing some phrasing here and there (I was surprised at how clean the book actually was) and am now attempting to write a couple more important chapters to add to the book. And that isn’t easy. Each book has it’s own personality, it’s own pace and cadence (TOAD may be the most unique of all the books) and going from Million Miles, which was quite literary, to Rogue Elephants, which is much more straight and directional, is a challenge. What is most challenging is matching the nuance of the voice I had two years ago, while on an island in the San Juans, with the voice I have today, sitting in a coffee shop in Chicago. That’s no small challenge. It’s important to me that the book not feel jerky. I think words should be composed like music, so you can’t suddenly pull the reader out of the song when you switch lead singers. I hope that makes sense.
Anyway, there are challenges with each book, and this one is no different. I’m under a deadline with it, so I’ll get back to work. Thanks for the question. Hope that advice made some writer out there feel less alone. It’s great, great work and I love doing it.
