Chris Wooding Header

Them’s The Breaks

Erk.

So anyway, I wrote the first quarter of The Iron Jackal and then threw it in the bin and started again.

Just goes to show, no matter how long you’re at this game, you can still get things wrong.  It’s terrifically hard to be objective about a novel that you’re writing; you’re just too close to it. So perhaps the time I took writing the first draft of All Fall Down was a blessing, because when I came back to The Iron Jackal I just thought, well, it’s just not as good as the last two. And after attempting to tweak it to get it right I decided to do the decent thing, which was to blast it to pieces with a cannon and start over.

As my longtime readers know, I binned an entire novel and rewrote it from scratch when I wrote The Weavers Of Saramyr. And I had a nightmare with The Fade which also involved binning half a novel. Now I’m only down to a quarter, which means next time it’ll only be one-eighth, and by the time I’m fifty I’ll be abandoning novels three sentences in. So things are looking up, but unfortunately the Quality Control Monster that looms over my shoulder as I write has rapped my knuckles good on this one.

The good news is that I’ve reworked a whole new plot and it’s much better than the original one. I’ve also salvaged some of the best bits of what I had (and other bits that may well make it into Book 4 of the Tales Of The Ketty Jay) which will cut down on the time it takes to write a new draft. The bad news is that publication will probably get knocked back by a few months, meaning it’s likely to arrive late next year instead of the planned release date of August. But I’m gonna do my damnedest to make sure it hits the shelves in 2011 and doesn’t slip into 2012, and barring any more mishaps that should be eminently doable. It will also probably undergo a title change, as the Iron Jackal in the original story isn’t, er, isn’t actually in it any more.

There’s a saying in the publishing world: Better a good book late than a bad book on time. Creativity is a slippery business, and sometimes you just gotta make the hard call. You’ll thank me in the end. Honest.

18 Comments

  1. Great items from you, man. I have keep in mind your stuff previous
    to and you’re simply extremely excellent. I really like what you’ve got rigjt here, certainly like what
    you’re stating and the way in which during which
    you are saying it. You make it entertaining and you continue to take care of to stay iit wise.
    I can not wait to learn farr more from you. This is really a terrific website.

  2. I am really grateful to the owner of this website who has shared this wonderful paragraph at at this time.

  3. I think that is one of the most important information for me.

    And i am glad reading your article. But should remark on some
    normal things, The site taste is great, the articles is in reality nice : D.
    Excellent activity, cheers

  4. Rhonda says:

    Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?
    I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not
    seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share. Appreciate it!

  5. Kreanca.hr says:

    Hmm it appears like your website ate my first comment (it
    was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
    I too am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new
    to the whole thing. Do you have any recommendations for first-time blog writers?
    I’d certainly appreciate it.

  6. Arielle says:

    I am truly happy to read this weblog posts which contains lots of
    useful information, thanks for providing these kinds of statistics.

  7. It’s an awesome article for all the online users;
    they will get advantage from it I am sure.

  8. wonderful points altogether, you just gained a brand new reader.
    What might you suggest in regards to your submit that
    you simply made a few days in the past? Any sure?

  9. Ron says:

    What’s up everyone, it’s my first visit at this site, and piece of writing is really
    fruitful in support of me, keep up posting such content.

  10. Hi there, after reading this amazing post i am as
    well glad to share my knowledge here with mates.

  11. Oh my goodness! Impressive article dude! Thank you, However I
    am encountering troubles with your RSS. I don’t know the
    reason why I am unable to subscribe to it. Is there
    anyone else having identical RSS issues? Anybody who knows
    the answer can you kindly respond? Thanx!!

  12. skäggkit says:

    I really liked this post i actually read your blog pretty often, and you’re always coming out with a
    lot of great stuff. I shared this on my fb, and my followers loved it.
    I really admire the good work 🙂

  13. Judson says:

    I believe that is one of the most important info for me.
    And i’m happy studying your article. But want
    to commentary on some normal things, The site taste
    is great, the articles is really nice : D. Excellent job, cheers

  14. Have you ever thought about creating an ebook or guest authoring on other websites?
    I have a blog based upon on the same ideas you discuss and
    would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would appreciate your work.

    If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.

  15. Very shortly this web site will be famous among all
    blog visitors, due to it’s pleasant content

  16. lihat disini says:

    Еxcellent article. Keep writing such kind of info on your blog.
    Im reaⅼly impressed by it.
    Hello there, You have performed a fantastic job. I’ll ԁefinitely digg it and individually suggest to
    mmy friends. I’m confident they will bee benefited from this site.

    Take a lokk at my web рage; lihat disini

  17. We are a bunch of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.

    Your website offered us with useful info to work on. You have performed a formidable job
    and our whole community can be thankful to you.

Leave a Reply