Writing is an odd business. In fact, for me, ‘business’ is a misnomer, since I’m told I do far too little to promote my work. I much prefer to spend my time and energy creating stories for others to enjoy.

The current work in progress (WIP) has just had its second complete edit. That was a job entailing the tidying up of certain passages and sentences, the removal of some duplicated aspects of the story, and, most importantly, the substitution of a male academic narrator with a female non-academic voice who is actively involved with a major protagonist. She’s one of two narrators who tell the tale.

Now that part of the story is more or less settled, I need a short rest, to both allow the work to settle in my mind and to make space between the current work and what it will become during the next edit. That particular task is a somewhat technical job where I’ll identify, from my many pages of research, those items that will enhance the story while they also paint a more comprehensive picture of the era during which it’s set.

When I last reported on progress, in April, I’d just reached page 71 of 250 and counted a total of 107,303 words as the novel then stood. I’d completed the edit of 10 chapters out of 40. At present, it stands at 270 pages, with a word count of 116,291 and there remain 40 chapters.

This next stage is more a matter of selecting the appropriate bits of history than of dealing with creative aspects, though they will have to be inserted in a way that won’t interrupt the narrative flow, of course. It’ll be demanding but should result in a story that helps readers to immerse themselves in the culture, language, attitudes, fears, hopes, and priorities of the time in which it is set.

I’ve no idea how long the task will take, but I’ll try to keep you informed as it proceeds.