I’m speaking from my purely personal experience in writing fiction. Other writers may have a whale of a time writing a novel from the first sentence to the last. I’ve been writing fiction for the last 58 years and I find the following account of the miserable process to be the standard for me. Why do it, then, you may ask. Answer: I’m driven by the need to tell stories. Most of the time I’m full of doubt about the quality of my writing and the story’s trajectory. I begin the first chapter in a wobbly way. It’s like hunting for an elusive hamster in a gooseberry bush. With a struggle, I capture an animal which will – I think – do for the time being. With persistent work, the story gains traction. I battle on, with days of despair. Then there comes a moment about three quarters of the way through when I think, “Heavens above! I think this is going to work!” High point Number One. It’s a moment of transitory glee which gives me the impetus to write on with something almost amounting to pleasure. I finish the story. I re-write, once, twice, three times, checking and re-checking with bleary eyes. Then comes the lowest point of all. I consider I’ve written utter balderdash. Even though I have no faith in the work, it was work and I will bring it out into the world. Latterly, this has all been on my own initiative, with self-publishing. After agonising over a cover blurb and a short bio, I’m ready to think of the cover’s design. In the old days with traditional publishers, Peter designed my jackets. Of course they were of their time, and now look quaint. These days I go with Amazon’s system of self-publishing and choose from their templates. High point Number Two is seeing my title on the chosen book cover artwork.
You’ll understand from this that my high two high points are not likely to last longer than a day. What a life! However, with the cover of my latest novel, I guess I’ll continue to be thrilled each time I look at it. The background image I found on the KDP site has an intriguing glitter. The typeface is no-nonsense and just right for the book. So I shall put it up here, for my own enjoyment. I hope others, too, will enjoy the look – and the book! https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Elfrida+Next+Door+by+Susan+Barrett&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
