My Favourite Part Of The Publishing Process By Claudia Carroll

I’ll also write it out as a short story too, just as an exercise for myself to test-drive the story as it were, and see whether or not it has legs. Not all ideas do, I know from experience. I’ve often pitched a novel idea, but then realised early on that it’s more of a short story idea than an actual full-length novel.

Once we agree on an idea though, then the plotting starts. For me, this involves siting in a lot of coffee shops with notebook and pen in hand, scribbling down all my thoughts and ideas in one big caffeinated blur. After that, I’ll knuckle down to the nitty-gritty and really start to develop the characters.

[amazon_link id=”0007520913″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]I think because my background is in acting and particularly soap opera, I always feel that if I can just get the central characters right, then the rest will follow. After all, on a long-running soap, an audience will follow characters for decades through all manner of marriage break-ups and infidelities and still hold faith with them. A reader will lose interest very quickly if a character is dislikable, without any redeeming features…or else one that’s just plain boring!

Once that’s in place, I’ll work out the story arcs for the book, plotting a rough outline for each scene, chapter by chapter. This changes hugely as soon as I sit down to actually write the book, but I find it a useful guideline to have to hand. A bit like sat nav on a long road trip; a good, watertight plot makes life a lot easier down the line, especially on days where I might be a bit stuck.

Then the fun part; that blissful few months when I’ll lock the world away and almost go into hibernation as I write a first draft of the book itself. I’m an early morning person and tend to be at my desk at the crack of dawn, then I’ll work right through till early afternoon. I’ll take a breather after that and do whatever admin work needs to be done, then get out of the house to clear my head for a bit – always an essential part of the process for me!

Later in the afternoon, I’ll comb back over the day’s work, cutting, pruning and tweaking as I go. And once I hit those magical two words, The End, off the first draft goes to my wonderful editor Eleanor Dryden at Avon in London. I couldn’t be luckier or more grateful to work alongside Eli, she has to be the most thorough and discerning editor going and she’ll come back to me with detailed notes for the second draft.

Once that’s done and dusted, the edited book goes back to Eli at Avon and then it’s off to a copy-editor for a proof read. I’m always astonished at this stage by just how valuable a good proof-read is; you’d be amazed the things you can accidentally overlook in the early drafts!

Another favourite part of the process is that wonderful day when the book proofs first arrive, complete with a cover design. I’ve been so lucky with covers, I’ve loved them all, but I have a very special place in my heart for the ‘Meet Me in Manhattan’ cover, it’s just glorious.

Then the best bit of all; that magical day when the book actually hits the shelves and I can actually see it up there, along with so many other authors who I love and admire. I’ve even been known to get a bit teary at this stage; I’m not a mother, but I often imagine seeing your book on a shelf is a bit like a Mum seeing her newborn baby for the very first time.