JAYNE PREDICTS: THE END IS NEAR

Yesterday I wrote the last sentence of the first draft of the last chapter of the book that I have been working on for the past few months. I can finally see clearly for the very first time precisely where I've been headed since I started the project. I now have the whole, complete vision of the story in my head. (Hey, there's a reason a lot of us call this first draft the "discovery" draft).

But working this little bundle of chaos into a coherent vision is only Phase One for me. I know my writing patterns very well after having crafted so many books. I am well aware that I will go through this manuscript from start to finish at least four more times, editing it on each pass, before I send it off to my editor. (And that does not include the many, many times I went back and changed stuff along the way as I was writing the first draft). In addition I will read it again a couple more times in the copyediting and typesetting stages.

From now on, however, I will be working with a coherent, intuitive comprehension of my characters and their story. Much will be removed, much will be added. The story will take on added nuances that I could not have imagined when I sat down to write the first page back in late January. For example, a lot of new characters showed up along the way including a dog named Fog who was not there back at the beginning. What can I say? There is something about the very act of creativity that promotes creativity.

Writing is an incredibly personal and private experience for me. I love my readers and I am delighted when they enjoy my books but the truth is, I could no more write for them than I could fly. I write each and every story for myself because that is the only way I can write. It is the reason I started writing in the first place and it is the only way I can continue to find joy and passion in my work.

If people like my books it is because they "get" my sense of humor, share at least some of my world views and hold a lot of the same values that are important to me. In addition to all those things, they simply like the way I tell a story. If any of those factors is missing for a reader she or he probably won't like my books. In the end, you see, it always comes down to such intangible issues. No two people bring the same things to the reading experience and no two people take the same things away. (I've never understood why people who dislike a writer's stories continue to read that author, let alone bother to review her books. Seems like an enormous waste of time. But nobody ever said that humans were logical beings).

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot I do not yet know about this book. I cannot predict who will like it and who will hate it. I don't even know what the title will be. That always comes later in the process for me. I have no idea what the cover will look like or how the book will be marketed. All I know is that the story satisfies me. The vision is complete. That is enough for now.

Oh, wait, I take that back. There is one thing I can predict with absolute certainty. Although I will personally go through the manuscript half a dozen times or more and although my editor will read it and although a copyeditor and a proofreader will read it, I can promise you this much: Somewhere in the finished book there will be a least one typo and a small screw-up involving the name of a character or the color of his shirt. And I also know that somewhere out there a reader will notice those mistakes and let me know about it. I want to thank that reader in advance.

--Jayne Ann Krentz