What I do not love, however, is editing.

Writing is joyful, fulfilling, beautiful. Editing is serious, challenging, critical.

Of course, editing is absolutely essential in order to ensure the book is polished – to rephrase an awkward sentence, to spot an inconsistency in the timeline, to weed out any repetition. Publishers employ editors for this very reason, but authors must also take responsibility for editing their own books before submitting them for publication. Was there ever an author who could simply write a first draft without any need for editing? I doubt it. We must check what we have written, because there is bound to be room for improvement.

Here’s a piece of advice that is often given to writers: ‘write drunk, edit sober’. It’s commonly attributed to Ernest Hemingway, but in fact there is no trace of his having said or written this. Hemingway did write drunk at times, hence the association, but the advice is not meant to be taken literally: the point is that the writer should write in the creative flow, lost in the story, in tune with the muse, and then later the writer should ‘sober up’ and take a more serious, logical look at the writing.

My own process is along the lines of ‘plan sober, write drunk, edit sober’.

Every time I start a new novel I plan carefully before I write, considering everything from structure and story, to characters and settings. I research and compile a file of cultural influences for the story; for example, for Concerto I learned about places in Nice and Lake Como, I gathered local folklore and legends, I read up on music therapy practices and I researched the background to various pieces of classical music. Only once I had sorted all the information into a cohesive chapter-by-chapter plan did I prepare to sit down and write.

The writing phase is my favourite; it is the entire point of the journey. I have learnt to surrender myself to the writing, to be immersed in it and, for the time I have designated for writing, to be consumed by it. I am indeed ‘drunk’ on the book. It is a wonderful feeling. Even if I hit a difficult spell, perhaps because I am tired and the words won’t easily come, I let this ‘drunkenness’ carry me through, knowing that tomorrow I will once more experience that heady sensation of creating.

Usually, I leave some time between writing the first draft and editing it. That way, I can hold on to the ‘drunken’ feeling for a while and enjoy it – enjoy having written my book. The break gives me time to transition gently from Writer to Editor; make the move too quickly and I feel disorientated and disgruntled.

To edit, I need to read the book with fresh eyes. Critical eyes. I have to gently tell my writer self, who may rise up in horror at the thought of the red pen, to be calm and accept this as part of the process; I have to set emotions aside and be practical in order to tidy and polish. Throughout the editing stage it is one thought that keeps me going: writing the next book – ‘drunk’*, of course.

* It may interest you to know that I do have a drink to hand as I write: organic herbal tea. Pomegranate is my favourite when writing a passionate scene; peppermint for a calm one.