The Benefits of Forgetfulness

Two weeks ago, I was re-reading my WIP (my Work In Progress), The Pirate Spy, in order to get caught up so that I could start writing again. It's a bit of a long story about my health and my sight that I won't bore you with now, but suffice it to say that I hadn't written anything for nearly two months.

Something about me that you might not know, is that I'm forgetful. I write lists for myself so that I remember what I need to do, or what I need to buy, otherwise I end up missing something. This happens a lot with texts and emails, and to my friends and family, I'm sorry. It's a bit troublesome to be forgetful, but it definitely has its advantages.

Most authors know every single syllable of their work inside-and-out. They know their plot, their characters, and everything in-between. And when someone asks these authors a question about their book(s), they don't have any trouble recalling that scene, conversation, sentence, etc., and coming up with the perfect answer.

I'm not like most authors. I have a vague, general overall plot idea of what my books are each about, and I know my characters' names and what they look like, and perhaps something about their personality, but I forget everything else. All the little scenes that make up the book, even sword fights and kidnappings are lost in the void of my brain. 

This might seem bad, but again, it has its up side. My books are written several-in-advance before my editor has a look at them. For example, we're working on the editing for Book 1 in the Seductive Spies series, and I'm currently writing Book 5. This basically means that before I hand the next manuscript over to my publisher, I should probably give it a once-over to make sure that there aren't any mistakes or things that I'd like to change before they have a look at it. This is where my forgetfulness really comes in handy.

As has happened with each one of my books before I've given them to my editor, I get to enjoy them as though I'm reading them for the first time. And I get sucked right into them. The suspense, the adventure, the mystery, the sex...I'd forgotten all of it. I can't tell you how many times I've surprised myself with a plot twist, a sudden quarrel, or something totally ridiculous that made me laugh out loud. I get to fall in love with my characters all over again, I get to follow them through their stories, feel their pain, their joy. I often forget that it's something that I've written, and just enjoy the adventure.

Forgetfulness can certainly have its down side, but to me, it's a gift.