30 PIECES OF SILVER: THE SECOND DRAFT

I've always heard writing a book is hard work, and if it isn't hard work, then it's probably not much of a book either. Perhaps my job in writing 30 Pieces of Silver was easier because of this blog, as I was able to work out the kinks of each chapter via blog posts, but honestly, it has not been hard to write the book at all.

Further, the book is not a work of fiction, so most of what I've been doing is selecting representative pieces of Ivaan's work and telling the story of those pieces from my perspective.  Oh, yes, and then brutally slashing my narrative to fit the chosen dimensions of the book.

Another important decision was to scrap my photographs.  It was like performing battlefield surgery, because I had taken photos to illustrate what I was writing about.  The result was a series of photos that weren't horrible individually, but there was no nexus, nothing to link them together and give them a cohesive appearance.

Then I began to doubt my initial decisions about which pieces to include.  In the end, I decided to swap out a couple of pieces of jewellery and sculpture, and I think it was a wise choice, because it enabled me to substitute a couple of extremely interesting pieces of jewellery that were important in Ivaan's creative path.

So I focused on what I do best  - providing a narrative for each piece that told a story and sounded like me speaking to the reader - and left the photography to the experts.  I also got some professional advice (and I am not good at accepting advice) about the layout and dimensions of the finished book.

Two more photos remain to be finished up and then I think we'll have a final draft. But the front cover is going to look something like this.  It's a very exciting time for me.

©2017 Eya Donald Greenland Kotulsky