Are You Really Ready To Write The Next Novel?

When are you ready to write the next novel? ‘When you’ve finished the previous one, obviously,’ I hear you say but, unfortunately, I discovered that it’s not as straightforward as that.

My first novel was published and, naively, I thought I would just go straight onto the next. I wrote a detailed outline, sorted out the scenes into chapters and then sat down to write. By the end of the first week, I’d written a few painful paragraphs and then ground to a halt.

I couldn’t work out what was wro...