Reworking My Science Fantasy Trilogy

My science fantasy trilogy about a bathhouse is my most ambitious writing project to date. It’s been an idea rattling around in my head for a long time, and I’ve written a rough draft of the first book. It was a huge amount of work, with lots of false starts. I’m a slow writer who can get bogged down in the process, so I’ve lost track of how many years I’ve been writing and rewriting it. I like the book, but now that I’ve turned forty-two this summer, I’m trying to realistically evaluate what projects I want to spend my time on.

I recently finished a beta draft of a much shorter project, The Queen in Yellow. This book felt manageable, but it still pushed me. It’s a novel full of ideas, characters, and complexity, but it’s only 70,000 words.

The rough draft of the first volume of my science fantasy series is more than 140,000 words. Honestly, I’m not sure I know how to edit an epic trilogy yet. It’s too much. My writing process might not be compatible with books that are so huge. But I also feel like I want to try. I want to grow into a writer that can do what seems impossible right now.

So, instead of focusing on finishing the drafts of the other two books in the series, or rewriting the first book again, I’m going to focus more on growing as a writer.

I have a few writing books I’d like to read. I have lots of fantasy novels on my TBR pile. I’m going to write a final draft of The Queen in Yellow and maybe start another short novel. I’m not giving up my science fantasy trilogy, but I have a lot of work to do before diving back in.