Book 2, etc.
A week into Book 2 of my current WIP trilogy (already mentioned in recent blog posts), I'm 70K words into this one, and I'm really happy how it's been going for me.
When I did the Wolfshadow Trilogy Book 2 (THE HAPPENING) very nearly broke me as a writer. It was an incredibly difficult book for me to write for some reason. I went through a six-month period where I actually stopped writing and just couldn't continue with that book, before eventually finding my narrative footing and being able to finish that one.
So, working on this new trilogy, the "middle book syndrome" haunted me a little, based on that other book from years ago. However, I'm amazed how quickly this one is going for me. I've been writing so much so quickly that my fingers were actually getting aches! That's a first!
This new series is flying for me, which I think is because it's using characters I've had in my head for over 28 years (!!) and they're just ready to live on the pages after all this time. I have a number of false starts and fragments with these characters in that span of time, but none of that is being used in this new material. It's just there in the mental background. I know the characters intimately, and so I'm able to write them freely that way.
Further, because of the subject matter and the story itself, I'm free to be as tongue-in-cheek as I want to be, which is really liberating for me as a writer. My humor permeates all of my fiction (except CHOSEN, which is DARK -- I've said this all before), but being able to write propulsive prose with humor has been a real joy for me. I'm writing exactly the stories I'm wanting to write in exactly the way I need them to be.
THE CURSED EARTH (which actually paved the way for the current WIP series, in terms of my narrative approach) was my original title holder for a quick write for me (46 days). But BRIGHTEYES (Book 1) broke that record (14 days), and I'm thinking this Book 2 will be first-drafted in eight or nine days, tops. I'm flying through these, and I think it's just because of what I already wrote above. They're fun and they're funny (and weirdly heartfelt), which I think has helped them flow quickly for me.
I'm already envisioning Book 3, wanting to tackle it while my mind's in that story place, so I can wrap up the trilogy smoothly. If readers like these books, there'll be more. Big-time world-building from me in these, something I love doing.
BRIGHTEYES (Book 1) will be coming out in June. I'm excited about it.
When I did the Wolfshadow Trilogy Book 2 (THE HAPPENING) very nearly broke me as a writer. It was an incredibly difficult book for me to write for some reason. I went through a six-month period where I actually stopped writing and just couldn't continue with that book, before eventually finding my narrative footing and being able to finish that one.
So, working on this new trilogy, the "middle book syndrome" haunted me a little, based on that other book from years ago. However, I'm amazed how quickly this one is going for me. I've been writing so much so quickly that my fingers were actually getting aches! That's a first!
This new series is flying for me, which I think is because it's using characters I've had in my head for over 28 years (!!) and they're just ready to live on the pages after all this time. I have a number of false starts and fragments with these characters in that span of time, but none of that is being used in this new material. It's just there in the mental background. I know the characters intimately, and so I'm able to write them freely that way.
Further, because of the subject matter and the story itself, I'm free to be as tongue-in-cheek as I want to be, which is really liberating for me as a writer. My humor permeates all of my fiction (except CHOSEN, which is DARK -- I've said this all before), but being able to write propulsive prose with humor has been a real joy for me. I'm writing exactly the stories I'm wanting to write in exactly the way I need them to be.
THE CURSED EARTH (which actually paved the way for the current WIP series, in terms of my narrative approach) was my original title holder for a quick write for me (46 days). But BRIGHTEYES (Book 1) broke that record (14 days), and I'm thinking this Book 2 will be first-drafted in eight or nine days, tops. I'm flying through these, and I think it's just because of what I already wrote above. They're fun and they're funny (and weirdly heartfelt), which I think has helped them flow quickly for me.
I'm already envisioning Book 3, wanting to tackle it while my mind's in that story place, so I can wrap up the trilogy smoothly. If readers like these books, there'll be more. Big-time world-building from me in these, something I love doing.
BRIGHTEYES (Book 1) will be coming out in June. I'm excited about it.
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