What I’ve learned while writing my second book

I have submitted my second book for publishing, and now as I wait for confirmation, I decided to reflect on the things I have done differently this time around.

First, I decided to increase the length. I did this because the one and only review for Timeless part I stated that I rushed through the story and the love scenes. They suggested that if perhaps it had been longer, things would have flown better. Though I am not a believer in just filling up a story with bloat, I thought that maybe they were right. 3,000 words was rather short, and maybe it really didn’t help set the stage as well as it could have. So I tried to make it at least 5000 words, with a story that flowed a lot better.

Second, I wanted to have stronger, more developed characters. I felt the first one had some good ones, but we really didn’t get to know them all too well. This time, I let them converse a bit more before just throwing them into bed, allowing some actual growth to occur. Then, of course, I threw them in bed.

Last, I just had fun with it. I was so serious the first time around, it might have kept me from being truly creative. I was so worried about how people were going to look at the work, that I kept myself from just letting go. This time, I decided to be playful, and not care what some critics would think. Hopefully they would have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

Next time, I hope to grow even more. Never mind, I know I will.