Climb On

This has been a strange summer. I feel as though my second novel is eating my brain. Seriously… it’s taking over my life. Even with the help of a professional editor, it feels like a wall of work towering up into the sky and slowly tipping over. Despite this feeling, I have to admit that I’m almost done.

Before I started the project, I had heard that writing the second novel would be more difficult than the first. That has been true in some areas, and not so much in others. In some ways it has been easier. During the writing of my first novel, I learned a great deal about how I work. I learned that when I review my rough draft material, if I expect it to read well, I feel absolutely depressed when it doesn't. To prevent this feeling, I lowered my expectations of my initial work and began to trust in the editing process.

Due to those lowered expectations, I felt much more freedom writing the second book’s rough draft. I wrote down what was in my head, good or bad, with the understanding that I could fix it later. Upon reviewing the draft, I found it to be as expected… rough. I had major surgery to perform. Whole characters had to be added, changed, and/or removed, sometimes by pain of death. As I learned to trust the editing process, I became more comfortable with it, despite the workload.

But not all problems are so easily solved. One area that has been especially difficult in writing this second novel is worrying about readers’ expectations. Writers should concern themselves with being entertaining to readers, but in this second book I felt I second guessed myself far too many times. I continually wondered if those who gave me positive feedback on my first work would like this current book.

This second book does take some risks. I have published a successful sci-fi action story. The publishing houses would have me write another one like it. I will… next. However, the one theme that comes up time and time again when reading books on writing by best-selling authors is that a writer must not chase a market. Instead, the writer must chase his or her heart. This time round, my heart gave me a modern day horror/thriller/action hybrid.

So to follow my heart, I have to fly in the face of what the professional publishers would advise. It’s a risk, but I didn’t become a writer to be light-hearted and timid. All the best paths require at least some degree of bravery in the face of possible failure. If not, there’s no sense of adventure, no thrill.

As I finish initial editing on Mortal Remains, the feeling of something completed and honed overwhelms me. It's my pay off, why I keep writing. The process can be thankless and tiring, and I have often doubted my convictions, but in the end, no matter how long it takes, that moment of completion fills my heart to overflowing. To anyone who is compelled to dedicate his or her life to writing—the road is steep and stony, but the view on the summit is wide and beautiful. Climb on.