I’ve been working on Annie’s book, which is the second in the After Thoughts series. Although it’s a series, it is a stand alone and I’ve written the synopsis. In other words I know what’s supposed to happen in this book. Yet, I’m stuck. Okay, maybe stuck isn’t the correct word. It’s more like I’m dreading it when I sit down in front of the computer.
When I finished ATB, which is the first in the stand alone series, I took several weeks off writing. We’re trying to buy a house, my son moved back in with us, and life in general was in the way. Add to that, my last edits on ATB included a 20,000 word cut. Needless to say, my brain was a tad fried and I needed the break. Just not two weeks. By the time I was ready to write, the habit of writing every day wasn’t there. It became very easy to come home from work, fix dinner, and sit with Science Guy watching the TV.
That is until this past week. That’s when Sadie appeared. Her world immediately opened in my mind. Her friends, family, and even a dog. Although I don’t believe she thinks of her Bella as a dog.
Normally when I’m working on a book and other ideas hit me I write them out and file them away. Not this time. I had the title before I had Sadie’s name.
This might not sound odd to you, but finding the ‘right’ working title is important to me. It can set the tone of the book before I begin writing it. Yes, I’ve changed titles midstream before and that’s not that uncommon.
So far the words are pouring out for TLIAV, sorry, but for now it’s kinda a secret project. I’ve not read anything out there like this and trust me, I’ve read and checked.
What about Annie’s book? No worries, I’ll work on it as well. Trust me, Annie and Nick really don’t like to be ignored. 
But for now, I’m thrilled to have the creative juices flowing. The fingers flying across the keyboard is music to my ears.
What about you? Do you get stuck and have a hard time starting again? Do you take a break between books or do you start on the next book as soon as you finish your edits?
Writing Wishes and Plotting Dreams,
Vicki
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Starting Over
I don’t do anything the same – maybe that’s the problem. I do have those moments where a thought or character occurs to me and I just HAVE to start writing the book which means I have a few three chapter books waiting on me.
The problem I have with doing that is I start strong with an interesting premise, yet the book doesn’t seem to flesh itself out for whatever reason.
And I guess I don’t really take breaks (well, not intentional ones) If I am not actively writing a new WIP, I am constantly messing with my complete ones.
You know better than anyone how stuck I get – Reincarnate has been written how many times….LOL
Oh and BTW – Sadie is amazing, I can’t wait for her to be known by all
I never have a time where I have nothing I can be working on. Downside to having more than one WIP at a time. But then again, not really a downside, because when I get to that moment of, huh, not sure what I want to happen here, I have another place to turn to until whatever going on with that previous manuscript works itself. Good luck on that new story!
I seem to be the happiest when I have several stories going at once. When I try to just focus on one manuscript, whether it’s editing or writing, I tend to get burned out or stuck really quick.
Hey guys, When I finished the final edits for ATB, my head was fried and I knew I needed a little time away from any writing. By little I really meant a couple of days, no more than a week. Which lead to two weeks and yeah…so when I started back in on Annie’s book, it was hard. Not writing her book, but the habits I’d made for myself.
Sadie’s book is light, where Annie’s is very dark (very very dark) and everything just fell into place so for now this is where I’m writing.
That’s not to say I won’t work on Annie’s book or when ideas come to me write them down and put them in a file, I will. Just keeping where the creative is right now.
I’m basically a one-at-a-timer. At least that’s the only way I seem to get a book finished. If I leave something halfway (say MS A), and go on to something else (say MS B), I don’t have a good track record of getting back to MS A. Which is not to say I don’t stop dead in the middle of a book for one reason or another. For example, my current WIP started out as a NaNo MS in November, got dropped entirely in December while I Christmased and otherwise went back to sweep up loose ends, and in January I went back to it and there I still am. But so far by my primitive methods I have four completed manuscripts, ALL of which (sigh) need greater or lesser editing, particularly since I’ve confronted my structural failures.
I guess different strokes for different folks.
Hey Vciki,
I’ve never gotten stuck like that…I get stuck in the polishing of a novel when Im trying to fit in all the things we, as writers, are told we need in the first paragraph. But as the writer you really didn’t think the story needed that point until later….
RULES, they stump my creative flow but what can you do? This is the game we writers play and so I polish in all the rules that are called for in a book.
But I can’t help thinking – why toss time…just break the rules from the start and get pubbed.
The Irish are born storytellers, rules needn’t apply, only in America do you make rule so you can break them….odd thinking to me Irish brain.
Hawk