I'm happy I finished my WIP. But now I feel lost.
I can't NOT write. However, I can't presently write, because I don't have a story in my head. My characters haven't taken shape, yet.
My next book will not feature vampires. That, in itself, is a little scary. It will still be paranormal (because I will have ghosts), but it will be a stand alone book. I don't foresee any kind of series coming from this (unlike my vampires – I think could write that world forever – I have enough ideas).
Why the change? Because I need to see if I can do it. I don't want my first books to be flukes.
So, I'm planning. What kind of people are my hero and heroine? What do they do for a living? What secrets do they have? Then I'll figure out how they'll meet and why they think they can't be together (because this is, after all, a romance).
For you writers out there – how much time do you take between writing projects? Is one week enough? Or is it too long? I keep telling myself I need to re-charge. But I love to write. I think as soon as I have my characters formed, I'll start writing, whether the week is up or not.
But first, maybe I should clean the house. I've kind of let it go and if I start on another project, who knows when I'll get to it next. I'm hopeless. No, wait. Make that lazy!
6 comments:
Work your new characters out in your head while you clean. Kill two birds with one stone.
I'm in the same place--trying to start a new project so I don't go nuts from having nothing to work on. But I'm a major outliner, so it'll be several weeks until I can start a first draft. I still need to raise the stakes, and I'm having trouble coming up with a conflict as epic as I'd like.
Linda, I can try that. But I really hate to clean. (Can you hear me whining over there?)
Melissa, I've tried the outlining part. I think it only works for me for the first few chapters. After that, I don't follow the outline anymore! I can't imagine waiting weeks to write, though. Trial & error work best for me.
Thanks for visiting!!
I always clean in between projects, because I don't do it while I write. And let me tell you how much I have to clean! there is something about purging dust bunnies that makes the ideas come better, faster, stronger.
I left you an award on my post on Monday.
Anne - I saw the award (my blogging has been dreadful lately, to say the least). Thanks! It'll at least give me something to blog later on this week!!
And I hope cleaning will help. The house certainly needs it (but hey - I'm not the only one who lives there!).
Well as I'm sure I've already established I'm a weirdo but I don't really have a "between" projects.
At the moment I'm working on books 3 & 5 in my paranormal romance series (book 4 is finished). At the same time I'm also working on what started as a contemporary romance short story and has blossomed into what will either be a book or a series of short stories about these same characters. I'm about 3/4 of the way done with my tongue-in-cheek detective book that I'm doing with my kids at work and about 1/4 done with the murder mystery I started for this year's NaNoWriMo. Finally I'm about 1,000 words into a YA book I'm collaborating with my daughter on.
My characters will come to the forefront when they're ready for me to work on their story and then move aside again to allow someone else a chance. I've always written this way, not that I could tell you why or how it works.
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