It's been two years since I started writing THE OLD POWER RETURNS, the sequel to DARKSOME THIRST. I'm about halfway through, but as many of you have realized, I've been saying that for a VERY long time.
There are many reasons for the protracted writing period, but behind it all, when you dig through the excuses and the "life happens" stuff, is the real truth: Fear. Fear of screwing up the second novel, fear of going through that old write-edit-rewrite-edit-chewfingernails-edit-publish cycle again.
So, I've done something to get me off my duff and write through to the end -- in one month.
I'm sort of bending the rules a bit, but I've signed up at National Novel Writing Month (www.NaNoWriMo.org) to write a 50,000-word novel in one month.
To be a little more in line with their philosophy, though (which is to write a brand-new novel from scratch in one month), what I will do is to "end" my current work in the next day or two. On Tuesday, Nov 1, I start where I left off, but as if I were starting another sequel. I will write straight through from that point, at an average of 1667 words a day, until I get to the end. On December 1, I'll merge the two and begin self-editing.
So, wish me luck, and don't expect to hear from me in November!
Morven
What I'm Reading Now...
- Staying Dead by Laura Anne Gilman
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
- Page After Page by Heather Sellers
- How to Write Killer Fiction by Carolyn Wheat
What I've Finished Reading Recently...
- The Practical Writer Edited by Therese Eiben and Mary Gannon
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style by Laurie E. Rozakis
- The Song of an Emerald Dove by Xanna Vinson
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