After I spend a few days with my family later this week I will be spending my vacation relaxing watching basketball making snowmen working/reading and finishing up a round of edits for JACOB WONDERBAR.
And yet even with that task at hand I’m already looking over the horizon with a great deal of nervousness as I merely contemplate finishing one book and starting another. I have the new book jitters.
As many/most/all of you know, starting to write a new book can be a hugely daunting task. I liken it to staring down at a deep, dark abyss. You know it’s a long way down and it’s pretty scary to jump.
Some writers I know just try and block out how much work they have ahead and just chip away as best they can. I always try and remind myself that it will get done eventually with just a little constant steady progress. Other people try and outline so they can break it all down into comprehensible and non-daunting chunks.
What about you? Do you find it difficult to start a new book project? Or are you so jazzed about the new idea that it carries you through until the new book jitters pass? How do you cope with staring at the abyss?
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Ha! There are no jitters since I have nothing previously published. So…I merely pick and choose from the chunk of story ideas which are written down in various places around the house. Always writing, never finishing. Oh well. Someday I'll move to the "one" that really feels like a finished project.
I can imagine that the one following your first published novel would indeed be tough. Do you instantly go to Jacob #2? Or do you let your story go anywhere and write something completely new? I'm curious to know if you have several ideas floating around in your head. I always do, just wondering if that's standard.
While waiting on the contract for my first book in July, I got an idea that had me pacing and constructing scenes in my head in such a fury I couldn't eat or sleep for days. Now I'm nearly through with the first draft. I couldn't imagine waiting for the first one to come out befoe working on another. If I don't have something in the works I feel lost.
Oh my God! I cannot believe how perfect this timing is. I have just submitted my novel and am staring at that abyss right now. Unsure how any book could ever take shape and mean as much to me as the last one did. I remember feeling like it took me a while to get a hold on it when I was first writing it. Then there was that wonderful/terrible turning point when IT took hold of ME, and did not let me go.
Now, when I write, the characters feel like strangers. I think, "Who are these people? Where are my old friends?" I'll just have to take that leap of faith that eventually a new story will take hold of me, and make me write it.
Thanks Nathan!
I'm the opposite. I love to start a new story, I don't know how it's going to unfold what new things I going to learn through research. The excitement of a new project only lasts about a month so I write every novel nano style. I write in the morning and edit a different project at night.
Good luck with your sequel.
Jump, Nathan. Just jump.
I am too excited about the new project to think about how daunting it is. Well, until I hit page 40. By that time, I have a good chunk of it finished so I just have to remember to breathe and tell myself that it's only a first draft. Editing is more daunting to me than writing it all.
I find sequels easier to write instead of starting out fresh. You already know the characters, their stories which were not included in the other book[s], and have some ideas how they would react to things. So…the place to start is to turn them on their heads. Take everything you know about them and put them in the most outrageous situtation you can think of…and just for the fun of it have at least one act in a very uncharacteristic way (for a reason which is revealed later) and play with how your other characters would react to those changes. And, of course, you need to come up with those new characters and how they react to your character. Think about the fun of it!!!!! Your first one is outer space…so for your second…drop them in the sea…or in the desert…or the mountains…or have some minor detail from the first book come back to haunt them (hey was that really their corndog…how did they pay for it??) š Have fun…play and don't stress about it too much!
For something knew, I have to know my characters so I start by writing short stories that will probably never see the light of day. Once you know your characters everything goes from there!
Good Luck and looking forward to reading your work!
PLJ
Don't just "start" it Nathan. Hole up somewhere and read, read, read.
It's much easier to take an idea/character/a random plot point or two and have it unravel into soemthing that can turn into a viable book if you are reading.
Reading = no ABYSS!
And good luck to you. š
I find it so hard to shift gears because when you're putting the finishing touches on the final draft of Book 1, you're in a completely different place than where you typically are while writing the first draft of the next book. Like others have said, I basically have to let myself write crap and to not get too frustrated. But then I have to try to detach myself and my emotions from Book 1 and focus on the new project, especially if it's set in a different universe and not a sequel.
But like with all things you just have to keep plugging ahead. Who ever said writing was supposed to be easy š
I'm always excited at the onset of a new book, and yes, I'm one of those that might do a general outline, and chunk the work. By keeping ongoing notes in the outline, I can spot areas where the book needs work.
I consider the abyss a place that needs to be filled, just waiting for my tale to unfold. At the very least the abyss can be the setting or the starting point for thinking and ruminating on what could be.
Good Luck with your creative spirit, Nathan.
My deep dark abyss comes after about 10,000 words. Before that, I'm so jazzed and into the story that it all just sort of flows. Until the point at which I realize most of it is probably back-story and I will have to scrap it, or when I realize just how much plotting I really have to do.
I usually dive… it's the middle that gets me bogged down š
I think starting a sequel is almost harder than starting a completely new novel. Any novel is a huge committment – as you know now, having been through the whole process.
It would seem that a sequel would be easy.
Characters? Check.
Basic World Building? Check.
Um, plot? Well . . .
Rather than start on the sequel for my WIP, that is currently undergoing edits, I decided to write something completely different. I'm almost afraid of the possibilty of my WIP selling, and then I will have to write that sequel – under pressure, no less. So, I understand the abyss.
BTW, I wanted to say I really respect the way you run your blog, especially recently. You are always the consummate professional, and yet still create a warm and welcoming environment for your commenters. That's no small trick, and commend you for it.
Happy Holidays! And good luck on beating back the abyss and getting started on Wonderbar Piece Deuxieme.
Leaving aside the difference between writing over a prolonged period while trying to get published and writing with a contractual deadline looming, I think a new book always presents a challenge. Can I make it better than the last? What made me think I could write, anyway? Why does the middle sag? What can I do about it?
Wish I had a foolproof answer. Right now, my solution is BIC and not being afraid to rip out a thousand words when necessary.
I think it's easier to start a book than finish it. In the beginning I can't wait to get it all down, and I have a thousand ideas and directions I could go in, but by the end the plot is set and if I don't find the right path for the story than I feel lost and just…wrong. Plus I know when I finish the first draft I have to start editing, eek!
I'm not daunted by new ideas, I just start writing, the abyss appears some where around chapter 3 or 4, or is it Mt. Everest that appears? Either way starting isn't a problem as my ideas are as fertile as the dust bunnies behind my couch. I have trouble when it comes to what next.
If you're thinking sequel, that might do me in as well. I am having a bit of a task with one of my sequels. I know what I want it to be about, what I want the characters to do, but its just not happening. I figure I'll have to back up and start some place else…
I have to be in love with an idea to want to make it a book, so getting into it is no problem. I'm usually blissful until the honeymoon is over, which is usually a few chapters from the end, and by then it's too late.
Starting is the easy part. It's all fun and excitement. I'm an "idea person." It's follow-through and completion that I have a hard time with.
I can imagine, however, that contemplating a sequel could be much more challenging than a brand new set of characters and circumstances. Good luck, Nathan!
I stare into the abyss and the abyss stares back. Once that's out of the way, I start the grunt work, because things don't write themselves. Sometimes, words/sentences/paragraphs fight back. At other times they appear on my monitor before I'm conscious of them — those are the ones I tend to keep (not that they won't be cut or replaced — I do a lot of rewriting) and almost before I know it, I'm into a new piece.
Happy Holidays
I'm at the start of a new project right now. The abyss is more like a really deep swimming hole for me, and I'm filling it. At the moment I'm letting it drip in, drop by drop, allowing my thoughts to form condensation on the edge of my brain before drizzling into it.
When it gets deep enough to dive in without hitting the rocks, I will. But there's a lesson to be had from my childhood spent jumping off cliffs into a canyon river: unless I want to stand there shivering, too scared to throw myself off, then when the time comes, I can't think too much about it. I'll just jump.
And then remember what a shock the water is … a cushion of glacier-fed river that takes my breath away and feels like the best thing ever all at once.
I started a new book this fall in a class, but what I learned is that I'm not done with the first one yet. So the new book is on hold as I go through another pass through my novel. I think the key is being done with the big stuff in a previous work before going on to the next thing.
Happy holidays to you Nathan!
I write the first chapter/few pages RIGHT after I finish the last book and stop at an interesting place. This was, after all the edits are done on book one, book two is waiting, ready, started, and at a place that I can't wait to start writing again…
Dude! I never knew you'd written a novel (where have I been???), MGSF no less. Awesome! I will definitely be getting a copy when it's out!
I find it hard starting something new because I feel like I just finished this race and now I have to start all over again except this time I have to run uphill instead of a nice meadow.
Oh, MAN, yes. I have a LOT of trouble letting go of an old project to start the scary new one. Really, why would I want to start from a blank page when I could just tinker some more with something that's nearly done? Sigh.
There are no abysses here; writing is like Mount Everest to me. Ideas, like rashes of eager mountaineers, hangout around the base camp.
One idea has reached Camp One (finished and working on edits) and another has scaled as far as Camp Two (re-edited, polished and branching out to find an agent.)
There are three more levels to aspire to until I reach the ultimate goal but the air is mighty thin up there.
The advice, Nathan, seems to be climb high, sleep low, eat healthy and drink plenty of liquids. That sounds like the recipe for a happy holiday too!
I have to agree with the Mount Everest person, although I'd need more than just the campsites to describe the stages of writing. I can jump right into the "base camp area, and move part-way to the next camp, but about three chapters in is when I start to realize I'm up Mount Everest without a jacket. I don't outline, so the awesome New Shiny carries me partway in, and then I have the whole middle morass to slog through blindfolded.
So, essentially, it's not starting a new porject that's a problem for me, it's finishing one.
I have the opposite problem: new projects seem bright and shiny and perfect, and I convince myself they'll be sooo much easier than the tangled mess of a novel that I'm 3/4 done with…
I constantly make shiny new project files on my computer, and then my crumpled old project cries and wonders why I am cheating on it. I'm not cheating because I don't love it anymore, it's just that the new projects are so…new! No byzantine plot twists that I have to untangle and make readable, no plot holes or continuity issues to battle with…
I always have to fight the urge to leap full force into the new projects, at least until the old one is close to being done. My abyss is staring at a 3/4's of the way finished project!
I am excited to start. After the first few pages, when I've met the character, I have to begin buckling down. It's ADD (seriously).
Creatively not writing – refilling the well – is important prior to a major leap into the abyss.
Dabble with notes, read for fun and research, disengage and kick your feet up for a week. The creative process needs a vacation to refuel like any other JOB. The difference is letting the characters come-to-you instead of having work thrust upon you.
For a sequel, make sure your details from book one are easy and handy to review. Think back to when the ideas first began to prickle and flow for WONDERBAR and know the next book will have much the same feeling, when it is time.
I always advise not too push or threaten the muse, she can get really cranky.
I like to have the beginning scene, the end scene, and at least a couple of stepping stones in mind before I start writing.
Starting a new book is always a daunting task, as exciting as it can be. Every time I start a new story, staring at that blank page one, I am humbled by just how much of a process the beginning of the adventure always is. Several hundred pages can take months to write, and I never really feel gratified until I have a nice chunk of work to show for all of the time I have invested into it.
I get through my new book jitters by reminding myself that patience is the key–that it is a slow process, like chiseling away at an enormous sculpture–but the reward for finishing another fun and exciting work is always worth the effort.
Good luck on your new book.
I'm definitely an outliner… Although, sometimes along the way my characters will take a different path. One time, one of the heroes transformed into a villain. It was actually a pleasant surprise!
Usually, when an idea strikes, I'm really jazzed to run with it. Now that I have a contract and a deadline, I find it a little more daunting. Knowing my editor is expecting it, and it needs to be good, is a little more pressure than I'm used to.
Still jazzed though!
Good luck with your edits!
It's the opposite for me. I always find a new project widely exciting. The abyss, for me, is sticking with the old project and making sure i give it every chance i can before moving on to my new love – ie the characters and plot of my next book.
I'm in my element when it comes to revision. Starting a new project is like sticking an ice pick in my eye.
So far, in my two novels, I've outlined them completely and put together all the background of the characters before I even put the first word down. It gets me excited when I know where I am heading. I want to figure out how it gets there.
It's the editing that is hard. Neither book has had much work done on it so far. I'm hoping to get them both done in the coming year so that I can work out a system for writing new stuff and editing the old.
Nathan,
Boy DO I get the new book/project jitters! Well, okay…I guess it is just REALLY hard for me to get past the initial idea stage once said moment occurs. But, I do my best to just let the idea simmer for as long as I can possibly stand it, and along the way I write as many ideas (no matter what they be) down in my writing journal (thank you to my former Rhetoric/Creative Nonfiction professor for this wonderful organizational tool) as I can, once I've got the basic idea(s) figured out.
From there? Well, the idea somehow begins to take shape. …Or, it dies a horrible, violent death, sometimes by way of that same chasm that we all know and love.
Seeing myself type "chasm" reminds me: I've always liked The Washington Post's neologism contest…
My favorite? "Sarchasm: the gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the recipient who doesn't get it." (BRILLIANT!)
Happy holidays to you and your family, Nathan. I hope you have a wonderful time.
I find the beginning of a new project the most exciting time and I am always so jazzed about the new story and new characters that I go like gang-busters. The big black hole comes about the time I am in the middle of the project. I call that "The Boggy Middle Blues."
I know everyone else is offering serious advice, but I just couldn't help thinking that "watching basketball making snowmen" might be more fun than writing a sequel…
I love starting a new project. The rush I get staring at a blank screen just before I begin typing…I LIVE for that. š
Don't worry, the jitters will pass. Just sit down and jump in. You'll do great!
…and the abyss stares back at you. I'm in the midst of a sequel that started out fun and has rapidly headed into the dark unknown.
ANY advice, guides, signposts, flashlights would be helpful… how did this happen? Where am I?
I think sequels are more difficult than first books. There's a certain pre-made skeleton that I have to confine myself to, which is very intimidating. And then the expectations of those who loved the first book (however few they may be) give me performance anxiety.
I actually start pretty well… in fact usually an idea seems to pester the heck out of me and start itself somewhere in the late middle of the LAST book, because MIDDLES are the hard part. I dive in, go great guns… then struggle for a while, then the end starts to pull together easily.
I think I've got 3 book starts waiting for when I finish my current muddle through the middle and slide into home on the WiP.
I jump off that lovely cliff without so much as a parachute and enjoy the thrill. I just started my third novel a few weeks ago, so I totally get what you're saying about the jitters. I do my best to let the jitters work FOR me, though, rather than against.
Hey 'Watery Tart', any advice about the MIDDLES?
Sounds like a Tolkien Universe, which is definitely how it's feeling at the moment. complete with talking vegetation and wandering plot points…
And this big ugly deadline ticking away in my head.
i take courage from the nick cave lyric: 'you leapt into the abyss, but find it only goes up to your knees.'
merry christmas, everyone
I'm jazzed. I'm so tired of editing my last one and so ready to be finished with it that I just can't wait to get started on the next one. š
I love starting a new project. For me, the abyss is the editing. Then the editing that follows that editing. And so on. š
Starting a new story or book is a happy flood of creativity that I crave during editing time. It's my favorite part. I use that desire for starting a new book to help me finish the edits on the previous one.
I, too, am in that precise place…while trying to force myself out of a minor case of writer's block. I'm excited but at the same time, I know it's going to take me about 80,000 words to complete project 2 and 72,000 words to complete project three. With the exception of editing, I've found the hardest part about writing a book is actually finishing. If I reach my goal, one chapter per project per night, by the end of February I'll have two first drafts done. It'll be worth the pain.
Baby steps…that's how I have to look at it. I find that when I start writing, the story takes me where it wants to go, and so I let it flow naturally. Outlines don't work for me at all…too overwhelming. Good luck with it! I have just started a new book too and I only have a few paragraphs and some notes so far. š