She's talking with us today about something that all of us struggle with from time to time... writing the sequel! What do you do if the voices in your head are telling you to write something other than the sequel to the book you've just released? I imagine for each author the answer is a little different. Today, Emerald shares with us her thoughts on how to know what to write and when to write it!
How do you know what to write and when to write it?
I had this problem not long ago. I was contemplating how best it was to
write a sequel to my novella, "Piercing Through the Darkness."
But as of right now, my heart and soul
just isn’t in it. I don’t want to
force it, so I’m going to write it when my head isn’t full of vampires and
werewolves and their story. It’s tough sometimes because if you’re like me, you probably
have a lot of stories racing around your brain, and there are so many things
you want to write. And, there’s
certainly not enough time in the day to write constantly!
But, I’m of the firm opinion that you write the story that
you can’t stop thinking about.
I tried this. I
tried forcing a novel because I wanted it written for my readers. They wanted more to the story of "Piercing Through the Darkness." I
do too, but right now, my head is focused on something else.
When I started out writing the sequel, I couldn’t get it
right. I have three different
beginnings, all of which are NOT what I wanted for it. In fact, it was so bad that I had to
set the book aside. I can’t force
myself to write it right now because I won’t like it. And if I don’t like, I don’t think anyone else would
either. And the last thing I’d
want to do is disappoint my readers.
But, as an author, if we want to write something that has
the emotions we want to come across in our novel, we have to write what is more
pressing in our head. The readers
will be able to tell what is going on if it feels forced and feels as if we
don’t even like it. But most importantly, don’t try just to please your
readers. You have to think about
yourself as well. It sounds
selfish, I know, but really, if you love what you’re writing, your readers will
too. If they’re waiting for that
sequel or novel they’ve heard you talk about, chances are, they’re willing to
wait until it’s perfect.
I have a few friends who are waiting for me to finish a
novel I wrote five years ago, but it’s still not perfect, and the timing for it
isn’t right for me to finish. I
have so many other stories worming their way into existence, and the other has
to wait.
How do you know what to write and when to write? Do you write the story you can’t stop
thinking about, or do you do it differently?
Emerald can be found online at the following places:
And today it's "double your fun", because you can also check out my guest post on her blog! To see what we're talking about over at Emerald's place, go
here!
Happy reading and writing!
