With Book Four of The Nememiah Chronicles done and dusted, other than those minor details such as beta reading, cover designing and uploading, today I’ve spent some time contemplating my next move – what am I going to do next?
I don’t know about anyone else, but this is a delicious part of the writing process for me. Choosing my next project gives a delightful sense of anticipation and I choose from the many voices in my head, who are calling for their story to be told.
There’s something wonderful about knowing I have the power to make the choice. Do I go back to one of my current WIP’s, or do I start something new? Who’s voice is the strongest in my mind? Who is fervent about having their story told?
For the past eighteen months, I have lived, breathed, slept and eaten ‘Nememiah’. Four and a half books in the series had been written, albeit roughly, before I worked up the courage to publish. What this has meant for myself, is eighteen months of editing and re-editing, polishing and brushing up the words until they were the best they could possibly be. It’s been eighteen months on a very steep learning curve as I delved into the world of self-publishing as an Indie Author.
It’s also been eighteen months, near enough, where I have done very little ‘new writing’ I’ve started a few WIP’s, mainly because the characters involved have been particularly vociferous about getting their stories started, if not finished.
So now I have a conundrum to deal with. I’ve decided (no doubt, much to the chagrin of the readers who love Charlotte and her friends) that Nememiah Five is going on the backburner for a little while. I’ve spent so much time in Charlotte’s world that both she and I require a little break from one another. I think to do the final book in the series its full justice, I need to return to it in a few months, and spend those months doing what I love most in the world – creating new characters in new situations and new places.
There is something very exciting, and equally as scary, in facing a blank computer ‘page’ and waiting for the words to come. As a general rule, and I’m sure other writers deal with the same issue, you can come up with a million good ideas… until you sit down and stare at that blank page. Quite often, that blank page is enough to clog up every single good idea you’ve had (which generally appear while you’re grocery shopping, or hanging out laundry, or driving one of the Gang of Four to work, or school, or the cinema) and stick a great big cork in the end of the good idea pipe. And stick that cork up with super glue, to ensure you can’t pull it out.
So this section, between finishing one project and starting the next, is my favorite part of the whole process. The anticipation, the buzz of enthusiasm, the excitement of knowing you’re about to create and build a story which comes completely from your own heart and soul, is the drug which keeps my desire to write as a tangible and exciting part of my life. I started this adventure when I was a young child, and I still love it. Knowing now, after publishing, that other people love the characters and the story you created is the most amazing buzz in the world.
So now I’m off, to give further thought to where myself (and my characters) are headed to now.
See you on the flip side.
D.S. Williams 