The Dreaded Sequel--What Now?

As most writers will probably tell you, the process of finishing a book is exhilarating . . . and exhausting. For a brief moment, you feel like you have just conquered the world. And in a way, you have. It’s the process that comes afterward that no one ever warns you about. No matter what venue you take, the final edits, the polishing—the packaging and marketing strategies, all of them pale in comparison to the next step: writing the next book.

Maybe it’s different for authors who jump headlong into some new, shiny project. You really have no expectations to live up to there, no established voice to follow. You’re starting from scratch.

I am starting from scratch too. For the hundredth time. In the past few weeks, I have scrapped and rewritten twenty-thousand words or more—all because of the dreaded sequel.

When I first started Requiem, I had no idea how long of a story it would be. Like most of us, I was compelled by the voice whispering in my ear and fascinated by what it had to say. What I thought would be a short, character-driven story evolved into something much more. About halfway through the process, I realized not only did I have a novel on my hands, but a three part series. Maybe more.

Awesome.

I LOVE these characters. They are fun and intriguing. That, my friends, is not the problem. The problem is that I love the first book a bit too much. (Is such a thing even possible?) Though the second book is plotted out, nothing I pen quite measures up in my eyes, and I am terrified, yes terrified, that other people will look at the sequel and see the same thing. The last thing I want is people looking at me with pity in their eyes and asking what happened.

Is this sort of crippling fear and doubt normal, or have I just lost my mind? Does it extend into new projects as well, or does this vile plague only afflict subsequent books in a series?

I would love to hear your thoughts and any suggestions you might have. Believe me . . . desperation is starting to set in.

~Adriana

On Writer's Block

Some people pursue writing as a career; others do it as a hobby. I’m sure a handful or more are stuck somewhere in the middle of the road, unsure where they fall. Fulltime, part-time, or somewhere in between: if you write, you are bound to hit a snag. You will eventually stall, falter, or stare at a blank page for hours on end, wondering what in the world is wrong with you. It happens on every end of the creative scale: to novelists, poets, bloggers, and short story scribes. It happens to the masters sitting at the top of the bestseller‘s charts, to the unknown author pursuing his guilty pleasure. We call it Writer’s Block.

*cue the grim face and creepy music*

The mere phrase is enough to strike terror in even the staunchest author’s heart. A vast majority of writers will, at some point or another, bemoan their muses. We scapegoat, shifting the blame elsewhere. I, myself, have done this on numerous occasions. Yes, I have cried to the writing gods in all of my dramatic glory, begging to know why they have forsaken me. I’ve made offerings of solitude, incense, music, and coffee. Then, a well-meaning friend posed a single question that rattled me to the core.

"Why do they call it writer’s block?"

The answer seemed so obvious at the time. Uhmmm. Hmm. Because we write?

Nod in agreement, if you will, but let’s really think about this. Many of us have not yet broken into the spotlight far enough where can support ourselves by writing alone. Someday, yes, but not yet. Am I right? Say you work on the side as a janitor. Sure there have been days where you didn’t feel like showing up to work. Maybe you were having an off-day or simply felt blah. We all have days where we are not as productive, where we just shuffle through the movements without heart or head in the actions. Yet, we don’t call into work to report we won’t be coming in today because we have a case of janitor’s block.

See the reasoning here?

Teachers don’t call off with teacher’s block, cops don’t call off with cop block, truckers don‘t call off with trucker‘s block. They show up, perform the best that they can, and hope they make it through to find tomorrow is a better day.

I’d like to say that writers are lazy. I really would, but by nature we aren’t. Only one who has sat in our shoes know how hard it really is to churn out line after line, to build upon word after word, constructing characters, plots, and worlds out of thin air, and then breathe that magical life into them. It’s a craft that takes years of sweat, hard work, dedication, and tears to hone. Even then, we sometimes fall flat. That’s okay!

Maybe it is not writer’s block after all. Maybe, underneath our creative exteriors, lies a normal person who experiences a very normal thing when you go though the same motions day after day: burn out. It’s easy to fall into this feeling, especially when you pour as much time and energy into your writing as we do.

Allow yourself a day or two off once in a while. Take time to read that book you thought sounded so good. Go for a walk. Do the dishes. Clean the house. Play on the floor with the kids or the pets. Socialize with family, neighbors, and friends. Live, laugh, and enjoy life around you. It’s okay! Not only is it okay, it’s healthy. The burn out will eventually ease and you will find yourself facing the screen with a fresher outlook on writing and life in general.

The next time you feel yourself stuck, don’t blame your muses or cry to the powers that be. Take the time to listen to what your own body is telling you. It may be a few hours, or it may be a few weeks, but all is not lost. Writers are human. Take time to recharge your body and mind. After all, they are our most valuable tools.

~Best wishes and happy writing!~
Adriana