So let's say all your dreams have come true.
You finished writing the first draft of your soon-to-be-break-out-bestselling novel.
You adhered to all of your betas' amazing, wonderful, sometimes hard to take but ultimately wise advice and polished your baby until it glistened with such brilliance, astronauts were able to see it from space.
You found someone who loved your book so much they wanted to publish it.
The first round of edits came in from your editor and you were on fire! Nothing was impossible for you!
And then book two starts tapping you on the shoulder. You're in love with the ideas! You want to caress book two and care for it the way you did with book one.
But something's wrong.
Book two is NOT the same as book one. Book one was a runaway love affair. You saw him when you felt like it. Sometimes days, weeks went by before the two of you spoke, but when you finally came back together, it was magical.
Book two is not like that.
Book two wants a commitment. A DAILY commitment. He gets ornery when you ignore him and refuses to be there for you when you need him simply because you wanted a few hours for yourself.
He likes to punish you and he is VERY demanding.
Suddenly you find you can't ever just write because you love it. Now it's work.
But Book two isn't all bad. He may want a commitment, but he's just as dedicated to you as you must be for him. Where Book one got you through the doorway of your dreams, Book two promises to make you master of your own house. All he needs from you is that commitment and dedication.
No more spontaneous writing. No more taking time off to wait to be inspired.
Now you have to be the one to initiate that quality time. Now you have to be the one to find inspiration. And if you do, you and Book two will go far. You might even be rewarded with a little one...known as Book three.
You've just described my relationship with my current project (though it's the sequel to a self-published short story that did really well rather than a bestselling novel). I never intended to write a follow-up, but people kept asking for it. My editor urged me strongly in the sequel direction. It's not as easy a relationship, and I'm running late on it because we can't get along. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so true.
ReplyDeleteHa... very well put :)
ReplyDeleteEmily you crack me up, but yeah I understand where you're coming from. Hang in there--it'll be worth it.
ReplyDeletewhen writing book two, you must ask your beta readers what were the strongest points in the first one and stick to those things. I've often seen second books which lose the best aspects of the first book :(
ReplyDeleteSo true. Great post.
ReplyDeleteAnd keep going. You'll rock it!
awwwww! does jason know about all your love affairs??? :P was he more like book one or book two? :P
ReplyDeleteyou keep plugging away girlie-o! we're all rooting for you and elemental and that other gent whatever his name will be!
huh? i wonder if that qualifies as a love triangle?
Yup, that's how my next project is looking. le sigh. It's hard work, but I love every minute of it!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're writing it anyway. Looking forward to Elemental!
ReplyDeleteThis totally describes me right now. *eyes Emily's mental wavelength, as it appears quite similar to L.C.'s*
ReplyDeleteCute way of putting it, too. :-) Hope you're doing well and that you and book two work out for the best!
Haha that is an adorable way of putting it! Good luck with all of your lovers ;)
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ReplyDeleteDeadlines do have a way of changing things, eh? But I've heard we can learn to make ourselves be inspired, or at least learn to channel the inspiration when we need it. It's also a good reason to make deadlines for yourself all along BEFORE you get published (like for yourself, your CPs, etc), so you're used to feeling a bit of crunch. Hang in there! You can do it. :)
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