by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
A funny thing happened last month, I started writing again. Not the non-fiction book stuck in the box in the corner, if you remember that project, but my fiction book. Then a weird thing happened.
I wrote the opening few pages of the sequel to the second fiction book in the series. Got it down on paper and out of my head, then went back to the first fiction book. Then another wacky thing occurred; I wrote the story climax of the first book out of sequence and then expanded on it.
Normally I write fiction straight through from beginning to end. I have a rough outline, plot points and my hero’s journey framework, then I write like a crazy woman. Not this time. I’m engrossed in getting the story climax correct, then will go back and fill in the gaping hole from past the halfway mark to the new writing. I know the ending, so I can then wrap the puppy up. Next I will have to hard edit the whole mess.
I wondered what it meant when the first pages of the second book arrived in my mind, then I figured it out; this first book is ready to be finished. When the next project calls like a siren from the sea, it can mean procrastination, avoidance of grunt work, or the first project is ready to be finished.
Do I have all the plot and action answers for the first book? Not in my conscious mind, but I’m pretty sure my subconscious is figuring it out. When I write, it will be there. This might be the place where I confess the first few pages of the third book in this series were written a couple of years ago.
That third book is going to be a challenge, so I was happy to turn that assignment back to my muse and let her chew on it for a while until I get to it. Speed is not the key in writing these books, staying true to the character’s stories and the series arc is the important focus.
Fiction is fun for me to write. This time it feels like my process is changing and I’m okay with this new adventure.
When I was deciding the Easter lunch menu for this past Sunday, I had a big debate about dessert. I settled on making both apple crisp with maple nut ice cream and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Everyone decided to have a little of both.
Sometimes with both dessert and writing projects embracing variety is the true spice of life. We can get words down on paper so we don’t lose our new ideas and then go back to our first project. We don’t have to choose one or the other, but we do have to finish one. Then we get dessert!
What a refreshing way to look at your approach to writing. The second book’s call to get the first book finished clicked with me. Thank you!