Some writers can start another project as
soon as they finish one. Some can even work on more than one at once. I’ve
often wished I was one of those writers. But I’m not.
I used to feel guilty for not cheating on
my current WIP. Perhaps my desire to be faithful to one story meant I wasn’t
a proper writer. Why couldn’t I write
poems and a picture book and a MG novel and a YA novel and perhaps an
adult novel while I was there, too? And why couldn’t I leap from one project to
the next without a thought for the one I was leaving behind, telling it, “It’s
not you, it’s me!”, then unfriending it on Facebook and not returning its calls?
Because I just… couldn’t. That’s why.
I get so wrapped up with whatever story I’m
writing that there literally isn’t space in my life for another one. My
characters become so real that I wouldn’t be surprised to see them
getting on the bus when I’m going to work. To have more than one set of
them battling for my attention would be exhausting.
And if I dive into another project straight after finishing the previous one, I end up writing a rebound book. Before I know it, we’re having screaming rows and heading for the inevitable messy breakup. Any writer you ask will recommend having time off in between drafts of a book, as putting your work to one side for a while helps you see it with fresh eyes when you return to it. Over the years (and with several rebound books behind me) I’ve realised I need to do this before starting a new project, too.
And if I dive into another project straight after finishing the previous one, I end up writing a rebound book. Before I know it, we’re having screaming rows and heading for the inevitable messy breakup. Any writer you ask will recommend having time off in between drafts of a book, as putting your work to one side for a while helps you see it with fresh eyes when you return to it. Over the years (and with several rebound books behind me) I’ve realised I need to do this before starting a new project, too.
I’m in this place right now, as it happens.
I’ve just sent my first round of revisions for ACID back to my editor, and Book
2 (which I’d started just before ACID sold) is waiting to be picked up again. I
won’t deny that the temptation to dive straight back in is strong – I miss the routine
of writing every day; the thrill of all those plot
breakthroughs and eureka moments. But I know that, for a couple of weeks at
least, I need to step back.
So, while I’m story-single, I’m doing these
things instead:
Tackling my TBR pile (yes, this photo is
real). A combination of working at library plus my addiction to
bookshops and Amazon means I have ALL THE BOOKS. I seriously need to get them read.
Gardening. During winter, I don’t go
outside unless I have to (in other words, twice a day, when the Hound
gives me That Look). But when spring starts to creep in, I go into a
frenzy, digging the veg beds and spending what little money I have left after my
book-buying sprees on plants. I’m no Alan Titchmarsh, but there’s something
incredibly satisfying about watching things grow (bit like writing a book,
really…).
Walking. Once the weather starts to warm
up, I love to get out and find new places, like on Sunday when we went to a huge country park: woods carpeted in
snowdrops, some incredible, ancient trees, and a seventeenth-century wall with bricks laid in a beautiful
herringbone pattern. It was perfect.
And then there’s catching up
with friends, excavating the house from beneath multiple layers of Hound hair
and dust… None of this means I’m not thinking
about my next project, though. I may not actually be working on it, but we’re flirting
like crazy – exchanging glances, brushing past one another, exchanging the odd
shy word. Soon – very soon – we’ll pluck up the courage to talk to one another,
and hopefully it’ll be the start of something beautiful…
In
other news: last week, I gave a preview interview
about ACID on Presenting Lenore, the blog of YA author Lenore Appelhans, whose
debut novel LEVEL TWO is out from Simon and Schuster BYFR in Fall 2012. If you missed it, you can catch it
here, along with many other great interviews and reviews of just out or upcoming dystopian books.
I also have a Facebook author page! There’s
not a huge amount on it at the moment, but as ACID creeps closer towards
publication, I’ll be putting all my book news there. So if you’d like to like
me, I’d like that (and you!) very much indeed. :-)
What about you? Are you a story monogamist or a story polygamist? And if you
take breaks between projects, what do you do to recharge your writing
batteries?