Yes, I haz book deal is all very well, but now comes the hard part: writing book 2. I've written about 5,000 words (out of around 90,000) and I have an outline, which is good - I know the whole shape of the story and what's going to happen at key points, and I know the emotional arc of it (which is more than I did with the last one at the beginning). The main character is pretty clear in my head too. But I'm still getting to know the others.
That sounds pretentious, right? I should say that I'm still making them up. But so much of inventing a character is unconscious (it seems to me) that it does feel as if they have a life of their own. At the moment I'm nervous because they're still strangers to me: I don't know enough about their backgrounds or what they want out of life or how they'll react in given situations. But I'm confident that that will come. Provided I just sit down in front of the (scary) empty page, and keep writing ... wish me luck!
Wow! You are definitely a real writer now that you are 'getting to know' your characters! I attended a literary lunch last weekend (by a very odd coincidence) and marvelled at how this phrase tripped off writers' tongues. I really appreciate you understanding that this is something I pause to get my head around and that you have also taken the time to explain it. However, now that you are a fully fledged 'real' writer it goes without saying that you should not just indulge in but also bask in your new lingo.. and indeed, I shall look forward to becoming acquainted with your new characters too! G xx
ReplyDeletep.s. Good luck.. and I want to hear all about it when we meet up please xx
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