Back In the Saddle Again, or, Returning to Fiction After a Big Pause

[alfreda89]

Think of it this way -- if you drop the ball for too long, and years flow by -- there's a stranger staring back through the monitor at you, a person with different life experiences and priorities and beliefs. And you're asking her to go back into the minds of people she stopped visiting with regularly...stopped seeing a long time ago, in many cases.

And you may still have around your neck the dregs of whatever stopped the muse from kick-starting you going, whether it's health, or finances, or family combined with one of those -- real issues that leap into your face every time you turn around.

It's not that you can't go back and visit with them again -- in fact, if you're lucky, once they see you're serious about it again, they'll fall all over themselves to give you an update. Sometimes the problem is how to slow them down so book-sized chunks can be cut from their volumes of stories.

Or at least it’s one of the problems for me. The new me has a subterranean agenda. I have to remind her that subtle is what will get us both what we want.

Current complaint -- back brain wants a lot more research than is needed for this book. I relate to her wanting depth in case other books are wanted, but we must be realistic -- we've got to sell the first book before anything else happens.

Comments

[smokingpigeon.livejournal.com]

It may be the back brain has cold feet.

Been where you are, didn't like it, kinda there now really.

[beth-bernobich.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping you and your back brain and your characters can work things out.

[clouds-loom.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear that you're writing again. Don't let your back brain slow you down too much. =)

Take your time

[sincitychaos.livejournal.com]

I'm patient. I believe in Heinz and Carole King ("Anticipation"). Enjoyed Ducks very much and am looking forward to your next novel [look how long it took to get sequels to Schmitz's "Witches of Karres" and Piper's "Fuzzies" -- and both were worth the wait -- and I'm *still* waiting for the third in the Hiero series...]. I hope that your confluence of evil influences (you did set out wards, right?) has been brushed aside. Good hunting.