See, the funny thing about writing a novel is that when I wasn’t ready to start revising it straightaway, I wanted to write another one.
I dream a lot. A LOT. They’re usually quite vivid and sometimes pretty exciting. Some nights I have “movie dreams” where I feel like I’ve rented a movie and wake up very entertained. Unfortunately, I frequently miss out on the ending because I wake up with underwear problems that make me have to stand waaaaaay back from the toilet at pre-6am.
It’s a bummer sure, but it gives me lots of great ideas.
Not long after the New Year started, I had a really cool dream about a future where telepathy was fairly common (on a limited scale) and a World War had ended up driving the surviving society of Australia into the bush, where they lived for years thanks to skills learned from the Indigenous Australians.
Well, waking up with a peeboner or not, I was bound to lay there quite awake formulating the rest of this story after that kind of dream. A lot came after that, and by the next morning I was sketching the outline in my notebook and prepping myself for another novel.
I did it different this time though, I took my corkboard and pulled all those pesky pictures of children and memorable moments and started putting up thumbnails of characters, locations, timelines… all sorts of planny goodness.
Then I just started bopping through it, outlining sections and making the stories fit together… then I challenged Scotty and the crew again. A few different takers, but me and Scotty, Abel, and Doc-in-law again, only this time it’s 1,500 a week minimum, and the winner is the one that types “The End”.
And gets a publishing deal.
KIDDING.
But once we kicked it off, we’ve been doing pretty good, and we’re on about Week 5 or 6 even, I’ve lost track.
So, writing and writing on the new book. What’s happening with the old one?
It’s been resting.
Like a fine wine or some freshly kneaded bread dough, or a tired pregnant woman sitting in front of a fan and watching baby boy thump in her belly. It’s resting.
I wanted to get crackin’ of course, getting it finished straightaway and getting it published. But wife suggested I follow some advice from Stephen King. She even made me look it up.
He finishes a book and puts it in a drawer for at least a month. 3 months usually.
Well, I didn’t think I could make it, but once I got crankin’ on the new novel I almost forgot all about it.
Almost.
Then Scotty got back to me with his feedback, and it was great. Most of it was stuff I’d thought of, but the rest was ideas that I didn’t have fleshed out nor really had the confidence to slap in there.
So, now I’m hip-deep in the telepath novel and I have this whole other novel, My First Novel, waiting for me to finish it.
Because once I finish it, I hope to “self publish” it, where I make a kickass cover and put it “out there”.
I’ve been following along with these folks, and they’re chock full of good ideas and great ways to do this:
I’m following The Passive Voice too, that emails me articles every day about all of this fun shit.
I gotta say, this whole process has been a hoot.
Can’t wait to see where I end up.
Wish me luck.
Giving it a rest for a time is a good idea. Fresh eyes are always a big plus when revising.
Glad you’re enjoying The Passive Voice too. Great site.