Two Down

Well, it's been a while.

When I wrote my last we had never heard of Covid-19, did not know that our world was about to be upended. I had just finished one of the stories that make up my second novel and was having some difficulties getting a handle on the other parts. I did, finally, figure out what I would do and then along came the virus and anxiety and pretty much a complete creative block. I wasn't reading much either.

And then the creativity thing came back and the words spilled out and I have completed the first draft of my second novel, which is now with first readers for initial thoughts and feedback. It is not what I originally thought it would be, but that's OK.

In the meantime I also sent revised versions of the first novel to several more agents, most of whom have not responded.

I think this one is 'better' than the first, and by that I mean I have been less concerned with faux realism and, in leaning in closer to fantasy, opened a creative door for myself. The primary thing about the first novel, irrespective of its merits, is that I wrote it then revised it and revised it some more: I completed the process. I proved to myself that I could sustain a story over 116,000 words, and people who read it liked it (aside from people actually working in publishing, but we'll let that pass). 

So when writing this second, I already knew that I could do it, and that was itself a form of liberation. Of course, I still had to wrestle with writing it, but my mood was different when at the keyboard.

Thoughts inevitably turn to what's next. As it is I have several potentials floating around, but as yet I am not committed to any of them. The obvious one is a third novel in this universe, and I'm open to that if I can come up with a story I think can sustain 100,000+ words. Another option is a set of short stories spinning off from this universe, and that has its attractions.

However, whatever it is will be different again. Partly this is because, having written two, I'm OK with the process of writing a third and I'm that much more confident of getting to the end. The larger part is that, knowing I can do it frees me up to think about how I write stylistically. My reading tends to be in speculative or 'slipstream' fiction and the two I've written have been relatively conventional. I know I have room to grow as a writer, and with two novels and a novel-length collection of stories under my belt, now is the time to start playing with style and form, I think.