Pages

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Clearing my Head


You may have heard the advice to step away from your novel once you’ve finished. I’ve followed that rule for the last three books and found the return back exhilarating. I love the fresh perspective gained by simply getting away and clearing my head. This summer, when I finished the first draft of UNDER DARKENED SKIES, I immediately shielded myself from the book and moved on to outlining book four. It was a break away from the book, but not from the characters—the story continued. After several weeks, I returned to UNDER DARKENED SKIES and started editing.

Then on Tuesday, August 14th, a new idea came to me. It was so off the wall crazy that I instantly fell in love with it. I outlined the entire novel that night and committed to stay awake until I finished writing the first chapter. Four days later, I have penned 12,000 words with a goal to finish the novel by the middle of September.

I was feeling good before this week, and thought I was in a great place in regards to my writing motivation. But then I got involved in this new story. To say it’s been refreshing is an understatement. I’m different today, in a good way.  Honestly, I’ve been involved with Rhiannon’s story for three years now and never realized how much it was affecting me. Writing in first person from a girl is freakin’ tough for me! While writing this new book, (from a boy’s point of view, by the way) I’m able to be more like me—I’m a little zany and a whole lot giddy. The experience these last few days can best be described as me letting the creative monster loose. I’m not holding back; it’s a “no holds barred” writing experience. No matter how crazy or out of this world an idea sounds, I’m exploring it—and having a blast in the process.

I’ve never had this much fun writing. Never. (For the record, I’ve always enjoyed writing—just not this much.) Anyway, in a month or so I’ll be back to normal and will be preparing the final details for the release of FROM RISING FLAMES. I’m hoping to have a cover by the end of September. Until then, I’m howlin’ at the moon and running with the pack. Let the creative beast run free. *howls for effect*

(p.s. There are no faeries or vampires or wolves in this book I'm writing. Only zombies. Yes, zombies. And they’re freakin’ fantastic the way I’m writing them! If you want a hint, find my post on zombies and you'll see I have a different perspective on that sort of thing.)
 
Happy reading.

~ Jamie

4 comments:

  1. I love zombie stuff! (I'll go check out your zombie post after this.)

    It's hard to step away from a nvl/ms, but it helps. When I do that, my characters still let me know they are there, waiting. Which is a good thing, in my opinion. :D

    GL to you and your writing endeavors!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Jackie. You're right, the characters will still be there. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good for you, Jamie! I'm glad you're enjoying writing this book.

    I too did the same thing with my current manuscript. After draft #4, I was starting to lose my story. I kept thinking "this sucks," "what if this happens," etc. etc. So I decided to shelve it. I think it sat there for like 3-4 months. Then finally I picked it back up and WOW. Everything just clicked.

    Hope you find success with your stories!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, Vicki. 3-4 months? coming back to the manuscript had to feel so refreshing after so long away. Thank you.

      Delete

Say hello or add to the discussion.