Now that Breathe, the first book, is at the editor, getting prettified, I am hard at work on the dreaded second book. And honestly it's stressing me out. I think I forgot how hard the first one was.
It’s a little like childbirth. The baby is so cute you forget how painful it was getting there. Also, I wonder, am I going to love the characters as much as I did the first one? I can’t remember how I felt about them in the middle. Am I going to have favorites in this one too?
I feel like it’s going well but I’m not sure. I know how the story ends but how am I going to get there? Am I on the right path? I forgot all the questions I asked myself the last time. There is more pressure this time because I am actually planning on publishing this one while I am writing it. Last time I had no intention of showing it to anybody so I just wrote without thinking about whether or not anyone would like it.
Some people say you should write for yourself and I did that with Breathe. I’m not so sure I’m accomplishing it this time. Stephen King says most authors write for their ideal reader. I know who my ideal reader is. I think I know what she likes and she is always the first to read my stuff. She says she likes this one and I am glad she is willing to read even the worst of what I write. I trust that she would tell me if it was a horrible story and my characters were uninteresting. All the rest can be fixed. The story has to grab you and you have to love the characters or it is time to throw it in the bin.
I am halfway through and hope to be done this summer with writing it. With any luck real life will cooperate. It doesn’t even have a name yet but I think I like it. These characters voices get louder everyday. I am getting more and more attached to them all the time. And the bad guy? He's a creep so I'm a little worried about my main character. She thinks her life is complicated now? I don't think I will tell her what's coming. Can't wait to see what's next.
Any thoughts? Leave me a comment below.
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