Wow, A to Z was insane this year! I think I might be
spending the next ten months just trying to catch
But you came for the insecurity, so please check out TheNinja Captain and his co-hosts Stephen Tremp, Fundy Blue, MJ Fifield, Loni Townsend, Bish Denham, Susan Gourley, and Stephanie Faris!
So what am I insecure about? Wow. What a thing to ask. Right
now, the thing eating at me is the fact that I don’t know how this next part
goes. See, I’m writing a sequel. I’m very hopeful that this sequel will get
published, but the last time I wrote a sequel was in 2010. I’m a bit rusty. And
there are a lot of people who REALLY want to read it. As in I get more than one
email a week asking for a sequel.
Now, part of me wants to respond to all y’all and say “It
Cometh,” but the fact of the matter is, I already know the story and how long
it will take (sorry, longer than you would hope…), and the other part of me
wants to curl up in a little ball and pretend the real world doesn’t exist.
Obviously, the second is less conducive to the whole writing of a sequel thing,
so clearly I have some issues. They are as follows:
Issue of the first: will anyone even like what I’ve done to
their favorite character
Issue of the second: What if I choke up and can’t do any of
it?
Issue of the third: Will anyone even care because I will
have taken so long to get the sequel out?
Right, well, issue of the first is a non-issue. Roughly half
of the people are going to hate what I’ve done with their favorite character
regardless of anything I actually do. In fact, the only way the first issue can
become a real issue is if the characters never do anything again. And that’s
not happening because I’m writing the sequel.
Second: I choke. Well, I mean that could legitamitely
happen, but I sort of already have a plot, a support group, and a helluva good
start. Choking does not appear to be in my realistic future.
Third: Will anyone care. I have to admit this one eats away
at my soul, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. I’m human, and no
matter how fast I write, a sequel will take a greater than zero amount of time
to write. So, I just have to get things moving and hope for the best.
So yeah, full of insecurity, and all of it stuff I can do
nothing about. I guess that really means it’s time to get back to work.
What’s eating you this month? Got any answers to my
conundrums other than “don’t worry about it?”
(also, I have that song from the most recent Muppets at the beginning. the line goes "Everybody knows that the sequel's never quite as good!")
First off, congratulations on getting to write a sequel and knowing there are people who want to read it. You're already far ahead of a lot of the rest of us. :P
ReplyDeleteSecond, I think that having people ask you about a sequel means that yes, there are people out there who will care, no matter how long it takes. There are, of course, the impatient types; you can see them respond to pretty much every tweet George R. R. Martin makes. But there are also lots of readers who will wait patiently for books from authors they like, because they know these things take time.
So keep at it, and when the sequel comes out, shout about it as loud as you want. Because not only will the people who liked the first one hear about it, so will people who've never heard of you. And some of them will be absolutely delighted to learn you already have three books out. ^_^
It's most important if you care, not everyone else. IF the story pleases you then that's all that really matters. Readers will be able to tell you're not invested in the story if you don't. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThose are very valid concerns. What's eating me? My back. My neck. My inability to sit at the computer for long periods since the accident. Maybe the neurosurgeon will have a reasonable solution.
ReplyDelete