A Whole New World

Yesterday I had to find a way to dive into a new world. I finished my second novel on Sunday, and those characters were still talking to me. Pointing out that, once again, my epilogue didn't follow the path I had laid out for it. Telling me what they thought should happen at the beginning of the next book and generally making a nuisance of themselves.

This is what typically happens when I finish a novel. My characters give me absolute gold...but only once I'm done. And I tend to spend at least a couple of hours writing things down and already seeing the next novel coming to life in my head. (For anyone who doesn't know me, I should probably explain. I can't quite figure out how to write a stand alone book. I've tried, but my plots are always so much bigger than that...)

Unfortunately, because my plans for this month were so high, I no longer have time to just sit and write down all of these things my characters are telling me. In fact, when I finish one novel, I need to move onto the next without giving myself much time at all to wrap up the last one.

What ends up happening is that I stare at the blank first page of the new novel for ever, while the other characters continue talking to me, and try to get the new characters to open up and start talking. It's a frustrating process, as I tend to write a lot less than I should, and a lot slower, because the new characters aren't yet asserting themselves and becoming a priority.

I know that I'll probably be back into it by tonight. Though I still have a few pictures from the last book running through my head, I'm also starting to think of the new book and the events that are coming up (some of them I'm really excited for, as this book is actually a sequel, and I've been wanting some of these events to happen for quite a while now.) In the meantime, though, I find myself falling a little further behind everyday, and getting headaches from the clashing characters and worlds.

The worst part is I have yet to adapt to the voice of this novel, and I keep throwing in things from the last. Thankfully I'll be able to catch those things when I eventually get to the editing phase (I'll probably put it off as long as possible...) Still, I would really like to get back into this world that I once knew so well.

With any luck tonight I'll be able to pull myself back in and not get too much farther behind. But, even if I can't catch up with my goal, that's alright, because I already have far more words than I had before the month started, and really, that's what nano is all about.