Pressure pushing down on me
Okay, it isn't really. But it is a little, and the song is stuck in my head, so there you go.
I have started the Unholy Ghosts sequel. And it's very scary.
Not the book--well, hopefully the book. I think my first chapter is pretty tension-filled and creepy. But the writing itself. What if this one isn't as good as the first? Now that I have Shiny Special Agent, will I be able to keep him? (I'm also waiting for his notes on UG--he said there's not a lot of work that wants doing, but I'm still nervous about it.) Am I ever going to be able to write anything that good again, or was it a one-book wonder?
Then there's fitting backstory in, which is never fun. And worrying that this story is less original than the first. Or that it's too different, or not different enough. I already scrapped about a thousand words written last night (in my defense they were written when I was tired and it was late). After the first draft of UG was so lovely and clean I thought for sure I'd cracked that problem. Ha ha! That's a good joke on me.
But then, I started Demon Inside six or seven times before I got a first chapter that pleased me. So I guess I should be glad that my first chapter feels pretty set now, huh?
Oh, I have a whole bunch of endnotes today, two items I forgot to mention on Friday and a couple of other things too.
1. Jaye Wells has been doing Adopt-A-Vampire month at her blog. I'll be posting there this week, but stop by before then and read all the fantastic posts from other vampire lovers!
2. I have revamped (heh heh) the Stacia Kane website. Let me know what you think!
And:
It's Book Club Week at the League of Reluctant Adults blog this week and next week: This week we're doing Anton Strout's Dead to Me, and next is Mark Henry's Happy Hour of the Damned. *I* am handling the moderation duties (I'm starting in a few hours), so be sure to stop by and make fun of me. And talk about Anton's book, which I'm sure you've all read, right?
It snowed here yesterday. Big, fat, flakes. They didn't stick, but it was certainly pretty (it snowed on Saturday when we were in Bristol too, but the flakes weren't as big.)
12 comments:
Our works only get better as we go along, so not only will your sequel to Unholy Ghosts be just as good, it'll probably be better and what agent wouldn't love that? ;*)
I agree with dh.
Don't worry about comparing it to the first, just do that thing you do and "how good it is" will take care of itself. -V95
Special Agent
LOL
Do you feel like a head of state.
Ha. I kill me.
Seriously though, I completely delete the first chapter of everything I write.
Moving into new territory is always scary. But it's the challenge that makes you nervous and I'm sure your up to it. Rock on.
Bah, you always worry and think you suck until you amaze everyone and realize how much you rock.
So quit beating yourself up. Unless it's necessary to your sense of creativity, in which case, carry on.
:)
Lol, DH, we hope we get better as we go along, but it isn't always the case (*cough*LaurellKHamilton*cough*). I don't think I'll go that badly off the rails though.
See, V95 and kis, I think part of the problem I'm having is, UG came to me so completely and suddenly. Just BOOM and there it was. Not everything was worked out, but there was so much creating to do. Now it's created and I'm reminding, while still trying to keep the tone right. So I don't feel as certain of myself as I did then.
Oh, I know about deleting those first chapters, Seeley. I'm hoping I don't have to do that this time. The first chapter of UG is actually now the 5th chapter. :-)
Thanks Charles. I will try, anyway. Once I get into the swing of it I'm sure I'll feel better.
Actually, kis, it probably is necessary. I'm freaky that way.
If the running concept you have in mind for the sequel excites you, no problem. If the thread is a little foggy, or it seems a little humdrum, then uh oh. I hope you can banish the agent from your mind while you're creating. Otherwise, it'll get too crowded in there, and the storyteller will go AWOL. :)
I think LKH's problems could be solved by taking a year or two off and refocusing.
BTW, I'm on Wordpress now because my blogger blog got deleted *sigh*
michelelee.wordpress.com
I'm sure your second book will be just as good, if not better than the first. Don't let those Doubt Demons get ya! Stomp on them hard. ;)
Oh, therein lies the rub, Bernard. I'm not quite as excited about it as I was about the first--again, because with the first I was having so much fun creating this new world. Now it's created, and while it's still fun to play in, it's not quite as much fun, if you know what I mean. It's not that I'm not excited, it's just not quite as much. :-)
Yes, Michele, that's very true, although at this point I'm not sure the problem is fixable to be honest. Things have just gone too far from where they were, imo.
Hey, Shelley! Thanks! I'm certainly trying. :-)
Lol, LKH needs to stop buying presents for her characters. :)
But for most writers, the worrying about quality never ends, it seems. For me, it's characterization - I'm afraid most of mine lack depth and are only there to move the plot around.
Girl, relax.
This is just twitch.
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