The funny thing about writing is sometimes you have to write a different story to figure out the problems in the one currently working on.
I’m taking a little break from my next book to let it breathe before diving back in for another round of edits. While I planned to work on short stories or make notes for a back burner project, but one more morning I randomly decided I’m going to write a novella.
Well not so randomly.
This is novella is a side story featuring characters from the world of my books that won’t, for logistical reasons, get much page time but I still found them very interesting. I know they’re interesting because the idea for the story popped into my mind during a walk and that evening I had a few thousand words on a page and dozen open tabs on my web browser.
I even got to the “muddled middle” this week, the point in any story where I am tempted to delete everything I've written and run to the woods, but I soon was trucking along through the muddle eager to get to the end. I think it’s mostly because it was fun to cut loose while drafting again. I’ve been in editing mode for a year and half now as I move between rounds of edits for my next two books. It’s nice to pull words out of the ether and enjoy the ride of storytelling I’m on, and it’s even nicer to write something I’m not looking to sell. This story right now is for me, and it’s freeing in many ways. I can explore, I can experiment, and more importantly I can enjoy the writing process. It’s still a break, if you call taking on more writing work as break. But it’s through this break I might have solved a problem I’ve been grappling with in my current book.
My biggest hurdle I have as a writer is focusing on the tree in front of me and ignoring the rest of the forest. I lock in on minute detail attempting to keep the element in the book. That particular elements, whether it’s a character, minor historical fact, just random bit trivia I like, becomes so important I try to keep it in the book no matter what. Worse, I consider it set in stone, forgetting my own advice: that no story is done until it’s dispersed for consumption.
In some ways writing opens you up to all the possibilities a story can take you, and it’s the work of a very good writer to figure out what is the best possible way for that story to unfold. It’s something instinctive, that comes with both time and practice, but it’s also just going on with your gut feeling.
Which is why I’m working on the surprise novella. My gut tells me that this is what I should be working on for moment( as long as I don’t drag out the work). I need the break for obsession over minor details. A change of pace. A pause. A gift of time for myself. And a moment to fall back in love with writing. While the novella isn’t that closely tied to the book I’m working on, it’s the act of working on something else that matters. Focusing on other work gives me time to reflect and mull over other plot points. It allows me to step back from the book, and see the forest again and everything that brings it to life.
I know when end my self-appointed break I will return with new vigor to explore and seek all the places I have yet to turn my focus on.
And then I’m trucking along with my little surprise book.
Some things I enjoyed lately:
The Last of Us (tv show) - I haven’t played the game yet despite snapping it up in a recent sale, but that was no barrier to keep me from enjoying the show. I had a lot of fun guessing what might be nods to the actual game play, and speculating what bits I’ll see when I finally do great around to the the game.
Ghost of Tsushima - Grabbed this one in a sale after hearing all the great reviews. Love the simplistic UI and balanced game play. I was really surprised at the well roundness of the female characters featured throughout the game.
All the Knowledge in the World by Simon Garfield - It’s a history about encyclopedia, and who knew it had such an interesting? I was more curious that someone had written such a book than the actual subject but I came away with more appreciation for them. The chapters of the book are titled alphabetically arranged, which was an obvious but delightful surprise for me.