The "In Between"

I just finished watching a video of a haunted house in England that gives the phrase "in between" a whole different meaning! The people have lived in their house for three years and have documented poltergeist activity. Whether or not you believe them is another matter. I was reading the comments and as with most things, there are opinions all over the board. I think the one that resonated with me is "how come they're not surprised when these things happen suddenly?" I will say the video is well done, real or not.

But that's not the kind of in between I'm living right now. I have just received edits back from my editor on Hillendale 5, which I hope includes her opinion on the title. Enchanted Memories is a front-runner, but I'm vacillating with Hypnotic Charm. Tune in next week to find out which one wins (feel free to weigh in in the comments), and by then pre-orders should be available to those of you who want to keep up with what's going on in Hillendale.

Generally, in the "in between," I start the next book. This time, I've been taking a break. Learning new things. Have I mentioned my podcast? The second episode is up! And since I'm talking about the podcast, keep an eye out for my interview with author Maggie Toussaint coming July 14.

After I finished my first book (Holy cow! That was 20 years ago!) I read articles on how people celebrate the "birth" of a book, what to do in the "in between," and some of the ideas were loads of fun. To this day, one of the suggestions that stuck with me was about someone who browsed the classified ads and found something they wanted to buy. When they went to pick it up, they sat and talked with the seller for hours! That conversation spurred them on to write the next book. The article likened finishing a book to childbirth, where the author needs time to recover from the process. I totally get that. The process is exhausting, and also miraculous. I grew that?

My "in between" is just about over and it will be time to commit to a new story, but for now, I'm excited to polish Hillendale 5 and prepare it for distribution. I hope you'll love it, too! 

Overcoming Writers' Fatigue

While I'm finishing up my second in the Hillendale series - UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, I'm struggling with where to go with Book 3. This is not officially writers' block, probably more like writers' fatigue.

Several years ago, while I was writing the Mist Trilogy, my editor recommended The Writer's Brainstorming Kit, a book she referred to as "tarot for authors." It's a handy book that gives you the option to choose your plots, goals, motivations, conflicts, or to "flip a card" and be inspired. If you order the physical book, it comes with a deck of GMC cards. If you order the e-book, it cross-references to a deck of cards. At the time, I was struggling with my villain and why he did the things he did. I found the book surprisingly helpful.

Which brings me to "now." I have a vague concept of the plots and subplots for Hillendale #3, but this book needs to push the envelope a little farther, so I've been struggling with what haven't I already done in books one and two. Writers' fatigue.

I'm a pantser more often than not - I write by the seat of my pants. I start with my characters or some "thing/place/event" that sparked my imagination and let them tell me the story. When I get stuck, I sit down and plot (does that make me a "plot-ser?") I know stories need to move forward, and there has been more than one occasion where the story was wandering around aimlessly when I had to stop and call my characters together for a little planning meeting. What are the goals? What's standing in their way? What's the point of this story?? I'm not sure I've ever run into this before I've ever started the story though.

One way to get inspired when fatigue strikes is to read other books. Watch movies or series. So I selected a series (A Discovery of Witches) which turned out to be not at all what I'd expected, and yet it's very good! So while I wait for my editor to finish Book #2, I figured I'd pull out the tarot for writers book and see if I couldn't find a plot to carry Book #3. This, my friends, is when I realize I have writers' fatigue, because as I'm weighing my options, I see I've left myself a perfect roadmap to follow if I'd only been paying attention! Every book in a series should point to the next one, even if they are meant to stand alone, and I've done just that. I knew I was laying the groundwork, but sitting in the recovery phase of Book #2, I couldn't see the forest for the trees (to incorporate a cliché).

What do you do when you have writers' fatigue? You use the tools available to you to give you the extra "oomph" you need. In this case, an outline. Actual plotting. It takes the fatigue out of trying to figure out what comes next. Let me point out that outlining isn't a restrictive tool. It gives you a roadmap. Directions. But if you see a road sign advertising a fun detour, there's no reason you can't divert once you're more "rested."

Am I changing my stripes and embracing outlining my books? I sincerely doubt it. There comes a point in every book where I stop to make sure I'm actually moving the story along. Sometimes I let the plot unfold naturally, but when it doesn't, I will almost always stop to give my characters a map.