Shiny New Ideas…

So anyways, I have this idea.

It’s a new and very shiny idea. It’s an idea that, as soon as my friend Andy suggested it (over a beer, and as a bit of fun) all the way back in February, that I’ve found myself thinking about and thinking about and thinking about.

I’ve built characters in my head, and back stories, and plots and destinations. Andy’s one liner about essentially finding this dude to, well, that would be the spoiler, has grown legs, and become a quest and a romance…and yes, he will get some opening credits.

The thing is, the problem is, I’m not supposed to be writing about this now. I’m supposed to be using these few weeks while I’m waiting on the copy edits to come back for Big Girls Don’t Cry to finish the draft for I Want You Back (yes, the title does come from a Bananarama song).

What to do?

You see, so often people say ‘you just need to finish what you’re working on.’ I get that, but I’ve really been struggling with I Want You Back. I’m not sure whether it’s because it’s an ensemble piece and I usually write in the first person; or that I can’t hear a clear voice to know who of my three lead females is the alpha (so to speak); or that the story just isn’t there…but I’m struggling.

I’ve tried the things that usually work for me- writing random scenes, making up back stories, spending some quality time creating a playlist- but it’s not working.

There have been some great suggestions from some fellow romance writing peeps. Perhaps the problem is that I don’t know who my characters are clearly enough- or what they want?

That, though, presents me with another issue, I know exactly what Max (my protagonist in Finding John Smith– see, it even has a title…and one that doesn’t come from a daggy pop song) wants. I can hear her voice as clear as a bell. Her motivation is just as clear.

I’ve already written the ending for I Want You Back….and the first chapter to the sequel. I’m wondering whether that’s the problem- I like to be surprised by how things turn out.

Who knows? Perhaps I’m just tired.

So, what am I going to do?

When I deliberately decided to go down this indie author route, I made a deal with myself about deadlines and the importance of imposing them and keeping to them. With this in mind, I’ll spend this week knocking out a couple of sample chapters for Finding John Smith and hope it clears my head for long enough to allow me to get back to sorting out Callie, Tiff and Alice. After all, October is the new November for me.

I’ll let you know how I go…

Big Girls Don’t Cry will be published in December. Stay tuned for more information…