{"id":5023,"date":"2018-06-11T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talanhorne.com\/wordpress\/?p=5023"},"modified":"2018-06-11T17:40:59","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T23:40:59","slug":"starting-the-next-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talanhorne.com\/wordpress\/starting-the-next-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting the Next Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every night will have its dawn. Every year will follow another. Every noodle is connected to another noodle.<\/p>\n

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So it is that every manuscript must eventually reach its end. And the one I worked on at the beginning of the year will not be touched again until the publication process begins in earnest.<\/p>\n

Which gives me the opportunity to start the next book.<\/p>\n

Off to See the Wizard<\/h3>\n

I finished the outline for this new book last year. I know how it ends and all of its major plot points already.<\/p>\n

Even so, starting the actual book is a bit of a step into the unknown. It’s very much like that one song, in more than a few musicals, where the characters intrepidly take their first step into the major plot, and belt their objective in clear and unambiguous lyrics.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You know. It’s the “start of the journey” song. That’s the song I’m in right now.<\/p>\n

And it’s really a bad situation to be in, because you’re at a point where you haven’t done anything yet. The only reason it\u00a0seems<\/em> like such a positive is due to the raw and irrational excitement of the moment. Your brain gives you a little treat in the form of endorphins as you let your creative alchemy off the hook and just let it do its thing.<\/p>\n

You simply must try it sometime.<\/p>\n

But the technical concerns with starting a new book have to take priority. And one concern above all others needs addressing.<\/p>\n

How is This Book Going to be Different?<\/h3>\n

The preacher says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” But when starting a new book you’d better find a way to\u00a0make<\/em> it new. Because writing the same book twice is boring. That’s not how you grow as an author and it’s not how you establish a brand.<\/p>\n

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So the first thing you have to determine, upon starting the next book, is how it is going to be different from anything you’ve written before.<\/p>\n

It may be in a different genre than you’re used to.<\/p>\n

It may feature characters who are wildly different from your previous creations.<\/p>\n

It may experiment with different narration styles, different voices, time shifts, and organization.<\/p>\n

But it should be different in at least some way, because every book you write is a revelation\u00a0from<\/em> yourself\u00a0to<\/em> yourself, in which some previously unknown aspect of you comes into focus. Any part of you that has already been revealed cannot be made into a strong book, because the miracle of book writing comes in the moment when you acknowledge something you had once concealed or denied.\u00a0As one writer said:<\/p>\n

Write books only if you say in them things you would not dare confide to anyone.<\/p>\n

E.M. CIORAN<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

People never get sick of reading those stories. Audiences crave that kind of concentrated emotional honesty.<\/p>\n

So Where does That Leave Me?<\/h3>\n

I can say with confidence that the book I am now shopping around for publication is one that only I could write. The people who will have the chance to represent or publish the book will never be able to get another one like it. I believe that all great books are like this.<\/p>\n

But I am not content.<\/p>\n

Though that book is uniquely mine, I have more to give. The new book is going to go places the last one didn’t. It’s also going to require a different kind of approach, with different themes and different kinds of victories for the different kinds of heroes.<\/p>\n

On my Works in Progress<\/a> page, it has the codename “S2<\/sup>“, and, among other things, it will differ from my last book in the following ways:<\/p>\n