Thursday, July 1, 2010

Here is My Dilemma


Yes, I am indecisive when it comes to my novels. Part of the reason I work on more than one novel at a time, well 5 novels sometimes, is due to my indecisiveness. I don't know which novel is the one I want to send out to agents first. So, I'm going to use this blog post to rant about why I have trouble with this decision.

The YA novel is the one getting the first rewrite and that would seem the most likely to be sent out first because it's the only one being rewritten at this point. It really needs a rewrite because the first draft isn't long enough by far and I had to change the pov from first to third. The problem with this novel and any mutant novel is that the series is very convoluted and large. While the YA section, the part that has Ephram and Isaac as main characters during the ages accepted in the YA genre is only 3 books (ish), they are later seen in the adult section of the series. There they meet Noah, which is in book 3 of the section where Noah is a main character. So before then, Noah has 2 books. Once they are combined there are at least 2 books. And the secondary characters seen in books 1&2 with Noah might have a separate book with Michael as the main character. That is at least 8 books, though not all have the same main characters. The good news is so far I have two books written(first drafts), Ephram 1 and Noah 1, and both can work as stand alones even though they are a part of this convoluted series known as The Rogues of Revolution. While I love them, I'm nervous about trying to get a deal with a series this confusing complicated.

I have one book idea in the works, meaning the first draft is in progress right now, that doesn't have a series. Angel//Demon, the one without a wip title, does not have a sequel. It is one book and nothing more. However, the draft is taking a long time to get done. I have a good 50k+ to write still, I'm guessing and the rewrite will be tough. I couldn't pick one character over the other for the main point of view, angel or demon. So, I have to figure out how to do the two main character point of view in a way that works, doesn't confuse the reader and keeps the story going because there are important scenes one character will see that the other will not. And I don't intend to write it in first person because I prefer third overall. This makes it difficult to choose this one for focus.

Blood Prophesy is on the back burner while I work on the overall storyline. I know where book one goes but how to get there is a different story. Plus the overall series is larger than anticipated (not in number of books but in scope and magnitude) and I'm going to have to figure out how to add small sections in other characters perspectives without losing sight and readers in the book. So, it's probably not a viable option for book 1 to send out.

Sure, I have a finished first draft of the romance/erotica novel that doesn't have a sequel either. But the first draft is messy, needs reorganized, then rewritten and edited. Plus, while I have a few ideas in the romance/erotica section, my real dream is to write and publish in fantasy.

Mystery novel has similar problems to romance/erotica, except the first draft isn't finished and it's not a single book idea. There are at least three, but for now I'm working on the first draft of the first book and it's going slow. For the first draft I'm not doing any research. So, before the rewrite can take place I have to read mystery novels and do research on things such as proper procedure, which will take even more time. And it's not fantasy. So, while I like Malcolm Zax Wilde (main character), it's not my focus at this point in my so called writing career.

Then there is the Sekrit Novel, which I won't go into too many details about but it's gonna be a long time before it's ready. There is a sequel to the current book in progress but nothing beyond that at this point. But I'm handwriting the first draft, even in first person, which is going slow since I can't write by hand for long before pain occurs. I'm on chapter 2 at this point and the rewrite will have to tweak the voice and who knows what else because that won't be determined till this first draft is done. But it's good use of the empty journals I have lying around not being used, so I'm glad to be writing it.

I have 55+ other novel ideas (seriously) but those are the ones that I'm currently working on.
Do you see my dilemma now?
What do you think?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, I do, but when you are a powerful and successful writer you can do what James Patterson does. Write out an outline, hire a good writer to partner with, and approve the final draft. That's marketing and it works, it gives not so well known talent writing credits and success, and entertains the reader. (I'm a fan)So keep doing what you're doing and keep a list of those ideas handy!

Dawn Embers said...

:-)

Interesting. Eww to the outline, lol. I don't think gay character novels will ever get that popular to warrant other people doing the writing but the bigger problem... I could not handle someone else writing my book. I don't like sharing a story in a campfire style, cause they mess up my characters. So, I'll just have to write them all myself.

Fun

I write like
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I write like
Mark Twain

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