the benefit of writing breaks

I’m going to be honest with you guys: since the beginning of this month, I haven’t really done much as far as writing goes. I had a sort of emotional breakdown about two weeks ago—mostly to do with writing—and I decided that stepping away for a while would be good for me. I was stressed by the fact that writing The Guild Conspiracy has been rather difficult and the fact that I now essentially have to start over. As a result, I was seriously worried that the book wouldn’t come out when originally planned. It was a bit much when heaped on top of other life things.

After this lengthy break, I feel much better. I’m not so worried, and I realized a few things. Book releases are pushed back all the time. I’m not going to write a fantastic first draft in four months every time I sit down to write a book. In fact, it’s probably a good thing that The Guild Conspiracy hasn’t been as easy as the first book. I’m hoping that means it will be better. And while I was initially worried that fans and readers would hate me if I suspended the release another few months, it would be a disservice to them and to the book if I rushed to finish just so I could release the book by the end of the year. I just hope that they understand that.

I also learned what my priorities are. First and foremost, I need to get the new version of The Clockwork Giant ready as soon as possible. So that’s what I’m going to work on next. I am going to reread the book, making any necessary changes—cutting a line of dialogue here, clarifying a description there, etc—and as I go, I’ll be marking quotes to add to my Pinterest board. In this new version, I’ll also put my new biography in, as well as an excerpt from The Guild Conspiracy. Though the second book isn’t finished, most of what I have written will be in the next draft in one form or another. For the excerpt, I plan to use one of the mech fight scenes that I’ve already written.

Rereading the book will serve another purpose too. It’s been a long time since I’ve read it, since December at least. The first (partial) draft of The Guild Conspiracy began three months after the ending of The Clockwork Giant. But with the new draft, the story will start days, perhaps a week or two, after the ending of the first book. I think rereading The Clockwork Giant will help ground me in the voice of the story, the pacing, setting, and characters, and I’ll be better able to pick up on story threads that were left open at the end of the first book.

Once I’ve made all the necessary changes to the new version of The Clockwork Giant, I’ll rerelease it. No fancy schmancy party or anything. I’ll just be like, Hey, the new version of my book is up. Boom. Same price, same story, just different packaging. Hopefully by then, I’ll have a better guesstimate of when the second book will release. Right now, I’m going to say March-ish. Hopefully sooner. But if the past few months of writing are any indication of how writing is going to go for the next few months, well… yeah. I hope that’s not the case.

Anyway, that’s my news for now. I’ll go back to Propp’s Fairy Tale Functions next week. Have a good weekend