It’s becoming an increasingly slow slog getting this series finished. I raced through my re-write of
book two towards the end, then started book three and got stuck after the
prologue (which was very clear in my mind) because I got myself in a tangle
about which character was where, what they were doing and why. What had always
been a very clear path to the end suddenly seemed flawed, although I could not
put my finger on the whys or wherefores.
I took another
break from the story to give myself some thinking time and (fortunately/unfortunately)
began to be very plagued by a character who wants to be written – but she is
not from this series so has to stay where she is for now despite how loud and
formed she is in my mind. She will play a major part in an upcoming project which
I think is actually going to be a series of books aimed at children. Who
expected that one?
Back to the
Aethera and I remained in a muddle and feeling somewhat despondent after so
many years of watching them interact so coherently in my thoughts and in the
many hundreds of pages already written. I began to feel very depressed by the
lack of progress until the very thought of opening the files and my big ideas
sketchpad had become a monumental task in my by now very messed up head.
Time heals all,
they say, and a little more time away from it all – anxiety and hopelessness in
tow – started to work some wonders. I began to focus on the good things that I
have already written, particularly on those little plot mysteries that solved
themselves in the writing and the answers that had come to earlier questions
that I had no idea I was asking at the time.
Where there have
been those solutions, I had to believe there will be more and suddenly I realised
that the only way forward was to go back over what has gone before (again) and
find the words to continue the story.
I revisit book
two with a more positive view this time. I think I know where it gets a little
muddy, and I think the explanation for that already exists on the pages written
and the thoughts as yet unwritten. I may not yet have an agent to help me
through the tougher times, but I have three solid main characters, an ever
forming world and a sidekick who is worthy of his own story. I have the
ingredients I just have to get the mixture right, and I will.
Book two the re-visit
is underway. Time to spring clean my words ready for the next ones.
Elloise Hopkins.
