With all the excitement of participating in Sultry Nights, my first collection – and believe me I am excited – I have failed to provide an update on my other work, specifically the fourth book of the Beguiling Bachelor Series. Actually, I haven’t just neglected an update; I also neglected the book.
Now I am back to writing what I have tentatively titled Besotted, the story ofTyler and Regan, alluded to in the previous bachelor novels. This, the fourth book which has been percolating in my mind while writing the other three, should have been easy to get from my brain to paper. After all, I have been working up to it for well over a year.
Instead, Besotted is proving elusive and cantankerous. Surprised? So was I.
Lessons One and Two – Plan Ahead
Moving through this process, I have learned some valuable lessonsI thought I would share my journey and my lessons learned.
1/ If you are going to write a series, plan ahead. This has been, without a doubt,my biggest mistake. When I created Wyatt’s friends in Bedazzled, I had no intention of building a series around them. I just needed a vehicle to share what Wyatt was thinking. I invented friends in whom he could confide. Then, with Bedazzled fully formed and in print, I decided to create a series.
2/ Before you steam forward, create a vision of the entire process.. This is not the same caution as number one. This is a more devastating mistake.. I should have stopped at the beginning to outline the next three novels. Did I? Of course not. I was too busy writing to think ahead. The muse had captured me and I was happy to be her companion. I thought she was leading me to a good place for after all my writing was improving. I was becoming a better storyteller.
Lessons Three and Four – Failed to Plan? Bring in your Readers
3/ When you realize you failed to plan, don’t wish it away – deal with it. Once I understood that, I was forced to live with all I had shared about Tyler and Regan in my prior novels. I could have tackled the problem. Instead, I put the first few chapters in a drawer and hoped they would write themselves. Time and wishful thinking would not solve this problem. I could abandon my plans to create a fourth novel or solve my plot issues and write the thing. I wisely chose the second.
4/ Rather than spin your wheels, tap into readers and ask for help when you are stuck. I tried various plot twists but found them each leading to a dead end. I discussed it with my editors and got further but still had issues with the story. Then I had an epiphany. Ask my readers for help!
Can You Help?
This is where you enter this picture. Why should I struggle to get out of the corner I am painted into without your advice? You are a fabulous resource for ideas so I will see what you come up with. Tyler has been in love with Regan for 20 years without making a move. Why not? And why has Regan waited for Tyler all this time rather than finding another love?
Have any brilliant answers? If you do, please share them in the comments section below.
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