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| courtesy of Toy-a-Day |
But once the initial hoopla over my pending publication cooled off, I remembered that my contract is for two books. That means I need to write another. I don't have problems with sequels; I don't have problems writing books. I've actually written several over the years. I'm always writing one book or another. I just have never had to write one for anyone before. No one was ever champing at the bit waiting to see it.
So this is different. And pressure can lead to writer's block. So here are my top 5 tips for beating the sophomore slump:
(1) Throw your routine out the window.
If you're seriously blocked, forget your carefully honed writing routine and change things up a bit. If you always write in the morning, try writing in the evening. If you usually lock yourself away in the office, take a notebook into the family room. Ask yourself what you never do--then do it. Don't worry about accomplishing anything. At this point, you're not aiming for productivity; you're just jogging your brain out of its rut.
(2) Read the last chapter of Book One.
If you're writing a series, you've set up a return to the action at the end of Book One. Even if you haven't left your characters in dire peril, they're at least ready to carry on their next adventure. Read your last chapter as if you were a reader who desperately wants to know what happens to these folks next. Remember, Chapter 1 of Book Two is simply the chapter that follows the end of Book One.
(3) Bury yourself in research.
Research can be a slippery slope into a chasm you might not crawl out of for days. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and you need to break some rules. The great thing about reading about life in, say, Elizabethan England is that you'll find stories. And those stories will inspire your own. You'll get excited about incorporating some arcane element in your work. And if it doesn't fit, no problem--just get going and deal with it or delete it later.
(4) Ignore your quota.
Sometimes we need a motivator that looks like this: You'll need to write five pages a day to finish your draft by July 1. And if you don't finish your draft by July 1, you'll never get your second draft done by September 1. And if you don't do that ...
But if your creativity is locking up and you're getting panicky, put the writing calendar away. Write when you feel like it, as much or as little as you want. Take three days off the treadmill and see if your muse feels like coming back to the party.
(5) Be nice to your muse.
Ordinarily, I advise writers not to wait around for the muse. You're the boss. But in this case, take her leash off and let her run free. Don't ask for blood from a stone. Yesterday I got some really good work done because I took my daughter to the park. I brought a good book and my notebook. I sat on a shady bench in front of the pond with no one but a few geese for company. Suddenly, instead of reading the book, I was outlining plot points and creating characters.
And here's a bonus number 6:
(6) Go cold turkey (for 3 days only, while supplies last!)
Ignore the book. Close up your notebook and put it to one side. Don't hide it in a drawer; you do want to remember in the back of your mind that you're writing a book. But you may not open it. Keep your research books in a nice stack where you can see them, but don't crack a single one. You may not Tweet about your book or participate in a writing community in any way. For three days, you are not a writer. Period.
The result will be that either you become desperate to return to the writing life or that you feel immense relief and then are ready to return to the writing life. Or you may decide the writing life isn't your thing after all--and that's okay too.
If all else fails, you can always try making an origami replica of Edgar Allan Poe. Or writing a blog.
