Postpone a Book?

[Deleted]

I have hit a wall with Catalyst, one that is probably going to take me a lot of extra time to break down. I am wondering if I should put it on hold for a few months and first draft my other project as I slowly fix the problems in Catalyst. I wouldn't stop working on Catalyst completely, just slow it way down.

The main problems are:

1. I've recently been diagnosed with a pretty serious illness. One of the symptoms is that I haven't been sleeping enough. The doctor is working with me on the illness, but the drugs would have side effects pretty much as bad or worse. I'm looking into alternative treatments.

2. Editing saps most of my mojo, and I'm feeling very depressed already, not to mention exhausted all the time.  I can first draft much easier when I'm tired or sick than I can edit.

3. My beta readers are pretty unified that Catalyst moves way too fast, although they seem to like where it's going. So I think I need to expand it. It's gonna be so freakin' long, but if that satisfactorily concludes the series, then it's probably the way to go. But that means adding and rewriting large sections.

4. I'm frankly rather burned out on this series. I've been writing it for four years. There's actually several unpublished stories and some future stuff for the box set that is included.

The downsides to waiting:

1. I hate breaking my promises and deadlines.

2. I wanted to be done with it and move on.

3. I still have to edit it later, and who knows if I will be feeling better. I think I might be, but I can't see the future.

[Becca Mills]

I'm so sorry about your illness, Lynn. News like that is a terrible blow. I know it takes time to learn about alternatives and piece together a "new normal." I hope the treatments you're looking into really help.

Maybe backburnering Catalyst for a while would be a good idea. You could think of it as making your health your first priority for now and treating writing as a support activity -- an outlet, something you enjoy that takes your mind off the illness, something to structure your time. So pick a project you're excited about, not something that feels like it's a grind because it's in a rough place right now.

I'm sure Catalyst will work out fine once you are energized to go back to it. Getting some months' distance on it might well clarify the problems. I had that experience with Solatium.

[Pru Freda]

Firstly Lynn, my sympathies and a virtual hug for a speedy recovery.

I would say put it on hold and come back to it fresh(er). It's what I did with my current WIP, which is the 4th in a series, when I hit a major problem. I wrote the first in a new series, something I could get fired up about, in the meantime and, have now returned to my postponed book determined to get it finished and out there by Easter.

Good luck on whatever you decide, and I wish you good health.

[scdaffron]

I'm so sorry to hear about your health. But it sounds like you can still write new things, so I think it makes sense to just do what you can do. Life happens.

If it makes you feel any better, I have backburnered a book before and it still did see the light of day. It was one where I had completely screwed up the organization to the point I didn't think I could ever make the book work. Much later, I used different software and was able to fix the mess I'd made. Because I had been away from it for a while, I also was much better able to recognize what was actually good about it. Sometimes stepping away can give you more perspective

[Suzy]

Lynn, I'm so sorry to hear this. I know how illness or injury can totally screw up your thinking and writing.

I had a very serious injury two years ago. I fractured my pelvis and had to spend two months practically immobile, with a steel frame screwed into my hips. The wounds had to be dressed every day. I could sit up for one hour but then the pain got so bad I had to lie down again.

Writing? Well, didn't really think I could. I had been halfway through the sequel of my historical novel ( I had promised readers who followed the story to write this sequel). Didn't think I could pick it up until months later. But then while I was going through all this, I kind of wanted to turn my mind away from my pain and misery, even if it was only for ten minutes. So I got my husband to rig up a seating arrangement in front of the computer. And I sat there, and got back to a little bit of writing every day. 100-300 words maybe each time, tanked up on painkillers. But then, the story came out and I started to enjoy the writing and doing something other than lying in bed and feeling pain or worrying if I would walk again.

I finished the book, maybe a lot more slowly than I should have. But in the end, I produced some very strong writing. It became 'Sonja's Place', a story that captured the hearts of many, the life of a woman who lived through some hard times and many tragedies (based on a real story).

I have a feeling that because of what I was going through, I wrote from a hard place but concentrating so hard made my writing deeper and stronger. It also helped me forget, even for a short time each day, my own problems and fears.

So if you write a little bit each day, not worrying about having promised to finish a book, but just for you, it might be something that might help you?

[Deleted]

Mar 12, 2014 14:10:15 GMT -5 Suzy said:

Writing? Well, didn't really think I could. I had been halfway through the sequel of my historical novel ( I had promised readers who followed the story to write this sequel). Didn't think I could pick it up until months later. But then while I was going through all this, I kind of wanted to turn my mind away from my pain and misery, even if it was only for ten minutes. So I got my husband to rig up a seating arrangement in front of the computer. And I sat there, and got back to a little bit of writing every day. 100-300 words maybe each time, tanked up on painkillers. But then, the story came out and I started to enjoy the writing and doing something other than lying in bed and feeling pain or worrying if I would walk again.

So if you write a little bit each day, not worrying about having promised to finish a book, but just for you, it might be something that might help you?

So sorry to hear about your fracture. That sounds horribly painful.

This is pretty much what I've been doing for a month now, and I don't think it's working for me. It just upsets me more that I can't get it over with or out on time. The beta reader feedback just came back this week to the first 1/4th, and I just wanted to give it up completely for about a day. The book is mostly written, except the new parts which will fill it out more.

[Becca Mills]

It could be that some time away from Catalyst will be good fot Catalyst and as well as you, Lynn. Putting something away for a while can do wonders. I knew a writing center instructor ages ago who used to say "Corn grows at night," meaning, some part of your brain will work on the writing problem even while you're doing something else that's wholly unrelated. Then you come back to the writing, and the solution "appears," as though out of no where.

[Suzy]

What Becca said.Take a break and do what's right for you. Your health is more important.

[Deleted]

I decided to just give it a break today and work on the new book. Sort of a test run. The new one is in first person, and only one POV. A lot more straightforward. I also went ahead and bought Ommwriter. I'd been debating on it for awhile, but I hate buying software I can't test first. It turned out to be very nice and calming. I just copied and pasted the text into Scrivener.

So I think I will take a break. I might not announce it yet, and give myself a little break from it to see how it goes.

Thanks for the encouragement.

[Suzy]

That's great, Lynn. Much better to do what you enjoy and what calms you.

[Becca Mills]

Good for you, Lynn. I've postponed Solatium so many times. The fans have been nice about it.

[Alan Petersen]

Sorry about your illness, sending you good vibes for a speedy recovery.

You can't rush it. I finished my second book back in June, as in almost a year ago, and its still not out. A lot of it is psychological on my part, but I digress, sometimes the book take on their own path to publication.

When my first book was published, I had an announcement that my second book would be out in Early 2013, then I had to change it to Summer, Winter, and finally to Coming Soon. I received several emails and Facebook posting from readers asking when it's out. They've even searched for it by title on Amazon. Yes, it's embarrassing, yes I feel bad about it, but it is what it is. If you have to put your book on the back burner for now, that is what you have to do. People will understand and they'll appreciate you want to make sure you publish the book when its ready not to meet a deadline.

So give yourself a break, don't be too hard on yourself, and focus on getting better.

[Becca Mills]

Mar 13, 2014 18:01:45 GMT -5 Alan Petersen said:

When my first book was published, I had an announcement that my second book would be out in Early 2013, then I had to change it to Summer, Winter, and finally to Coming Soon. I received several emails and Facebook posting from readers asking when it's out. They've even searched for it by title on Amazon. Yes, it's embarrassing, yes I feel bad about it, but it is what it is. If you have to put your book on the back burner for now, that is what you have to do. People will understand and they'll appreciate you want to make sure you publish the book when its ready not to meet a deadline.

I'm in a very similar boat, except I've had to delay it for even longer. I think my original target date was August 2012!

[Deleted]

I had Spring 2014 as my goal, so I'm not going to be too far off. I've been fairly on track until this point.

I intentionally chose a single POV for the next book, knowing I probably would be ready to jump off a bridge with all the POVs in this one. First person is not my default, but it's the right choice for it, and I read a lot of first person.

[Becca Mills]

That all sounds great, Lynn. I love first person.

[vrabinec]

Mar 13, 2014 18:01:45 GMT -5 Alan Petersen said:

Sorry about your illness, sending you good vibes for a speedy recovery.

You can't rush it. I finished my second book back in June, as in almost a year ago, and its still not out. A lot of it is psychological on my part, but I digress, sometimes the book take on their own path to publication.

When my first book was published, I had an announcement that my second book would be out in Early 2013, then I had to change it to Summer, Winter, and finally to Coming Soon. I received several emails and Facebook posting from readers asking when it's out. They've even searched for it by title on Amazon. Yes, it's embarrassing, yes I feel bad about it, but it is what it is. If you have to put your book on the back burner for now, that is what you have to do. People will understand and they'll appreciate you want to make sure you publish the book when its ready not to meet a deadline.

So give yourself a break, don't be too hard on yourself, and focus on getting better.

What he said.