New life for an old project

I was struggling in June to work on a book (re-work a book, actually) that I wrote 5 years ago. The writing was all over the map -- POV shifts, too much exposition...the usual stuff for a beginning writer. Since I've started publishing I've learned how to tighten up my prose, stay on track, etc. so this book was a shocker.

I finally decided the plot was too flimsy to really carry the book so I tried to devise a new plot line with these characters, but it just wasn't coming to me. I'm the kind of writer who has to get the first 3 chapters down in order to continue, and I must have written and re-written those chapters four or five times (that's a lot for me).

I finally set it all aside and decided to edit another book to prep it for submission. This new book was much closer to being ready, so I figured maybe it would give me some incentive to finish. I took a nice long walk yesterday morning, early in the a.m. (my favorite time) and while out and about I came up with a great idea for Book 1 (the book that gave me fits).

So now I'm working on 3 books at once: writing a new one, prepping an old one, and doing editorial changes for a third one that will release next year.

I'm back to juggling -- and I think that's what was missing! I need that feeling of having a bunch of projects on the fire. We'll see if that's the nudge I needed to get active again with my writing.

I'm out of town this weekend, so may not post again until next week. If you're curious where I am, check my Facebook page to find me (http://www.facebook.com/jayellwilson).

This is what writing should feel like ...

I'm working on the Oz book -- another 1st person mystery set in Kansas after a tornado. I'm writing a few pages a day, somewhat effortlessly. The story is flowing off my fingertips and into the keyboard.

This is the way I like to write. On my previous WIP it was a struggle. I just never felt like I connected well with the characters. I think I crafted a good book, but it was just that -- a craft exercise, a placing of words on the page without that visceral connection to the plot or the setting throughout the book. I did feel that in spots, but in other spots I had to analyze what I was writing and deliberately think, "Now, what's needed here? Should Dru get lost or should I have her meet with Cal and his group?"

In the book I'm writing now, the characters are dictating the story and it's such a relief! With stories like this, I can write my draft, let it sit, then come back and review it later. I don't feel I need to tweak it and prod it and massage it. My character has determined the scope of the story and I'm just telling it. I do nudge things in certain directions, of course, but overall the feeling of the story is all done by the time the first draft is done.

I think this is my niche. Many folks think first-person mysteries are tough to write, but I find them refreshing and invigorating. Yep. My niche. I'm here.