The last couple of days, heck, the past week, I've struggled with one question: "Do I have a book here?"
As I slowly wrote the last chapter of the first draft, dragging the words, sentences and direction of the chapter out, I kept going back to that.
Sequels aren't easy, especially when you know that it is a connector to the next book and one after. It has to have action, suspense (at least, it does in this genre), and have a significant storyline.
And over and over, the question, "Do I have a book here?" has continued to plague me. I had only written one chapter about the Mars colony in the first book G581: The Departure, but there was so much that I wanted to say, a story begging to be fleshed out, but one that feels very, VERY different than the first book. It feels as if it groans along, wanting to be a book, but missing some crucial element.
I pulled out one of my journals after staring at the screen for far too long. I have a lot of journals. I write in them randomly, choosing them based on their cover, my mood, and my current goals. They sit, here in my front parlor office, ready for me to grab...
There are at least 30 of them. I've filled only a handful of journals and sometimes years will go by between entries in any particular one.
They help, though. For some reason, simply writing my frustration or concern out, often yields an answer, sometimes instantly...
I wrote that, and then moved on, listing the rest of my concerns. Seconds later, I had my answer...
Writing things down, the act of putting pen to paper, has always jostled my thoughts into new paths. They haven't always worked, but inevitably, they taught me something about myself and I learned from the experience.
In any case, that is what I'm going to do. I'm going to turn my sights on G581: Earth and work on that particular storyline. I think that, while doing that, the answers for how to handle G581: Mars will reveal themselves.
It needs something, and by taking off the pressure of "must complete now" - I can let it simmer in the back of my mind while I work on G581: Earth.
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