By Michelle Dennison
It started around August 2012. I had a bad year, filled with all those things that are supposed to be the most stressful situations in life. You know, divorce, losing a job, losing a home, losing loved ones. Having to start over. And all at the same time.
And then the news came that the publisher who had given me a contract was revoking it in favour of a writer who had existing readership.
My creativity just dried up. The more I tried to write, the more I would stare at the screen and wonder where the words had gone.
A few months earlier I had easily planned a whole six book science fiction series, and now I could hardly write a few sentences.
So I set myself a goal this April of adding three more chapters to book one of the series, thereby making it 50 000 words, and better able to fit into publisher guidelines. April came and went. May disappeared. June floated in, and still the three chapters eluded me.
It seemed that nothing would break this brain freeze.
And then I had an email from a publisher. They liked book number one of the science fiction series. It was intriguing, and they found my main character appealing. The only thing was that they are only looking for full-length novels of 80 000 words.
Could I possibly join books one and two together and send it back?
When a publisher issues a challenge like that, the only answer is to say “Of course.” And that seemed to be what was needed to end my writer’s block.
I’m back to alien lands, romance, betrayal. Evil geniuses intent on taking over the universe. I killed several innocent members of a faraway planet on Sunday afternoon. I have been hard at work planning battle strategies today.
I don’t know how long this sudden burst of creativity will last. I don’t know if it will be a fruitless task, or if the publisher will appreciate the new novel that has appeared in the last few days.
But it’s great to be back!
It started around August 2012. I had a bad year, filled with all those things that are supposed to be the most stressful situations in life. You know, divorce, losing a job, losing a home, losing loved ones. Having to start over. And all at the same time.
And then the news came that the publisher who had given me a contract was revoking it in favour of a writer who had existing readership.
My creativity just dried up. The more I tried to write, the more I would stare at the screen and wonder where the words had gone.
A few months earlier I had easily planned a whole six book science fiction series, and now I could hardly write a few sentences.
So I set myself a goal this April of adding three more chapters to book one of the series, thereby making it 50 000 words, and better able to fit into publisher guidelines. April came and went. May disappeared. June floated in, and still the three chapters eluded me.
It seemed that nothing would break this brain freeze.
And then I had an email from a publisher. They liked book number one of the science fiction series. It was intriguing, and they found my main character appealing. The only thing was that they are only looking for full-length novels of 80 000 words.
Could I possibly join books one and two together and send it back?
When a publisher issues a challenge like that, the only answer is to say “Of course.” And that seemed to be what was needed to end my writer’s block.
I’m back to alien lands, romance, betrayal. Evil geniuses intent on taking over the universe. I killed several innocent members of a faraway planet on Sunday afternoon. I have been hard at work planning battle strategies today.
I don’t know how long this sudden burst of creativity will last. I don’t know if it will be a fruitless task, or if the publisher will appreciate the new novel that has appeared in the last few days.
But it’s great to be back!
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