Dilemma

I’ve written “two” sequel novels. The first sequel is science fiction — traveling to other planets Star Trek style. The second sequel deals with concepts like cloning and robots and holograms: things local to one planet.

The plan was to insert the characters from the Star Trek sequel in-between the new stuff, but that leaves me with a plot thread that cannot be resolved due to the new paths the affected characters (my protagonist and a female assassin) take. They don’t meet, and thus there is no climax. I can’t remove the assassin from the story because she is a big supporting character to other plot threads.

So I’m in a bind. Do I go back to the original timeline? I don’t know. I just don’t know.

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What I Want To Write

I’m writing about an abandoned city when I suddenly realized that I’ve written about such a place before. And although I did three days of solid writing, I knew I had to put them aside and write about what I really wanted to write about – a shifting, VR-like environment.

Sometimes that’s how writing works. You have to write about the wrong thing to know what the right thing looks like. Here’s hoping the next few chapters go as well as the previous ones.

New Job Search

I’ve been thinking about getting a job at a book publishing agency to learn the ways of book marketing. Anyone know of such a business in south Florida? Would really appreciate some comments.

Depressed

I’ve been seeing a lot of writing ads lately: the 7 sure-fire ways to make a book people will need. I’m a good writer. I spent years writing my first book. Yet no one I know has bought the book. Many people were confused over the time travel concept. The book did not turn up well. All the agents I’ve contacted have rejected the book.

So I have to wonder: is it the market that’s bad, or am I not as good a writer as I think I am? The first chapters are free to read: am I making a dent? Have I created an interesting story?

Feedback

I got some feedback about my little writing style experiment and I got an average rating (3 out of 5 stars). Not the results I was hoping for. I’m a little concerned that changing styles mid-book will be seen as an inability to focus. I’m hoping it will be seen as a change of character: as he grows, the perspective changes, reflecting his maturity. Not sure that’s going to be the popular opinion, though.

New Style

I’ve always been good at imitating the writing style of an author I read enough of. I usually go through Robert Jordan but after many roadblocks and frequent lack of creativity, I’ve decided to try a new author: Terry Brooks, writer of the Shannara fantasy series.

I’m in the middle of a chapter and its’ going ok. Still a bit of an adjustment but I’m liking the results. Here’s hoping.

Two Paths

My latest plot arc involves a sacrifice. A whole town must die to save the rest of the world, and it’s the hero who must pull the lever. I intended it to be a final test of the character. Rewind back to the beginning of the arc: the hero has freed a powerful AI, only to realize the AI will go to war against the humans that created it. The hero has no choice but to re-trap the AI.

The problem is this: I can’t have the hero commit this crime once and expect the emotional impact to be the same when he does the same thing down the line. I have to re-think this so these events mean something. This is the daily concerns of an author. Wish me luck.