What are you working on right now?

I'm still ! on about 23,000 of THE LILY-SHADOWED POND, my psychic artist one, sort of crime-fantasy. this is the main focus as I do have to complete some sort of first draft by November.

Inconveniently, then (especially because I'm very, very busy on all fronts) Abendau's sequel (probably a next-generation trilogy, standalone from the first but maintaining some familiar characters) has decided to explode. I'm capturing it in a notebook at the moment, and it's just fantastic to be back to my favourite bunch of characters. Especially Baelan. He's so much fun to write. Its working title is THE LAST SEER.

And meanwhile the odd scene in the sequel to Inish is breaking through - and exciting things are waiting to be found out about it on other fronts.

so, um. Busy. wishing I could do this so much more, and work less. But I like to eat as well.
 
Wait a moment, Ms. Zebedee. I thought we discussed this. Trilogies are a pain in the arse to write. Yet you're doing another one?!

Thou art a masochist.

[I'm giving serious thought to a serial. Which is entirely different].
 
thaddeus6th said:
Wait a moment, Ms. Zebedee. I thought we discussed this. Trilogies are a pain in the arse to write. Yet you're doing another one?!

Thou art a masochist.

[I'm giving serious thought to a serial. Which is entirely different].
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Ah, the Pond one is also planned to be the first of a series.

I'm crazy, Thad. There is no other possibility for me embarking once again upon such madness. :D
 
I've got two or three I'm sitting on that have stalled out because I don't know how to get to what happens next.

Anyone have general advice? Or should I pop them up down in crits for specific advice?
 
How far have you managed, hope? If it's reforest few chapters cries might help. Otherwise a beta reader might be able to shed some light on the conundrum.

As for me, still slugging through Satan In The Woods, but have had an idea for a sci-fi/fantasy diptych crossover which I'm exploring at present.
 
Echoing DJ Gone's question. The advice I'd give for being stuck a third of the way through is different to the advice I'd give for being stuck two thirds of the way through.

However, as a general bit of advice, when I don't know what to write next I tend to sit down and try plotting my way through to the end.
 
DG Jones said:
Ah, so you remember my Aiya Napa days?

Edit: Peat, after rereading my post I'm amazed you made head or tail of it whatsoever; I've got no idea what I was blathering on about.
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I *remember* something...

And it was good up to the question mark. Now I re-read though...


Anyway, I'm trying to hammer out as much first draft as quickly as possible of what was meant to be Howard meets Le Carre. Its mutated into something else, so obviously I'm planning out how to do that while writing this. And building up a plan of how to revise Gumshoe Paladin.

And watching TV. Wibble wibble wibble.
 
If they are going to behave themselves and stay novella or under I'm 1/3 through. If not I've probably hit some kind of chapter break... Oh god!!!! One of them IS a chapter break *panickedly realizes how big said story wants to get* I have a chapter break! What do I do!?!?!!!?????????????!????
 
So you've done the set-up and are hitting the swampy middle. A lot of writers go for a really big boom that shakes up the story in the middle - maybe think about a good big boom, then plot what needs to happen to set that up.

Might be an idea to set up a thread going into detail asking for advice specific to your problem though.
 
Struggling to get a short story idea. Quite annoyed by it. Can't be too surprised, as the last one came easily.
 
Giving my WIP a bit of a breather the last month or so, partially due to little one #2 arriving a few weeks ago and partly due to my increasing difficulty finding that writing groove. Figured a bit of a break was in order before all the fun had been bled dry. Been coming back to it in my mind more in the past few days, however. Mayhap it's time to peek back in on Kish and friends...:coffee:
 
I've at last got the ending of my book2 to work. Previously it was too long and too flat, because the three main events happened in three different chapters. Now they all smash into each other in the space of a few pages.

I found it instructive that the only way I could achieve this was to ditch the scene that had been in my mind for the book's climax since even before I started writing it.
 
Fiddling with the aforementioned short story. Mostly done. And more redrafting Traitor's Prize.
 
You all make me feel like a snail!

HareBrain said:
I've at last got the ending of my book2 to work. Previously it was too long and too flat, because the three main events happened in three different chapters. Now they all smash into each other in the space of a few pages.

I found it instructive that the only way I could achieve this was to ditch the scene that had been in my mind for the book's climax since even before I started writing it.
Click to expand...

I may be knocking on your e-door when I come to write the dovetail endings for my 5 eras.

For my part, I'm about two thousand words shy of my WIP's 1170s ending, which means I'll be able to put that and the 1760s parts aside within the next week, until I've written the other eras.

I'll be starting the 1349 plague/leprosy era next (as I'm not ready to let go of @The Judge 's hand and work on the 1850s :eek: yet )

pH
 
Hit the 95k mark today on Driftwood (my Viking thing) and am now on the easy slide towards the end... via a sea battle. I've been stuck on a single chapter for 2 weeks and had a breakthrough today. Currently one of the MCs is trying to kidnap a witch.
 
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