For those familiar with my release schedule, you may have noticed that I tend to release books fairly quickly. Granted, my books only fall in the 30-60K range usually so either novella or category length, but still. I frequently release more than one book/month, and I've been lucky enough that most of those books are capable of making people cry (I say lucky because I'm in the business of making people, well, cry).
Anyway, I've been in this business for just less than 5 years but I've already come to the point where I've stopped counting the number of books I've written. That's why I'm always stumped whenever a blogger asks for an interview, and one of the first things they ask is how many books I've written. Oh, and people who find out what I do for living (this job is mostly an open secret) ask me the same question, too.
Point is, I should at least take the time to know, right? But I don't because I'm too busy writing the next one. And every time I'm writing the next one I almost always have several paralyzing moments in which I ask myself - DO I STILL HAVE IT IN ME?
Because I've already written so many books, so I feel like I've already used up my lifetime's supply of tearjerker stories. And of course when I start thinking this I end up falling in the same rabbit hole, and the self-inflicted torture begins. I panic, I even end up literally hyperventilating. Oh no, it's the end. My next story will be a bust.
That's EXACTLY what happened to me after I released Love You Again and immediately moved on to my next WIP. I was quietly but seriously panicking on how Malik would turn out. My greatest worry: I won't even get my readers to shed a single tear.
But I kept writing.
Mostly because one: I can't afford not to since it's what pays the bills, and two: because, well, what else is there for me to do? And besides, I hate quitting.
So I kept on it.
And you know what happened?
I ended up bawling (i.e.,serious ugly crying) almost the whole day, and I wasn't even done with the prologue.
Amazing, right?
I'm sure people will be able to draw all kinds of conclusions and moral lessons from this, and that's fine. For me, it's simply this: ups and downs in your writing life are normal. It won't ever go away no matter how successful you become or how many books you've written. That's just the way it is, so deal with it and keep writing.
Anyway, I've been in this business for just less than 5 years but I've already come to the point where I've stopped counting the number of books I've written. That's why I'm always stumped whenever a blogger asks for an interview, and one of the first things they ask is how many books I've written. Oh, and people who find out what I do for living (this job is mostly an open secret) ask me the same question, too.
Point is, I should at least take the time to know, right? But I don't because I'm too busy writing the next one. And every time I'm writing the next one I almost always have several paralyzing moments in which I ask myself - DO I STILL HAVE IT IN ME?
Because I've already written so many books, so I feel like I've already used up my lifetime's supply of tearjerker stories. And of course when I start thinking this I end up falling in the same rabbit hole, and the self-inflicted torture begins. I panic, I even end up literally hyperventilating. Oh no, it's the end. My next story will be a bust.
That's EXACTLY what happened to me after I released Love You Again and immediately moved on to my next WIP. I was quietly but seriously panicking on how Malik would turn out. My greatest worry: I won't even get my readers to shed a single tear.
But I kept writing.
Mostly because one: I can't afford not to since it's what pays the bills, and two: because, well, what else is there for me to do? And besides, I hate quitting.
So I kept on it.
And you know what happened?
I ended up bawling (i.e.,serious ugly crying) almost the whole day, and I wasn't even done with the prologue.
Amazing, right?
I'm sure people will be able to draw all kinds of conclusions and moral lessons from this, and that's fine. For me, it's simply this: ups and downs in your writing life are normal. It won't ever go away no matter how successful you become or how many books you've written. That's just the way it is, so deal with it and keep writing.