So I've sent my book off to an agent (eek!) and eagerly await their reply. In an odd way I'm looking forward to the rejection letters that are likely to come as, to me, it means that I'm at least on my way in to the writing world. And, of course, if I do ever get published I can remind said agents that they rejected my masterpiece (I would never do that, I'm too worried about karma/I'm too much of a wimp.)
Anyway, now that my book has been sent off I've been feeling a bit lost as to what to write next. I've been writing down ideas for future projects but my mind is very much focused on my book series and I just can't wait to crack on. I know how it's all going to end and I've got a plan for the bits in between, which will probably change but at least I have a plan for now, and so all I want to do is write it. I have started writing a very poor first draft but from my experience with my first book the first draft is always naff and then after it's been obsessed over for months everything turns out all right in the end. I'm really enjoying it so far but at the back of my head all I keep thinking is: "Am I jinxing this?" By writing the rest of the series am I setting myself up for a fall? If you've read any of my previous posts (which you should do, they're bloody marvelous) you will know that I'm quite careful about how I talk about myself and my writing. I want to seem confident but not too confident and I do worry that writing the sequel to my book, which hasn't even been picked up yet let alone published, means that I'm getting a bit cocky. However, I REALLY LOVE WRITING STORIES and so I feel that it's perfectly acceptable for me to jump right in to the next one. If all goes well, I have a sequel ready to edit and rewrite and if it doesn't then I've created something that I've enjoyed. It doesn't bother me that I may have written a complete novel that needs to be changed, if a publisher wants to publish it then I'll do pretty much whatever they want but if I haven't enjoyed the process then that will bother me. I'm creating stories that I'm really passionate about and would like to read myself. Yes, I want to be published but if I let the business of writing and all of its possible outcomes get inside my head I may never type or write another word, again. Therefore, I'm plowing on with my sequel and no one can stop me!
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Okay, so it's not 'Lady Rees of Cardiff' but I think it's even better news as I've spent months worrying about it BUT I finally have a title for my book!
I have spent so long trying to think of something that sums up the book and so finally deciding on a name has been a huge relief. As I mentioned in my previous post I'm completely useless when it comes to opening/closing sentences and titles so it's a small miracle that it hasn't taken me another five months just to think of a name. I think my biggest concern over the title was that I'm hoping for the book to be the first in a series and so I feel there is more weight placed upon the title of the first book as it sets the tone for the rest of the series. As well as this a book series is often named after the first book and, if by some amazing piece of luck, my books are successful then I don't want to be wincing every time someone mentions the 'X Series'. So what is this [incredible] title I hear you cry! Well, I can officially announce (I'm trying to sound more important than I am, you may have noticed) that Ellie Rees' debut novel will be called 'Enkindled'. "That's amazing! How on God's green earth did you come up with that?!" Thank you, dear reader, that is most kind of you and in answer to your question, I had to put pressure on myself. During the course of my writing I've kept telling myself that I can think of a title at the end but now that I'm in a position whereby the book is very nearly where I want it to be I can't really move forward with it until I have title. Therefore, I made myself sit down and think about a title. I thought all about the useless ones I had come up with thus far and told myself never to think about them again, there's no way I could ever make them work. I then thought about my story as a whole, rather than focusing on just one aspect of the plot which I had been doing until that point. Surprisingly, forcing myself to come up with a title actually worked and I almost slapped myself for not thinking of it before, especially because it's one of my favourite words that I use in the book. As it turns out, 'Enkindled' could not be more perfect for me nor for the story I'm trying to tell. |
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