Midlist Writer: Starting A New Novel

Friday 26 September 2008

Starting A New Novel

Last week I started a new novel. I actually started it on the plane from Missouri to England, figuring that crossing the ocean was an opportune time to start a new venture. So far it's been going slowly, partially because of paying nonfiction commitments and partially because this novel is different than the previous three I've written. It's not genre, so I don't get to hide behind any genre conventions (or try to break them) and I'm trying a new voice. It may seem strange that after eight years of writing and three (unpublished) novels that I'm still experimenting with voice, but I think a writer's voice should evolve over time, and if you aren't experimenting, you're stagnating.

I've also been doing more reading of contemporary literature, since that's where this new work would fit if an agent tries to hustle it to publishers. I've been a bit out of touch with what's going on in the literary world, and I'm not terribly happy with what I'm finding. More on that later.

I'm also doing edits for my Civil War novel, with the hope of sending it off to agents in a month or so.

Lots of projects, but that's the way I like it! I don't have the attention span to focus solely on one project anyway. :-)

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