Sometimes, Change is Good

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As many of you know, I've been working hard since Amber Quill Press closed. I edited and re-released three of my earlier novels as ebooks at Amazon and Smashwords. I've been shopping the manuscript of WHAT THE PARROT SAW, and hope for good news on that front. But in the meantime, I'm still writing.

I'd started work on a novel that has possibilities, but yesterday I made the tough decision to set it aside for now at 10K words in, and try a different project. Book #1 was frustrating me because I couldn't figure out enough of the characters' goals, motivations, and conflict, and when the author can't finger the GMC it's time to re-think it. Debra Dixon's classic Goal, Motivation, and Conflict is often referenced by romance writers, and it's become somewhat of an industry bible for good reason. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to write a novel, in any genre.

In the past I've sometimes had to get 1/3 into my manuscript before I knew the GMC, one of the pitfalls of being a "seat-of-the-pants" writer. But I know myself well enough now to know that occasionally the best ideas aren't ready to come forward, and if I put this book on the back burner I can begin a new project that feels more solid to me.

So there it is. Sometimes the writing process takes more time and effort, at least for me. People often ask me if I enjoy writing, and I come back with classic reply, "No, I enjoy having written." So I'm off to do the painful writing part so that in a couple months I can sit back and enjoy having written.

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