All Things New

New characters with new names. New settings and plots and the chance to pick and choose from all your favorite things. Or maybe it's time now to look at your bucket list. Now's your chance. You're beginning a new novel and the possibilities are wide open. 

 But sometimes, it isn't easy to see the joy of all things new. For years, my new projects revolved around a series, which meant there was a continuation of the same idea. Or at least there was a jumping off point, such as knowing the next story is for a secondary character, which meant the world in which they lived and the people they knew had a certain continuity. So when what felt like a lifetime project ended, it took me months to find and commit to a new idea. It meant I really wasn't writing at all. 

It really was a struggle, which also explains my long gap between blog posts. You can see where I was in my head by the titles of a couple of my last posts after finishing the last book of my series. No, not the couple of rebooted posts from my draft archive, but a bit further back. In After the Big Finish: Bargaining with the Muse, written November 2019, I believe I explained the absence of my Muse with the suspicion she had stayed in that world I left behind. And in Let It Burn, written in May 2020, I had apparently reconciled myself to the writing drought and was in purge mode, discarding the old and on the search of "anything useful for the future." And yes, my mood was influenced by the big real life transition to being an empty nester. 

Thankfully, a year later, I can report I got through both transitions; the empty nest one and the writing one. In fact, just a few days ago, I submitted a story to Harlequin. Yes, I submitted to a publisher and am not self-publishing this one. It's also a departure from my usual, a contemporary runaway bride kind of story, with not a fantasy, time-travel or paranormal element to be found. But it's a romance, of course! So stay tuned for hopefully great news coming soon -- or rather, in the 12-14 weeks estimated for a reply!

And now, believe it or not, I'm back to that crazy point of brainstorming all things new for the next story. And, I'm thrilled to say I already have a new idea taking hold. I won't say what it is, because I am a bit of believer in not talking away your fire for an idea, but the point is it came easier. I think it helps now, if not then, that I set out to do a few things with the last project that seemed outside my wheelhouse:

1. Write a story without the "frills" of paranormal elements (not a bad thing, but could I do it?)
2. Check off an item from my bucket list, which is to write and submit a Harlequin novel (no, not defecting from the merits of self-publishing, but could I do it?), and
3. Write a stand-alone novel. (Yep, you guessed it...could I do it?)

It may seem like setting limits, but shaking things up and truly striving for something different from what I'd done seemed to be what I needed to do, maybe like putting out the welcome mat for an open house -- well, make that a brand new house.

Of course, I'm not under any illusions my troubles are over. If there's one thing I discovered, it's that I apparently have a hard time thinking outside the box of my universe. For instance, in my brainstorming to think up character names, my brain wanted to stick with Leo and Anya, the hero and heroine of my so recently finished novel! Maybe that's normal. I don't know, but it was an effort to go with something different – Luke and Anna? No. Too similar. Also, they are the names of my niece and nephew – my brother’s kids. Eventually I went with Luke and Kat. What can I say? The search for new is still a little entangled with the old. And I did have a potentially crushing moment when I realized my new and shiny idea is not all that new. But that's okay -- there are no original ideas, only an infinity of variations.

The key, I guess, is finding out what truly opens up the possibilities when brainstorming all things new. What might need to change to help that? It doesn't have to be a forever decision, but maybe it's time to break the mold and try something new.

 I'm glad I did. Would I write a series again? Never say never seems to be a safe answer, but I would hesitate.
I loved the world and characters I created and they taught me so much. Heck, that's an understatement. They taught me everything I know about writing a story. For a while it was all I knew and I even thought my Muse might have stayed there too. But it's good to know too that my universe is bigger than I thought. 

Have you had your own struggles with brainstorming all things new? What got you through? How long does it usually take for a new story idea to take hold after finishing your work in progress?