Between Projects

I am between projects.
I don’t have a WIP. No work in progress and not sure what to do next?

One novel is being read by friends and it may have a major flaw that will mean gutting part of it. We’ll see. Another novel is making its way into the publishing world. We’ll have to wait and see if it will fly.

Waiting. Between projects.

What now?

5 Things to Do When Between Writing Projects

• Read. I’m planning to catch up on some reading, go on a reading binge. Yes, that sounds heavenly. But part of my plan is to read far and wide, outside my normal reading interests to see how other genres for other audiences read. Expand. Learn. Fill my tanks with words, characters, ideas, story.
• Publicize other work. Well, there’s always things to do on a website. Always letters to send out, calls to make, brochures to create, and so on and so forth. For example, I will be attending the Arkansas Literary Festival in two weeks and I will work on details for that today. Reaching out to others who love literature.
• Smell the roses. What I’d really love to do is go camping. That probably won’t happen because it’s my son’s senior year and he’s deep in activities. But maybe we’ll ride our bikes on the River Trail. Or take a walk and wonder at Arkansas’ incredible beauty in the spring when everything is in bloom: forsythia, tulips, daffodils, dogwoods, redbuds, azaleas, (weeds with beautiful carpets of flowers). Filling my heart with beauty.
• Free Write. I’m also just doodling in a notebook, free associating, not really writing long passages, just playing, and yes, maybe a long passage of text here and there, if I want. Just playing with words, allowing myself to experiment. Filling my writer’s soul with joy.
• Go Fishing for Ideas. Ideas for a new novel? I’m looking. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard about the “next book” is to look at the previous. Then ask, what is the next logical book for you to write and publish? Building on this base, what should come next? What could build a loyal readership for your work? Given that the first book was embraced by a certain reader, how can you interest that same reader and pull in even more? Building a loyal readership is a concept worth working for! Searching for that something that grabs me and won’t let me go.