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I'm convinced that the reason I'm having so many problems with Novel #4 is that I added too many subplots.
I mean, I added subplots in the first place because I needed red herrings, and I also thought it was a good way to extend the word count. But now I find it hard to juggle multiple strands of investigation while keeping the pacing consistent—for example, if the protagonist has a breakthrough for one subplot, it doesn't necessarily make sense for the protagonist to put a pause on that in order to investigate something else.
Sigh.
I've been having intense imposter syndrome about this book and feeling like I might have been too ambitious/overly confident when conceptualizing it.
Myth #1: I've included mystery subplots before, so I don't necessarily have to learn how to plot from scratch!
Reality: I'm starting to realize writing 70-80k words' worth of genre mystery is very different from having a mystery subplot.
And not only is my book genre mystery; it's also a fantasy/mystery hybrid, involving intense worldbuilding and politics and all that fantasy stuff.
Myth #2: I've always been a SFF writer! Returning to fantasy won't be hard for me!
Reality: I somehow failed to realize that both of my previously completed SFF books were actually near-contemporary. One was sci-fi but took place in a time deliberately close to our own; the other was paranormal, so almost contemporary by default.
I haven't actually written a secondary world fantasy (or spent much time trying to write one) in many years. I'd almost forgotten how much history and worldbuilding goes into it, and on top of that, I'd forgotten how much time it takes to figure out how to convey history/worldbuilding without just infodumping on the reader.
(A lot of my recent conversations with my CP have been me explaining the history of the world and them being like "You knew this the whole time? Why didn't you include it in the draft???" and me going "...........I dunno, I couldn't think of a place to put this explanation.")
So...yes, I feel nervous all the time. Nervous that I might have overly hyped myself to my agent. Nervous that I might not be able to pull off this book well enough.
But as my dad reminded me today, I can't give up now. I'm 67k words in and I might as well see this through to the end, even if it ends up taking me more time than I thought it would.
I mean, I added subplots in the first place because I needed red herrings, and I also thought it was a good way to extend the word count. But now I find it hard to juggle multiple strands of investigation while keeping the pacing consistent—for example, if the protagonist has a breakthrough for one subplot, it doesn't necessarily make sense for the protagonist to put a pause on that in order to investigate something else.
Sigh.
I've been having intense imposter syndrome about this book and feeling like I might have been too ambitious/overly confident when conceptualizing it.
Myth #1: I've included mystery subplots before, so I don't necessarily have to learn how to plot from scratch!
Reality: I'm starting to realize writing 70-80k words' worth of genre mystery is very different from having a mystery subplot.
And not only is my book genre mystery; it's also a fantasy/mystery hybrid, involving intense worldbuilding and politics and all that fantasy stuff.
Myth #2: I've always been a SFF writer! Returning to fantasy won't be hard for me!
Reality: I somehow failed to realize that both of my previously completed SFF books were actually near-contemporary. One was sci-fi but took place in a time deliberately close to our own; the other was paranormal, so almost contemporary by default.
I haven't actually written a secondary world fantasy (or spent much time trying to write one) in many years. I'd almost forgotten how much history and worldbuilding goes into it, and on top of that, I'd forgotten how much time it takes to figure out how to convey history/worldbuilding without just infodumping on the reader.
(A lot of my recent conversations with my CP have been me explaining the history of the world and them being like "You knew this the whole time? Why didn't you include it in the draft???" and me going "...........I dunno, I couldn't think of a place to put this explanation.")
So...yes, I feel nervous all the time. Nervous that I might have overly hyped myself to my agent. Nervous that I might not be able to pull off this book well enough.
But as my dad reminded me today, I can't give up now. I'm 67k words in and I might as well see this through to the end, even if it ends up taking me more time than I thought it would.
