What should I work on next?
Thursday, September 20th, 2018 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizvogelOne of the things that always happens when I'm nearing the end of a novel is that I start pondering what to write next. It's a great procrastination technique. This time was no exception, though what with computer failures and internet outages, the speculation is a tetch stale by now. But I'm going to post it anyway -- and not just for my own reference. This is not a democracy, and I think I know what I'm going to tackle next, but I'm very curious to see what pings for other people.
So, without further ado, the current list of novel ideas that are developed enough to consider starting on:
The Kitten Case - contemporary mystery. Has characters, first few steps of plot, no idea whodunnit. Kitten! Need to discard opener & start over. Potential sequel/series.
Financial Wizardry - fantasy/mystery. Will Wallace is a financial advisor to wizards, who has to find out who's been fiddling the till before his clients turn him into a toad. Has main character, assorted world-building snippets, blurb-level plot but not much step-by-step. Potential sequel/series.
pseudo-fairytale-princess thingie - fantasy. Backstory is sort-of-Cinderella; what happens after the commoner becomes Princess? Theme song is The Killers' "A Dustland Fairytale". Has characters, general idea of plot, and magic system, but no names. Need to revamp opener. Need to resolve minor world-building snag.
Sacrifices - secondary-world fantasy; "the swordfighting novel". Has opener from writing prompt but need to discard distorted later bits; characters, approximate plot, world-building. Needs clever linguistics trick to make plot work.
(Niall) - secondary-world fantasy; the magic-is-really-science novel. Has characters, premise, something approximating plot, opener and ending; needs clever science tricks.
Low Roads - post-Soviet-Union espionage (a Department novel). Has characters, start of plot but not resolution. Need to learn Russian.
No Gentlemen Here - post-WWII espionage (a Department novel). Has main character & some others, general plot outline. Theme song is Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime". Really about the formation of the Department. About 10,000 books to read for research.
urban fantasy thingie - urban fantasy, obviously, with possession and... other stuff. Has character, buckets of world-building that may or may not apply, scene snippets, but no cohesive whole and nothing even approximating a plot. Has most of a soundtrack.
Lightning Strikes Twice - sequel to ...And the Kitchen Sink; rollicking space-opera adventure, with spies. Has characters, partial random-stuff list, as much idea of plot as the last one. Probably a NaNo project.
litfic/romance - OTT romance with lit professor & diplomat. Has characters and full plot outline. Need to learn Italian.
There's also the adventure-novel thingie, but I need to figure out whether it's historical, contemporary, or futuristic before I can really count it as an option. It's got an Indiana-Jones-type feel, but that doesn't necessarily lock it down.
So, without further ado, the current list of novel ideas that are developed enough to consider starting on:
The Kitten Case - contemporary mystery. Has characters, first few steps of plot, no idea whodunnit. Kitten! Need to discard opener & start over. Potential sequel/series.
Financial Wizardry - fantasy/mystery. Will Wallace is a financial advisor to wizards, who has to find out who's been fiddling the till before his clients turn him into a toad. Has main character, assorted world-building snippets, blurb-level plot but not much step-by-step. Potential sequel/series.
pseudo-fairytale-princess thingie - fantasy. Backstory is sort-of-Cinderella; what happens after the commoner becomes Princess? Theme song is The Killers' "A Dustland Fairytale". Has characters, general idea of plot, and magic system, but no names. Need to revamp opener. Need to resolve minor world-building snag.
Sacrifices - secondary-world fantasy; "the swordfighting novel". Has opener from writing prompt but need to discard distorted later bits; characters, approximate plot, world-building. Needs clever linguistics trick to make plot work.
(Niall) - secondary-world fantasy; the magic-is-really-science novel. Has characters, premise, something approximating plot, opener and ending; needs clever science tricks.
Low Roads - post-Soviet-Union espionage (a Department novel). Has characters, start of plot but not resolution. Need to learn Russian.
No Gentlemen Here - post-WWII espionage (a Department novel). Has main character & some others, general plot outline. Theme song is Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime". Really about the formation of the Department. About 10,000 books to read for research.
urban fantasy thingie - urban fantasy, obviously, with possession and... other stuff. Has character, buckets of world-building that may or may not apply, scene snippets, but no cohesive whole and nothing even approximating a plot. Has most of a soundtrack.
Lightning Strikes Twice - sequel to ...And the Kitchen Sink; rollicking space-opera adventure, with spies. Has characters, partial random-stuff list, as much idea of plot as the last one. Probably a NaNo project.
litfic/romance - OTT romance with lit professor & diplomat. Has characters and full plot outline. Need to learn Italian.
There's also the adventure-novel thingie, but I need to figure out whether it's historical, contemporary, or futuristic before I can really count it as an option. It's got an Indiana-Jones-type feel, but that doesn't necessarily lock it down.
