Hey Space Cadets, how’re y’all doing today? I’m doing great, working on a few small projects and prepping to start my next series. While I wait for the editor to take his Red Pen of Doom to my final Sleeping Legion novel, I’ve started outlining several smaller projects and tying up loose ends. I’ve got two short stories for different anthologies to write and then I’ll start on my next series. I really like the premise of the series in question, and think it has a lot of potential but more on that in another blog!
Not surprisingly, when I finished the novel my wife gave me a 24 page, typed and single spaced “Honey Do List.” She even cheated and used the 10-point font! Do any of you know how to pull a stuffed animal out of the toaster? Seriously, how’d that 4-foot bear even fit? And what was Son #2 thinking? All jokes aside, I’ve given myself permission to take a few light days so I can be present with my kids, but I will still write every day and I think I can still swing 2k words a day with the Dragon.
One of the things I’ve noticed since I started transitioning from one project to the next is how much my mind is stuck on the other world. I think I will write something vastly different, go for some humorous Space Balls vibe so I can kick the Human Legion habit. As a new author, I have no experience with this one. How do you guys handle it when you’re battling the muse through the literary trenches? Tell me about it in the comments below!
Until next time…..
Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!
JR
–> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section or are videos used by JR Handley for use under the Fair Use Doctrine.
J.R. Handley Blog 
I find that once I’ve spent a little time with the new characters and their world, then it becomes much easier. Ease yourself in with some scenes or character interviews. Ask your characters a lot of questions about their world and their problems. Good luck!
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Thank you, I shall try it! I know the two short stories I just wrote helped!
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I find reading a book in the new genre I want to write helps reframe my thinking.
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I shall do that, I’ve been listening to “Paying the Price” by Terry Mixon while I work and exercise. Space Opera more than Mil SciFy.
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A Space Balls vibe? Yeah, sci-fi comedy! I find the most inspiration for new projects comes from being present with my kids. I’m not sure how it is, but they always seem to say or do something that makes me think “Hey, that’s something I should write about!” So… yeah, most of my writing is my spin on a kidergartener’s view of the world. Taking some time to kind of look away from what I’m doing, and maybe approach it passively, from the side, really helps. “Will this idea fit with this bigger idea?’ That kind of thing.
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…and good luck! (I can’t believe I left that out). 🙂
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Thank you for the good wishes! And thanks for the great advice!
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Elizabeth said it perfectly. Read something outside your genre. Something fun and give your story/character wheels some grease for when you turn it back on.
Did you ever get any reply from the Area 51 anthology folks from a few months past?
Best wishes,
rob
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Thank you for the well wishes and good advice. I’m listening to Terry Mixon’s “Paying the Price” in the Space Opera genre. Hope it cleans the gears and lets me restart the fires!
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