I was pondering what to write about when I realised that I was procrastinating about it because I wanted to write something else. Not that I don’t want to write a blog post either, it was just because I’m heavily involved in writing the third and final book in the Frontier Trilogy. 

I’ve just got to the pointy end. The bit where everything gets tied together, where the sadness, death and action happen, and the Big Reveal (hopefully) occurs. It’s a moment in the writing that is fraught with danger (for me) and an overlying sense that it’s important to get this, the third book, VERY right.

I’ve read lots of trilogies lately, and most of them seem to have followed a pattern of ‘Great first book, pretty good second one, and a third one that’s gone pear shaped.’ I really don’t want to do that. I really, really, want to write a great third book. One that’s better than the first, and one that makes my readers flick the pages as fast as possible, before ending the story in a lather of (good) emotion.

I’ve always known where the story ends. My initial problem was that I thought I could write the whole thing in one book. After I’d written well over 130,000 words, I realised that it needed to be a trilogy and carefully revamped the end of the first one and began the submission process. I then began work on Frontier Resistance, which will be published within a few months, and now I’m working on Book Three.

I’m a sequential writer, who plans certain things (the stuff that must happen), and then just writes. Once I’ve finished, I read the whole thing through, make sure the timelines work, and that the continuity is consistent, and that I haven’t inadvertently put a character in two places at once, or spelt a starcat’s name the wrong way, and then I reorganise it as required. I have character lists, scribbles here and there, and lots of stuff going on inside my head. If you’re ever talking to me and I suddenly look blank, it probably means that I’ve had an epiphany, or a sudden revelation that means I should consider rewriting certain scenes a different way.

Having said all of that, I’m always intrigued by how different writers write. I’ve heard of writers who meticulously plan every detail, while others plan nothing at all and ‘pants’ the whole thing. Some of us write in past tense, others present, some first person, some third, and apparently there are even a few who write in second person. (I don’t know that I’d ever be brave enough.)

Anyway, this post is somewhat rambling I know, but Chapter 28 is calling me, so I’m going to sign off and wreak havoc on a few of my characters. 

And Happy Mothers Day!