Thursday, February 26, 2009

Writing "The End" to part of a saga... Ouch!

*Leanna crawls out from under the rock she's been under all month while finishing her sequel*

Rough draft, STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL II - (Title TBA) - Done!

After nearly a decade of writing, the particular story arc starring Miss Percy Parker has taken shape. I will let it breathe, and then I will dive in to clean it's murky, long depths.

So I'm not going to give anything away here. You haven't read the first of the STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL books, let alone give away secrets of the next book... Hopefully you'll forget this long before it's slated release of Feb. 2010...



But I have to get this off my chest and say it hurts to kill a beloved character. Ouch!


I've been with The Guard and Miss Parker for nearly a third of my life. I am utterly and helplessly devoted to these seven main characters.

How do you kill one of them? It's like... a family member, a child. I've been writing since I could hold a pen and formulate a sentence but I'd shied away from having one of my main characters bite the bullet so to speak.

The worst part of it was having to write everyone's reactions. I cried. That's the first time in a lifetime of writing that the little movie that plays in my head that I then write down made me cry. I was utterly inconsolable at the time. I'm still upset.

BUT, on a happier note, I have realized that my strong presentiments for a Prequel and now a 3rd book in the series (Continuing into WW I) are realized and I can't sleep for the spinning wheels of imagination...

Anyone want to share their experiences with writing their own character-cides? Thoughts? Condolances? How 'bout cyber-champagne for finishing the draft? :) Haven't slept well lately. Super tired... time for hibernation...

3 comments:

KT Grant said...

Throw the names in a hat and pull one out and there you go.

Unknown said...

I completely understand the not being able to sleep due to an overactive imagination. Some of my best scenes and plot ideas come to me at the end of the day when it is finally time for bed. I of course jump up and run for a pen and paper and make quick notes before all is lost, but I'm beginning to wonder if I'm missing some great ideas once I'm actually asleep. Perhaps I'm just being paranoid.

Congrats on finishing your second novel in this series. I can't wait to read them both as I know you've poured your heart and soul into them!

Leanna Renee Hieber said...

Katie,

Next time, I may do that. Although I could see myself pull a name and say "oh, no, I can't do it to them," toss it aside, pull another; "oh, no, I can't..." etc. :)

Sarah,

LOL, while I too wonder if we lose ideas while sleeping, dreaming has given me some interesting ones, so I feel it is a fair trade. Besides, for me, if I'm super tired, no writing worth its sentence gets done. Our brain needs its beauty sleep! However I do have a pile of notebooks by my bed. :)