Friday, January 30, 2009

Letting the Muse Have Her Way

I was all set last week to begin writing this YA paranormal that's been cooking in my mind for the past year. I plotted, I outlined, I drew out character sketches and GMC charts. Then DH threw me a curve ball -- he came home from work and told me about a situation there he's been dealing with. His tale was just too juicy, held too many possibilities for me to not use it in a book. So, I started developing that idea with every intention of setting it aside until after the YA manuscript was finished.
Enter my CP. When we met last week to do some plotting work, I told her about DH's story and how it was gnawing at me.
"Write it," she advised. Plus, she was really excited about the idea and said she loved the premise. Since CP writes RS and this new book would be RS, I decided to take her advice. Now I'm about 10,000 words into it and so far, so good.
So, I shelved the YA book, for now. I just sent CP the first chapter and can't wait to find out what she thinks of it!
What about you? Do you sometimes derail a project when another idea won't leave you alone?

5 comments:

Abigail said...

OMG! I'm doing that right now. I was working on an idea for a romantic suspense novel that I loved. However, I've had a novella in my head that I just couldn't shake. Needless to say the novella won and it is going well!

Chudney Thomas said...

Absolutely, I've got a short Paranormal currently stewing in the old noggin.

Dara Edmondson said...

Thanks, ladies! Good to know I'm not alone.

Katie Reus said...

This is probably going to be one of your best stories. Just sayin' ;) If something latches on, you gotta write it!

Unknown said...

Oh yeah. I do that perhaps too often. Sometimes you have to write the story that's gnawing at you. I almost always go back and finish the stories that got left behind.