Why It’s So Hard to Write a Second Book (When I’ve Already Written 4)

You would think that finally getting a literary agent and a book deal would make writing the next book a breeze…and you’d be wrong.

The pressure of “Okay, this first book was good enough to get published” becomes “What if I can’t write another book that good?”, which also becomes, “What if my debut novel flops on release?”

I wrote several novels before my “debut” (HERO ADJACENT), which is coming out early next year. Some of these novels were so bad that they don’t deem talking about here, but there were three other manuscripts that were fairly well-polished before my fourth one got me my agent. (I queried two of them).

So, if I’ve written several books, why am I only now struggling to write another one? Many writers like to say that your “first” book is the easiest because they have the most time to write it. No deadlines, except for self-imposed ones. No one watching them, waiting for them to succeed.

I’m still not on a deadline with my next book, but the pressure is in:

1. Wanting to deliver for my agent and editor

2. Wanting to keep up momentum for the readers I gain from my first book

3. Wanting to make a career out of writing

4. Knowing my maternity leave is only for another 5-and-a-half months before I have to go back to my corporate job!!

5. 
   

I will say, being pregnant through the entire book deal and editing process was A LOT, and then having a newborn while also thinking about marketing and publicity and other rights sales became pretty full-on. Pair that with many sleepless nights and a fuzzy brain, and writing a new book has been tough.

The other thing that I wasn’t expecting was that I’ve gotten my debut so edited and ready for publication that it’s hard to go back to a messy first draft. It’s hard to remember that my debut used to be a messy first draft, because now I have seen so many iterations of it.

I wish I had a solution to this conundrum, but the best I’ve done for myself so far is trying not to take my first draft too seriously and just write without looking back, kind of like those action heroes who blow up a car and walk away from it without watching it burn.