The next book will be...

I've been using this beta hiatus from "Goodbye Grammarian" to consider what's next. I needed a break from novel writing, to recharge my long-form batteries and to think about which new novel I should start writing. There are any number of half-finished projects I could take up again, but there is also a new concept that would be fun to work on.

Projects that I've previously abandoned are inherently risky. They carry with them the baggage of the writer I was two years ago (or five years ago). I'm a better writer now than I was then, with a Authorial Voice that is truer, stronger and more authentic. I know my Authorial Voice is truer, stronger and more authentic because, even if I still don't know what the hell my Authorial Voice is, I know that I don't worry about it nearly as much as I used to - I just write. Less deliberate phoniness = authenticity.

For good or ill, this is how my writing really sounds. Therefore, to resume just where I left off is not really a tenable thing to do. I'd have to look at the underlying concepts and see if any one of them still appeals to me. Is it gripping enough to be worth a full re-write? Or is it better to keep those partially written novels where they are, cherish them for the lessons they taught me, and move on to bigger and better things?

Furthermore, assuming I work on a new idea, which one? I haven't really decided.

Regardless, reports and recommendations from my WIP beta readers are starting to come in. The beta hiatus is coming to an end, and the next round of editing will commence.

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