Switching wips

"I would read this!" vs "I would write this!"

After finishing Maggie Stiefvater’s course (so worth it, by the way!), I realized I had to do something about my next project because, as it was, it simply wouldn’t work for me. I have a set of skills—a brand, if you will—that I know works for me, my agent, and I hope will work for the target audience I aim to write for. This is mostly second world fantasy (not always) with a strong romantic undercurrent, themes of autonomy (especially bodily autonomy), identity, and belonging. Oh, and religious trauma/corruption, of course. Then there are the books I love reading, the media I love to consume, but lack the passion and aptitude to write myself. The project I thought would be my next—born of my latest obsession (bg3, duh)—was one of those.

Then, I had the ever-present need to make my first novel somehow work. I still enjoy the premise and the characters I had, though my favorite female character definitely didn’t shine as much in the old versions. What I did was decide to grab my two babies and throw them into a new world.

I’d been trying to outline a fantasy sports idea that I had for a while now and given up on it because of the really loud, really exciting plot bunny that came from playing bg3. This wasn’t my brightest moment. Maggie’s course actually made me realize I should combine all three projects into something more cohesive that still kept my favorite parts of all of them. So, the thiefwip’s babies are now officially integrated into sportswip’s world, with the mood, setting inspo, and some of the subplots I thought about when trying to outline swordwip.

Sometimes, the best course of action is to set an idea aside and see if it grows roots. And sometimes, the art you enjoy isn’t necessarily the one you’re meant to create. Isn’t that great? It means there will always be variety because we’ll never be all writing the same thing (even when premises are similar!).