The novel is a time travel story, which I hope will turn out to be the start of a series. Time travel is tricky and confusing to write about and can make your brain go all squishy.
I like to have the end of the book decided before I start writing, and I've just realized I have to change it since it would fall foul of the grandfather paradox and my clever readers would notice.
It's not the first time I've changed the end of a novel at the last minute. I could see that the ending I'd planned for Replica was going to be predictable and possibly a bit dull, so I spent three weeks furiously mulling over alternatives. A few readers hate the ending I came up with, though I find it entirely satisfying. Most are taken by surprise - this may be an incidental advantage of changing the end well into writing the book.
Back to work. That ending won't write itself. Now, if only I had a time machine, I could whiz into the future and bring a copy back here and save myself a lot of effort...
Hi Lexi, looking forward to your new book. I really loved The Ice Diaries (and all of the others). I don't know whether you remember me emailing you a couple of months ago. I have just finished what may be the last edit of my first novel and am writing a sequel novella as part of Camp NaNoWriMo. You really inspired me with your advice. Keep writing and inspiring me!
ReplyDeleteHi Suzanne, I do remember. Congratulations on being close to the completion of your first novel. A sequel novella is a good idea - if readers like your writing, they will want more.
DeleteIt may be a while until I publish the WIP, as the advice seems to be to release all parts of a series in quick succession for maximum impact. I'm just focusing on the writing for now.
Woo! Congrats on crossing the 60,000 word line. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Caitlin. I'm a believer in celebrating whenever and whatever one can :o)
DeleteLexi, if one could indeed travel into the past, the paradoxes would suggest that free will may be an illusion. For consistency the actions of the traveler would have to be pre-determined so as not to alter history. In other words the time travel event would already be accounted for in history. A more plausible scenario, at least for me, would be time travel of the mind. A psychological phenomenon where a person enters a dream like state to travel through time. Some dreams can be very realistic .... especially after a few pints at the local!
ReplyDeletePerhaps 60K words is like the event horizon for a black hole. Once you cross it there is no way back!
ReplyDeleteIf you make each novel self contained, I don't think there is any advantage in completing a series before publishing. For example, J D Robb (aka Nora Roberts) has been writing her 'In Death' suspense series for more years than I have been reading the genre. Each novel is self contained and I think the series now runs to over 40 books ... all of them selling well.
Anyway, I want to read the books as soon as completed Lexi ..... please don't keep us all waiting more than necessary .... even if you are experimenting with space-time distortions :)
Q, the system I'm working with in my fiction is that there is only one path for time, but it's possible to go back and change it, like damming a river and sending it into a new path. Thus making travel to the past dangerous - you might find the circumstances you left no longer exist when you attempt to return.
ReplyDeleteWhatever I decide re publishing schedules, I'll send you an advance copy when finished :o)
"like damming a river and sending it into a new path."
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea .... reminds me of a story by John Taine aka E T Bell (the eminent mathematician). It's called 'The Time Stream' and he imagines time as a river flowing to the future. However eddies in the flow allow travel backwards in time. I read it as a student (at Imperial College) a long time ago, so its probably out of print now. Though I may still have a copy buried somewhere in the house!
I'll be monitoring the e-mail for that ARC .... may the cosmic forces guide your pen ... Thanks!!
That's an interesting idea, eddies in the flow... I was at the Royal College of Art a long time ago, next door to Imperial College, and our canteen was so excellent back then that IC students used to come to the RAC for lunch and we used to grumble because they made the queues longer.
ReplyDeleteDo cosmic forces get involved in literature? Cool :o)
I can't imagine dealing with everything involved in keeping a time travel tale plausible. I had a devil of a time with a story that hopped around between time zones. I was following your latest on the Write On site, but decided I really just want the pleasure of sitting down with The Book. So I'm glad you are forging ahead and making good progress. You're still my personal literary hero!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words, Alan :o)
ReplyDeleteNo time travel novel is going to be totally plausible - until time travel is actually invented, of course.