The Next Step
I'm coming to the end of my second draft break. I've had a nice mental pause from writing; catching Pokemon around the neighborhood, leveling my frost mage in anticipation of the Legion pre-expansion event, and reading two Preston & Child novels (Gideon's Corpse and Beyond the Ice Limit). I still need to get caught up on season two of Steven Universe, as my sons keep reminding me. I'll get there. It's a very good show.
I handed my manuscript over to my beta readers. I have only two and only one is a published writer but the other is an experienced teacher and former editor so I'm confident I'll receive helpful feedback. I've considered asking if anyone else would like to read it. It's a 278 page action/fantasy which I describe as Predator with magic instead of machine guns. There's more to it than that but that's the vibe I'm shooting for.
So this brings me to my next step. I won't start on Citadel's third draft until I receive the readers notes but I want to maintain my writing schedule. I could focus exclusively on developing the sequel. There's still a lot of plot and character development to complete before typing the first word of the first draft.
I am also wondering if it would be beneficial to start a new novel as a way of cleansing my imagination's palate by shifting from fantasy to science fiction. I have another screenplay I want to adapt into a novel. I really like this one. It blends my background as a paleontologist with an idea I had watching a Science Channel show on quantum mechanics and ends up making Jurassic Park look like a petting zoo. It would be a fun summer read. The lessons I learned from Citadel's first draft would be helpful in this project, and I will continue developing Citadel's sequel during off-peak writing times.
This has been my most productive writing year in, well, years. I'm going to maintain that momentum and hopefully finish 2016 with two novels in various stages of editing.
I welcome your thoughts and insights as I'm sure others have been in similar spots in their writing.
Cheers!