I was thinking about my writing and I realized the stories that turned out best (at least, in my opinion) are the ones where I had something personally invested. That investment didn’t always happen at the outset of writing. In fact, a few short stories I wrote were grueling projects that I couldn’t wait to finish. That is, until I found that spark that pulled me in.
One such set of stories is my Mik Murdoch series. Mik Murdoch was a story I had wanted to write since I was about 16. I remember trying to start something only to let it go after realizing I didn’t quite have the idea as solid as I wanted (that and I really wasn’t capable of putting the ideas I had down on paper).
When I finally did write it, there were moments when I laughed and times when I cried. Rarely do I get emotional with my own writing so I knew I was on to something. I also really liked the character and wanted to keep exploring his world.
Now that I am putting the polish on the third book in the series I can safely say I still want to play in that sandbox. Even when the writing gets hard, I am still looking for the next story idea to work on in that arena. In fact, as I was working on the last third of book three I started getting all the ideas for book four.
I’ve always had some sense of what I want the arc to look like, but the actual stories to get me there have been a bit of a mystery. I’m happy to say I cannot wait to start working on the next book. I just have to finish this one first. 😉
Of course, Mik Murdoch is not my only series. JR Murdock (no relation to Mik) and I have our upcoming series, Jack Kane, beginning with Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty (should be out in April). The really fun thing about writing with someone else is, you are involved in a story where anything can happen and you aren’t always privy to the actions until they do happen. JR and I had a lot of fun writing the first book and cannot wait to get going on the next.
I could keeping going on and on about the books I’ve enjoyed writing and why. Boyscouts of the Apocalypse (soon to be retitled and released in print as Scouts of the Apocalypse), GalaxyBillies and many others have brought me a lot of enjoyment in my writing. And there are plenty of stories I still have in my mind to write.
With more stories than time, why shouldn’t I write what I love? Life is simply too short to put out junk that I’m not happy with.
