3 Answers for Your "Next" Book

As published authors, writers and/or poets, we are often asked the questions, "Are you working on something new?" or "Can we expect more from you in the near future?" This is flattering because it means your readers are your fans. They want more from you and that's an amazing thing!

However, we struggle with some questions of our own before we jump into the next big endeavor: expectations; expectations from our readers, from our publishers and from ourselves. We worry that our next big venture won't be as good as our last one; or, we are so focused on our current venture that it seems too soon to look into the next one to become a true, prolific writer.

Here are three tips to take some of that pressure off our shoulders:

1.If your last venture was good, your next one will be great! We can only advance in our creative abilities through our experiences and practice; there is no going backward...only forward. Find comfort in understanding and knowing this.

2.Blank pages are opportunities for you to look up and look around you. Inspiration will strike as simple as a vase of flowers, your bookshelf or your best friend.

3.You know the most common scene of a writer who starts penciling a draft, but ends up crumbling up that piece of paper and tossing it into the trash bin? That's basically the same thing as starting an "untitled document" and then deciding to take another turn on a new "untitled document." Dig deep into those archives on your drive; you will find something. I usually end up finishing off drafts I started years ago, but decided to stop pursuing.

Happy Writing!