This post has been a long time coming–I bookmarked Jonathan Carroll’s comments back in October about what it’s like to start a new novel. He compares it to sitting in an empty apartment before moving in:
That is what it is like for me to begin a new novel. You’ve chosen a place to live for the next year or more but it has nothing inside it yet. Only the walls, the floors and the windows. Because you have created this space, only you can furnish it. But you’re really looking forward to the task, no matter how long it takes.
It’s been almost seven years since I started my last big project, Dreams of a Shaper. With that winging it’s way to agents, the time has come to move on and get working on something else. Tonight I finished the last character sketches, lists and notes before I start actually putting new words down on blank pages.
I’m thrilled, I’m scared, I’m champing at the bit to go. Hope it doesn’t take another seven years, but if it does then so be it.