Next time I'll get it right.

I had a sudden insight yesterday, as to why I always write something new, instead of continuing to write characters and worlds I've already created -- which also happens to be smarter commercially in that it creates a brand.

I always believe that next time I'll get it right.

The one time I wrote a "sequel" it really was the second half of a book that I split when I realized the publisher wasn't paying me a living wage.  I was forced to rewrite ICETOWERS a couple of times, and I've since come to believe that it was my most "professional" book.

Anyway, I couldn't help myself yesterday and started writing the opening scene of the next book in the LORE cycle, to follow THE RELUCTANT WIZARD.  I realized right away that it would necessitate completely revamping the last two chapters of the previous book.  (Which is good argument to write the whole series before you release the first book --if you can afford to do so.)

So right away, the book already seems flawed, arising out of a flawed original book (at least, until I do the rewrite.)

Whereas, I can start a fresh book with a blank slate and hope that this time I'll get it right.

That's the illusion.  This time, this new story, this fresh start, I'll get it right.

While it's true, I think I might be getting better, they'll never be perfect, anymore than a sequel would be.  And I do have the example of ICETOWERS being the first book that I completely thought through and liked every part.

I think this "I'll get it right" next time tendency is a form of perfectionism, and I probably need to rein it in a little.  Each effort is going to be it's own thing -- no guarantees that the next book will be that much better, nor is there any reason to believe that a sequel will be any worse. 

It makes sense to use the characters and landscapes I've already created. 

Reading the 1000 page novels of Neal Stephenson, and realizing how prolific I am, it makes more sense to extend the existing stories.  So, the next few efforts will probably be sequels.  I may try to revive the characters and ideas of NEARLY HUMAN, even if the book itself never sees the light of day.  I could revive the main characters and ideas of DEATH OF AN IMMORTAL too.  And of course, the LORE series of fantasy novels.  (It's almost de riguer for fantasies to be series...)

I don't seem to be short of ideas, and I already like these characters and thinking out the backstory and rules of a book is just about the hardest part.  So it's silly for me not to use that.

Unless, of course, I wake up with a new idea -- something unexpected -- and I just have to write it now. 

Thinking -- this time I'll get it right.