Today we have a guest post from former Go Teen Writer girl Taylor Bennett. The final book in Taylor’s Tradewinds series just released this month, and it’s currently free on Kindle Unlimited! If you’re new to Taylor and her books, you can start at the beginning of the series with Porch Swing Girl, which I (Jill) read and endorsed the year it released. Welcome, Taylor!
Taylor Bennett is a dandelion-wishing, world-traveling lover of books, words, and stories. Inspired by authors like Louisa May Alcott and Lucy Maude Montgomery, Taylor makes it her goal to write heartfelt, timeless books for girls that will touch hearts for generations to come. The first book in her Tradewinds series, Porch Swing Girl, was contracted just days after her seventeenth birthday. Currently, she is trying to reach the perfect balance between writing and taking a full load of college courses. Taylor loves to connect with readers on Instagram at @taylor.bennett.author.
For those of us working on our first novels, “THE END” is a wonderful thought. It’s the chance to celebrate the success brought about by all of those long nights spent bent over a keyboard, insufferable bouts of writer’s block, and days spent dreaming of seeing your book on store shelves.
But, when you’ve published a couple books (the first two in a trilogy, perhaps…) typing “THE END” gets a little harder. When I finished writing Barefoot Memories, the final installment in my Tradewinds series, my heart was heavy. Yes, a sense of accomplishment was there, but so was something else—sadness. As I bid farewell to characters I came to know and love over the past four years of writing, I felt as though a small bit of my heart was lost with them.
Now, that might sound a little over-dramatic, but those of you who have finished a dear-to-you series or standalone know what I’m talking about. Sometimes, saying goodbye to a special character is just as bittersweet (or flat-out bitter) as saying farewell to a cherished friend or close family member.
If you’re struggling to say goodbye to one project and move on to the next, take heart! There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. I came to see how this was true as I practiced waiting for God’s timing by embracing the gift of time I’d been given to relax, recharge, and get re-inspired.
Now I’ve officially begun work on a new (secret!) project, and I’m here to give you a bit of encouragement and a few ideas for moving from one project to the next.
#1: Take Your Time
Idea seeds don’t sprout into beanstalks overnight (sorry, Jack). In a world of instant messaging, on-demand TV, and microwave popcorn, we tend to forget that ideas take time. But they do! It’s easy to want to force ourselves into a creative mood when we flat-out don’t have it in us to come up with a single idea that makes our heart sing. But instead of stressing about your lack of ideas, find the joy in each day instead. Read. Travel. Listen to music. Let your mind wander—and keep a notebook nearby to write down all the interesting places it takes you!
#2: Explore!
Don’t feel “locked in” to one genre or plot structure. Allow yourself to switch gears and write that totally-off-brand story idea you had. Even if it never ends up being published, writing in a different style or genre is a fantastic way to stretch your literary muscles.
#3: Give Yourself Permission to be “Bad”
Sometimes the thing that holds us back the most is the dreaded “P word”. (Yes, perfectionism, I’m looking at you.) When we’re incredibly attached to and proud of our previous work, we often struggle to see how we could ever in a million years come up with something as good or better as our last book baby. But every idea begins somewhere—some might be lumpy and clumsy at first, but give yourself permission to start. You never know where your imagination might take you…
Have you had a hard time “saying goodbye” to any of your own books or characters? How did you come up with the idea for your next story?
Wow, I remember when Miss Bennett entered Porch Swing Girl in the Go Teen Writers novel-writing contest in 2016. It’s fantastic that you’ve come this far since then, Taylor! Excellent post, too. I’ve never had to permanently “say goodbye” to dear books or characters just yet, but I assume it will be difficult. I have a whole list of interesting story ideas lined up, though, so picking my next book shouldn’t be too hard so long as I’m okay with putting the rest off for longer.
Thank you so much, Colin! And lucky you, getting to hang out with your characters for a good, long time.
Thank you sooo much for having me on the blog, Jill! I always love hanging out with you guys.
Great post, Taylor! I haven’t reached the goodbye point either, but I can imagine it’s kind of like having a good friend move across the country. I saw a thing on Pinterest one time, and it’s kind of sad, but I absolutely love it. It was a writing prompt someone did about a story where the main character falls in love with the reader. The character said “You can open it back up. The words won’t change, but I’ll still be here. You can meet me all over again, and I can meet you, and everything we have will come back.” I just love that.
For me, my mind comes up with other ideas for stories before I even finish one story. It’s kind of a pain, but I make sure to write everything down so I don’t forget about it later on. Sometimes when I’m bored, or lonely, or something, I like to imagine all my characters from my different story ideas meeting each other, trying to imagine how they would all get along. It’s pretty amusing, and it sort of helps me to brainstorm my characters’ backgrounds and personalities a bit deeper too.
Again, great post! I’ve never read your series, but I totally want to! My birthday is in May… Maybe I can see about getting one of your books! ?
Aw. That Pinterest prompt is adorable! I love it. And it’s so true. The beauty of books is that even when we’re done- be it something we wrote or something we read- the characters and their stories live on, so we can always go back and visit. We never really have to say goodbye at the end. They’ll be with us always, both on the page and in our hearts.
Riley and Elizabeth, I love all of this SOOOOO MUCH. (That prompt! *sobs*)
Riley, I love how you make your characters from different WIPS interact. What a fantastic characterization exercise. I’ll have to try it sometime!
Ideas take time- this is something I’m learning a lot right now. I always expected ideas to be complete & exhilarating. Since they weren’t I always thought I didn’t have ideas. Now, I’m learning how they need to be nourished & worked out.
YES! I’ve always thought of ideas like I would a stray puppy—ideas have to be invited in, taken care of, and nurtured before they can “grow up” into big, beautiful stories.
Thank you so much for this beautiful post! I’m just on my first draft, so I haven’t had any heartbreaking goodbyes as a writer, though I can imagine it’s tough. As a reader, I’m sometimes excited to finally be rid of a character. With good books however, it’s quite sad. I guess I’m thinking that I want to make sure MY characters are hard to say goodbye to.
I so agree, it’s definitely sad to end a good book!!!
Camille, you and Riley have it exactly right!! As authors, we should all strive to create characters who make saying goodbye (from a reader AND a writer’s standpoint) as hard as possible.
I take issue with that “former Go Teen Writers girl” statement! Like it or not, Taylor, we will always claim you. Even if you don’t fit into that “teen” category anymore. 😉
Haha! Hey…don’t grow me up before my time!! I’ve still got four more months of teenage-dom ? And I’ll always think of myself as a GTW girl…even when I’m ninety ? I wouldn’t even be an author without you guys and this blog ❤️
SOO good and something I’ve been struggling with as I try to move from one project to the next.
YES! It can be really tough, but just remember—sometimes we have to walk through those creative dry spells before we find the ideas that really make our hearts say: “YES! This is the book I need to write next!”
I never really thought about this before. I’ve been stuck on my rough draft for a while now, and I often think “Oh my gosh I can’t wait for this thing to be DONE!” But now that you mention it, I realize that I am forging a connection with my characters and my story. I’ll miss them when I’m done. I know that I always feel a sense of sadness when I finish reading a really good book. It makes sense that finishing writing a book will feel the same. As much as I look forward to the end, there’s a lot to be said for the journey.
Congrats on completing your trilogy by the way. That’s a huge accomplishment! Nice job. Good luck on your next project. 🙂
Thank you so much, Elizabeth! I really appreciate that ? And yes! Finishing a book can be REALLY HARD, no matter if you’re writing or reading it. (But quite honestly rough drafts are an entirely different story…YUCK! ?)
Thank you for joining us, Taylor! What a lovely post.
Wow! Thank you so much, Shan. I really appreciate that. I love hanging out with you guys! ❤️
Such a good post with great thoughts! I’m only just barely working on the first draft of the first book in my planned trilogy, so it will be a while before I get to that point, but I’m sure this post will be very helpful down the road sometime.
I’ve read all the books in your Tradewinds series, and thoroughly enjoyed them! I can’t wait to see what you write next 😀
Thanks for writing this, Miss Bennett!
I am writing the first book in a trilogy but I know that I will come back to this post when I’m done writing this series. It was so encouraging!
“Don’t feel “locked in” to one genre or plot structure. Allow yourself to switch gears and write that totally-off-brand story idea you had. Even if it never ends up being published, writing in a different style or genre is a fantastic way to stretch your literary muscles.”
This is advice that I needed. I can’t think of a single book that I have started and explored that hasn’t been fantasy. I think that it’s definitely time to stretch, and try a different path (once I’ve finished my three different WIPs :D)