Writing the wrong book

One of the things I love about weekends is that, rather than waking up abruptly to find that I’m slapping at my alarm clock, I get to stay in bed until I’m really ready to get up — and that half-waking state, when I’m still tossing and turning as if I could get back to sleep, I almost always come up with story ideas.

This morning, I woke up knowing more or less how I need to write the second book in my desert trilogy.

(Backstory, for those of you just tuning in: I’ve had this not-really-epic fantasy trilogy in my head since my freshman year of college. After several terrible attempts at writing it, I determined that I’m just not ready yet, shoved all the files into an archive folder, and went about working on other projects. Every now and then an idea for it ambushes me, but generally I just add it to a file called “interim notes” and move on with whatever else I’m working on.)

So, I now know who the three POV characters are, how each of their plot threads will progress and intertwine with the others, how the book begins, how it ends, and most of the high points in between. Oh, and how it all ties in with the stuff that happens in the next book. I almost feel like I could sit down and write the thing from start to finish.

There are several problems with that notion.

1. The novel I’m currently working on is one I’ve already abandoned half a dozen times, and right now I have some precious momentum on it.
2. As I was just telling another Novel in 90 participant the other day, I know myself. I can’t juggle two projects at once.
3. This is the middle book. I still have no frakking idea what happens in the first book. I mean, I know the vague outline of it, but all the finicky details that will undoubtedly influence the situation at the beginning of the second book? Not. One. Clue.

Just because 1400 words of notes and scene-bits poured out of my fingers in less than an hour this morning does not mean I should drop the WIP and give Desert Book #2 (I know the title, but I’m not going to dignify it at the moment) the love it wants.

Nope. Not gonna.

I’m going to keep telling myself that for the rest of the day. I’ll let you know how that works out.