Reasons I Shouldn't Write a New Book, Plus My 1000th Movie!

I could have split this into two posts, but I've got something else planned for Monday, so what the hell? So I've been thinking about this sequel thing all week and I realize there are plenty of reasons why I shouldn't start it right now. So here they are!

Reasons I Should Not Start Writing a New Book

1. How about I finish the first book before roaming off into sequel land, huh?
2. I really just don’t have the time or the patience to craft a brand new character and create an authentic voice for her.
3. I also may be permanently stuck writing teenage boy voice. I can’t even write poetry anymore.
4. My muse might actually kill me for this one. Seriously. I come up with a sequel to Jordan’s story and he is not in it at all. He might be mentioned, but probably not by name. So he’ll probably sneak into my brain just at the right moment and BOOM—I fall down a flight of stairs.
5. Actually, homicide isn’t really his style. But he would probably find some way to completely sabotage my life.
6. I’m not entirely sure I can create a character in her mid-thirties (at least not without a lot of time and thought—which is not going to happen any time soon). When I picture her, she feels younger than she actually is. I see her hanging out with her best friend and I realize, wait a second, that friend is most likely married with a couple kids.
7. Don’t make me research stuff! I kinda see this character being a florist, which I’d have to research. And her mother has a stroke at some point during the book, which I’d also have to research. And SETTING. I’d have to figure out where these people came from—what town, what is it like, blah blah blah.
8. My original intent was to only HINT at things that happened in the first book, but I think that will confuse anyone who hasn’t read it and frustrate anyone who has. So I’ll have to have some big confession scene where my MC’s brother admits that he committed statutory rape. And I can’t picture her reaction at this point—she was molested as a child so there’s gonna be some resentment.
9. I'm wondering if writing a sequel will somehow take away the credibility of the first book. I feel as though it SHOULD stand on its own, but I'm also really attached to the characters so I don't think I could ever be done with them. 
10. No, seriously. I need to finish the first book. 

And just because:

Reasons I Should Write It at Some Point

1. I think it could be a really good story—a gripping family drama where old wounds are reopened and secrets are brought to light.
2. I could actually write from a woman’s point of view for once.
3. I get to keep it in the universe of my first book, which I absolutely love.
4. A while ago, I created this fabulous character, Anthony, who I thought I’d never get to actually use, but he would definitely pop up in this book.

So basically, it’s not that I should NEVER write it—it’s that I shouldn’t write it NOW. I do kinda want to outline this one, though, so it may be something to do when I need a break from editing the first book. I could always brainstorm a title, too, since it took me over two years to come up with the first one…

And now for something completely different!

I like to make lists. To-do lists, lists of blog ideas, etc. But there’s one list that I’ve been working on for years, constantly adding to it and making sure that I haven’t forgotten things. And that list is my movie list. The list of every movie I’ve ever seen.

A few years ago (haha few she says…it was 8) I found myself in an interesting position. I had just graduated high school but had deferred my enrollment to college for a year (life issues) and was waiting to move out of my house to a different town, so I didn’t want to look for a job until we moved. Basically I had a lot of time on my hands. I did do a lot of writing, after my late night coffee drinking/yoga sessions (don’t ask), but I also spent a lot of time on the internet.

I don’t really remember how I got the idea to make the list. I found a website called Lists of Bests (it recently shut down…sad face), which had several different kinds of lists you could follow and check off—movies you’ve seen, books you’ve read, places you’ve gone. And you could make your own lists, too. For some reason, I started one. I added every movie I’d ever seen.

I know what you’re thinking. It’s gotta be impossible to remember every movie you’ve ever seen. Well, not exactly. But it does take a LOT of time, which I had. I spent hours and hours browsing DVD pages on Amazon until I reached the very end, making sure I added each one to my list. I looked at every genre, looked for all of the TV movies I thought I had seen, and eventually it was done. Every movie I’d ever seen, in alphabetical order. It was quite the accomplishment. Occasionally I would remember a certain movie that I’d forgotten, but over time that stopped, so I was fairly certain I’d gotten every one, except maybe ones I watched but was too young to remember. And when I saw a new movie, I would add it to the list, making sure it was always accurate.

Anyway, I’m rambling way too much. When I found out Lists of Bests was shutting down, I had to completely redo my list on iMDb. You can look at it here (go on, you know you want to!). Here’s my current dilemma. If you do look, you’ll notice that right now there are 999 titles on the list. That’s right—I’ve watched 999 movies. Which means my next one will be the 1000^th. It seems like a significant event, really, so I don’t want to watch just any movie. I want it to be a good one.  I haven’t watched any new movies in a while because I just can’t decide!

I’m open to suggestions! What the hell kind of movie should you see for your 1000^th? There aren’t any movies out in theaters I’d like to see right now, and I would prefer to not have to pay for one, although the on demand movies would probably only be about $6, so what the hell? I have Netflix and HBO as well, but I just can’t decide! What should it be? 

Anyone ever need to convince themselves NOT to write something? What should my 1000^th movie be? How many movies do you think you’ve seen?