I’ve been rather quiet on this blog for the past week, mostly because real life has kept me quite busy. Library and teaching work aside (like the majority of writers, I need a day job to keep a roof over my head) my writing life has been full steam ahead. While taking a break from ghost novel WIP#7, which has been stuck at 63k words for what feels like an infinity, I decided to start working on my next novel draft. Why not?

It did cross my mind that while taking a hiatus from one novel draft, it might be better to work on a short story rather than starting a new novel, mainly because working on two novels at once can significantly slow down progress on both. Since I’ve already hit a wall with ghost novel WIP#7 anyway, there really is no barrier to me starting a new project or worrying that progress will be slow. I decided to completely rewrite one of the peripheral characters in WIP#7 and this affected not only the plot, but the interactions with all of the other characters; this has caused me to totally lose the thread with characterisation of my protagonist. My solution for this was to order a print draft from Lulu, so that I can read it in book format, essentially to get the story back in my head in order to move it forwards to the end.

All of the above has left me free to start my next novel draft. Like most of my other books, this one is going to be a ghost story. That’s all I’m going to say about it for now. More updates as they happen. For now, I’m away to get more coffee and crack on with this new draft, while the excitement lasts!

Posted by on November 24, 2025 in Writing and tagged , .

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About Leilanie Stewart

Leilanie Stewart is an award-winning author and poet from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She writes ghost and psychological horror, as well as experimental poetry. Her writing confronts the nature of self; her novels feature main characters on a dark psychological journey who have a crisis and create a new sense of identity. She began writing for publication while working as an English teacher in Japan, a career pathway that has influenced themes in her writing. Her former career as an Archaeologist has also inspired her writing and she has incorporated elements of archaeology and mythology into both her fiction and poetry. In addition to promoting her own work, Leilanie runs Bindweed Anthologies, a creative writing publication with her writer husband, Joseph Robert. Aside from publishing pursuits, Leilanie enjoys spending time with her husband and their lively literary lad, a voracious reader of sea monster books.

3 responses »

  1. lyndhurstlaura's avatar lyndhurstlaura says:
    November 24, 2025 at 9:57 PM

    It is exciting, isn’t it? I’m into a new WIP which is going fast, almost writing itself! I could happily spend all day writing and neglect everything else – but alas, they have to be done. Best of luck with yours. 🙂

    Reply
    • Leilanie Stewart's avatar Leilanie Stewart says:
      November 25, 2025 at 3:14 PM

      Oh, congratulations on starting your new WIP too. I love that fresh feeling with a new draft, especially after a longer term project has gone a bit stale, like in my case. Good luck with yours too! 🥳

      Reply
      • lyndhurstlaura's avatar lyndhurstlaura says:
        November 25, 2025 at 10:12 PM

        You’re right about that stale feeling. Now I have the challenge of getting all the bits I have assembled into the right order – and there’s more to come! Loving every bit of it though. Stay safe. 🙂

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