A Helter-Skelter Approach

Friday, June 18, 2010

I’m in the throes of editing my last project and trying to do the same with a story I completed in 2008.  I haven’t had a lot of success with either over the past two weeks.  Too many things going on at the same time.

And I keep forgetting to write.

By June 6, I completed six chapters from two separate novels-in-waiting for a competition. Since then, I haven’t written anything.  That’s too many days for a writer to go without putting anything on the screen.

Trouble is, I can’t decide which project to work on next.  Good sense says I should go with the one that comes after the story I’m editing now, except I haven’t done any plotting as yet.  I know what happens at the end of the story, but I need to figure out the roadmap.

And you guessed it, the story I shouldn’t be working on now is the one that’s calling. I know what happens in the next chapter, but haven’t got around to writing it. Maybe I should write what is begging to be written and then go back to what’s rightfully next in line.

Then there’s the story I want to start editing before I try to find an agent.  The sequel to that one is seventy-five per cent written, but it’s not urgent that I get it done right now.  I just need to have something to query an agent with.

It would help if I’d stick to the schedule I set myself. The trouble is, the mind is willing to be disciplined, but the flesh has its own ideas.

I need a foolproof way to stick to the looooooooooooooooooooooooooong list of projects simmering on the back burner.

Any ideas?

2 comments:

  1. Nope. I have the same problem you do. I start too many projects and forget to finish them properly. I've got eight novels on the go...eight! How am I suppose to juggle them? I don't, that's how. Well, if you find a way, let me know.

    ann

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  2. And I thought I had problems. Eight? Wow. That's a lotta inspiration right there. There's nothing for it but to learn to juggle. :) I tell myself I'm gonna try sticking to the one I need to edit now. Let's see how successful that is. :D

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