Now, I’m sure you’re reading this title and wondering how this could possibly be an issue, but I will showcase to you why this is a problem. Actually, problem is a strong word. It’s more so that I’m constantly battling my mind on what to work on, which is a great problem to have, but is still mildly annoying. And here’s why.
The first issue that I have with constantly coming up with new concepts for novels, and wondering which one to work on. Because I’m constantly working on so many projects at once, it’s hard for me to decide which one I should be focusing on to write. I’ve tried coming up with a schedule for me to work with, but that was constantly being reworked as I kept coming up with new project ideas. I’ve realized that it’s easier for me to just do my best to focus on one project to write, while simultaneously plotting the next ones. I have a general idea of when I’m publishing my novels, based on how far along I am in working on them, but that too is always changing. A way I keep track of how far along I am on things is honestly just a lot of to-do lists, detailing each step of my writing process. I like having these on paper, since the satisfaction of physically checking something off my list brings me joy, but other than that, I’m mostly at the will of my creative whimsy.
My next issue is trying to balance the amount of time working on each project. Now, actually writing a novel takes a lot of time, so the project that I’m actively writing on gets most of my attention. However, I like having my next project ready to go, so I still want to be plotting other novels at the same time. This is where the problem strikes up. I want to make progress on everything, but it’s difficult to budget time accordingly when I don’t always have a ton of time to write. For example, November has been crazy for me, so I’m mostly just focusing on getting my writing done for NaNoWriMo. Despite that, I’m trying to work on some other background stuff, but I’m also not done plotting the novel I’m currently writing, so my brain is running in a million different places for what I could work on. Honestly, that’s not a new sensation, but I’m feeling it quite strongly while I’m busy with my November writing challenge.
Yet another problem I’m facing is knowing where to put all of the ideas that I have. I’m constantly coming up with new ideas, and because I have so many projects on the go, I’m always trying to find a way to work those ideas into one of my ongoing projects. But what happens when I can’t find a place for the scene? Well, I’ve recently started a document entitled “Scenes That Don’t Have a Home Yet”, and that’s exactly where all of these scenes end up. I believe there’s only one in there at the time being, but I like having a place for scenes to go, especially because most of my projects have such a big and full outline that there’s no room for me to add in a scene. That doesn’t mean that I don’t do that, but now that I have a place for various scenes, I don’t have to force scenes into projects. Granted, this might lead to me getting more ideas for new projects, but I’ll cross that bridge if it comes up.
All in all, I’m really quite happy with the fact that my brain is constantly coming up with new ideas for me. It helps keep me motivated to write, and I’m always going to be grateful for that. The “issues” that I have with it are very manageable, but I thought I’d introduce you to a strange issue that I’ve come across a few times. All of my blog posts are about peeling back the curtain a little bit at a time into my writing process, and this is just another case of that.
That's all for now, folks!
-C
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