It’s the age-old question: How do I pick which project to work on?
You have a box full of craft supplies and a thousand ideas- where do you start? You’ve got all the fabric and haberdashery- do you alter an existing garment or make one from scratch? Or, if you’re like me, you have more than one story idea- which one do I write first?
Believe it or not, picking a project to (solely) focus on is just as easy as it is difficult- you’ll often find that choosing the book is much easier than finishing it. And, if you ask me, it all comes down to just four things…
1. Timeline:
Let’s be real, if you have a deadline, this is a major contributor. If your publisher wants pages by a certain date, you need to provide them. If you want to launch a book at a certain time, you need to focus your attention. And if you’re writing a series, and your fans are waiting for the next book, you know what you gotta do. That said, if those factors aren’t an issue, and you still can’t decide, that’s where these come in…
2. Passion:
Do you want to work on it? Are you passionate about the message you’re telling? If you hit a snag, will you continue? If you come up with a new idea (aka: shiny object syndrome), will you be disciplined enough to focus on what you started? If you need to do research for this story (especially if you hate doing research as much as I do) will you persevere for the sake of a great novel? Of course, you’re passionate about what you’re creating (I hope) or you wouldn’t be doing it. But if there is a story idea that really calls to you, and you’re writing something else, you’ll forever be distracted. If you come home from work and can’t think of anything worse than working on your book, or you wish you were working on something else, it will take forever to get anywhere with it. Sure, passion only gets you so far when it comes to sitting down and working on the book- discipline has it’s place here too. But being truly passionate about what you’re doing will give you a leg up on those tiresome days when you “just can’t”. So, keep this in mind when you’re trying to decide. Pick the project that you will not only want to work on after a long day at the office, but that you think about all day long when you should be working.
3. Your Personality:
Now this might be controversial, but I strongly believe that there are people who can sit and focus on one thing, and people who can’t. I’ve met plenty of people who can time block, set one task for a day, or even just sit and work on something without getting distracted. But I am not one of those people. Sure, there is a level of discipline involved. If I tell myself that I’m not allowed to have lunch until I finish a particular task, I will sit and work on it until it’s done. But if it’s a task that I am not in the “mood” to work on it will take me three times as long to complete it than if I put it off until after lunch when I wanted to do it. And here’s the thing: If you want to do something, you will always be more productive in tackling it. That’s not to say that you should inevitably put off all the things you don’t want to do. But what if you did things in a way that makes you want to do them? And that isn’t always one task at a time.
Let me explain.
I have a very scattered mind. When I am working on something, I am constantly thinking about other things. I’ve tried to ignore it, and I’ve tried to embrace it, and here’s what I’ve found: You have to do what’s right for you in that moment. For example, if I’m doing house work, I can embrace the scatter brain and it works to my advantage. I can put on a load of washing, fill the sink to do the dishes, go to the lounge room to get my tea cup, see that the floor needs a vacuum, put the dishes in the sink to soak while I do the floors, finish the dishes and then hang out the washing. My distracted mind tells me what to do next and by the end of the day everything is done without the need for a to-do list.
However, if I’m writing, I need to sit and focus. So, I will have a note pad on my desk that I can write all the random thoughts that come up in that time, and deal with them when I’m done. Neither version requires me to ignore or shut down that scatter brain part, and I end up more productive (albeit a little dizzy at times).
What does this have to do with choosing a story idea? Well let me ask you this: Have you ever sat in front of the computer with a blinking curser wishing you could be fixing all the errors you know are in your other draft? Have you sat staring at your outline trying to work out where the plot hole is, all the while thinking about a scene for another book? How productive are you in those moments? I find that I work a hell of a lot faster on anything if I’m motivated to do it. Sometimes that means jumping back and forth between two projects.
For example, if I’ve planned to write 2k words in a day and all I’m doing in my head is outlining a different novel, it’s much more productive for me to spend an hour scribbling down everything I can think of for the new novel, and then going back to my 2k deadline. Sure, I’ve strayed from my goal for a moment, but as long as I come back to my initial goal (that day or the next) then I keep my mind focused and goal oriented, while still using my scatter brain to motivate me to get work done. It can be a taxing approach at times, but as long as I can embrace the motivation while it’s there, and then reward myself with rest later, it all balances out- and, bonus, I get more done than expected because I’ve focused on tasks I’m passionate about (even if there is some jumping about to do so).
4. Career:
No, I don’t mean your day job (if you have one). I’m referring to whatever approach you have to your writing career.
Do you plan to publish a book every year? Or maybe much more than one a year? Maybe you just want to write one or two books in your entire life.
Some people find a genre they like and can get into a groove, using the flow from one book to motivate you to write the next. Others may jump around in genres, or styles, and this could be jarring.
For me, I want to break up the publications of my novels with more poetry books. So I consider this when thinking about my writing/publishing timeline, and which book to write next.
Consider your story ideas and which one stands out to you the most. Which one are you the most passionate about? Do you want to tackle a challenge first, or get one that feels easy over and done with? Is there a pattern or order to the books you want to write?
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