I've always wondered how people write multiple projects. I guess I'm very monogamous when it comes to writing. Since I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to write a story about a girl that could teleport. I moved around a LOT growing up and always wished I had that ability. That way I could go to the same school and have the same friends regardless of where my family and I lived.
Product of an Illusion initially started as a screen play in 2004 for a screenwriting workshop I participated in. It went through two rewrites in that format. After which I realized, I didn't like writing screen plays. Too technical and restrained for my taste.
So I took a stab at writing a novel (but it wasn't Product of an Illusion), but while I was writing it, I was thinking, man I really wish I was writing what would become Product. So I finished up that first novel, and with some experience under my belt I eventually turned Product of an Illusion into a novel. It had more depth than the screen play, a bigger cast, and was more what I had always wanted it to be. I let that novel marinade for awhile, and realized it needed to be redone. And now I'm almost done rewriting it. My life for the past five years has been all about Maya, Fabian, Laila, Grandpa Miles, etc...
All that's left is to write an ending for Product of an Illusion- a complex escape scene that involves five different "forces." There's a lot of choreographing involved, and it kind of bogged me down, and basically I stopped writing for the past 9 days.
So the weirdest thing happened... this idea started tickling my brain. You need to write about what you know. You need to write about ice skating. I told the bug to leave.
Ice skating. Whatever.
That's been my life for like 18 years....its mundane.... nobody would want to read about that. Besides I've got Maya, Fabian, Miles, Bernard, Laila, etc...to think about. Just leave me alone idea.
Then yesterday my filming crew (which is composed of ice skaters) and I were driving back from Louisville. So in passing I said, "You know what I want to write my next book about?"
And Marissa (who is also a beta reader) blurted out, "But, what about this book. Aren't you going to finish it?"
Alex, who read the first version of Product, said, "You're going to write the sequel of course."
"Well, yeah. I'm going to do those thing. But, I was thinking about also writing this...."
And they LOVED it. They said they would definitely want to read the idea I pitched. I was floored. I couldn't believe that two people who live and breathe ice skating would want to read a book focused around it, amongst other things.
So I got back home at 1 am and all these ideas started attacking my brain. I lay in bed and all these different scenes assaulted my head. And I realized I was being abducted by a muse!
So while in bed, i jotted down a list of different scenes last night on my iPhone and did a basic outline. And then this morning the first thing I did when I woke up was write the first chapter of my new WIP As the Ice Melts.
It feels so good to be writing again! AND I actually feel like I can go back and handle the ending for Product. I finally understand why and how people write different projects.
Do you guys just stick with one project or do you work on multiple things simultaneously? Do you think it's beneficial or does it just produce a bunch of scattered, unfinished WIPs?
Don't forget to add on to our totally awesome story about Dorian here.
Look who got a blog. I did! Be proud.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have such a focus that while I have another idea simmering right now that is DEMANDING attention, I am staying focused on my current project, and enjoying letting the new idea simmer for a bit.
ReplyDeleteItching to write it, but not until I query the new one...
I can only focus on one thing at a time, definitely.
ReplyDeleteRE: writing about what you know... even if you weren't writing a story about ice-skating, you could always incorporate it on the side in other pieces(e.g., your MC in a paranormal romance could be training to be a skater).
Screenplays - way too much white space.
ReplyDeleteI get the occasional case of the infidelities. When I do, I try to make them one-night stands. Yes I know, I'm such a slut. I write short stories to satisfy my need for a little variety. And it doesn't take long before I'm back to my main squeeze.
I don't like to get distracted either, but when Miss Muse flutters her eyelashes...
ReplyDeleteAs a linear thinker, I usually have to complete one project before begining another. As a matter of fact, when forced to multitask, I feel like the jack of all trades, but master of none.
ReplyDeleteSince begining my novel, however, I have discovered that sometimes re-direction is necessary. For instance, while engrossed in writing a scene in the 16th century Mayan jungle, I came to a point where I just couldn't go any further.
I needed a break from all things Mayan. So instead, I transferred my energy into writing some chapters in the twenty-first century. A month or so later, when I returned to the original section, my words flowed like an unstoppable river and I completed the chapter in no time.
What I'm working on: 2 blogs, 20 more poems to finish the manuscript, a memoir, a children's book commissioned for a baby to be born in January, a how-to book on entertaining AND I just got a paying gig profiling authors for a local magazine, not to mention Christmas cards and love letters. I didn't know writers could work on only one thing at a time.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think you're right. it is difficult for a writer to complete just one project. However, no one says you have to like multitasking. I recently accepted a freelance job for a local women's magazine. Although I know this will further my career, I'd rather hide in my writing cave and work on my book:)
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