Shifting Focus
I was talking with my friend Jen and I had an epiphany -- I'm really not doing everything I can to get published. I've got one novel out there and a whole backlog of first drafts sitting on various hard drives, and even if The Coming Storm gets published, well, that's it. That's all I've got ready to go.
As of now, all my publication hopes rest one the strength of one novel. True, when Unlocked is published it'll go up to two -- but I've got tons of first drafts that are doing me no good where they are, and my primary focus is producing more first drafts?
So I decided on a plan. I'm calling it "Ten by '10" and it's pretty much what it sounds like. Having ten manuscripts out there by the end of 2010 -- which is coming faster then I could have imagined.
I've got one out there so far this year, and my own personal deadline for Unlocked. That's two for 2007. Another two in 2008 (probably Jecine and CoSaD, but that's open to change) ought to help me consolidate my skills, so that I can try for 3 each in '09 and 2010. That's ten books right there, ten manuscripts making the rounds.
(Assuming, of course, that one of them doesn't hit before then. I'd love it to -- I'd love to believe that TCS will get picked up by DAW. If I get a "yes" then all bets are off; my schedule shifts to handle any revisions on the accepted book as the first priority.)
The other thing I need to do is find out whether I can write from an outline, so that I can either say "yes" with confidence, or figure out a work-around. This doesn't have a fancy name or a goal beyond the outlining and writing of the "Something Borrowed" project; how I proceed after that depends on what I learn about myself in the process.
And, of course, I do still need to work on first drafts -- they're where the "fun" comes in. I know I'm risking burnout here -- I'll have to be careful to maintain a balance, with both writing and non-writing creative activities, plenty of exercise, and of course the Morning Pages to keep that from happening.
I'm just arrogant enough to think I can pull it off.
As of now, all my publication hopes rest one the strength of one novel. True, when Unlocked is published it'll go up to two -- but I've got tons of first drafts that are doing me no good where they are, and my primary focus is producing more first drafts?
So I decided on a plan. I'm calling it "Ten by '10" and it's pretty much what it sounds like. Having ten manuscripts out there by the end of 2010 -- which is coming faster then I could have imagined.
I've got one out there so far this year, and my own personal deadline for Unlocked. That's two for 2007. Another two in 2008 (probably Jecine and CoSaD, but that's open to change) ought to help me consolidate my skills, so that I can try for 3 each in '09 and 2010. That's ten books right there, ten manuscripts making the rounds.
(Assuming, of course, that one of them doesn't hit before then. I'd love it to -- I'd love to believe that TCS will get picked up by DAW. If I get a "yes" then all bets are off; my schedule shifts to handle any revisions on the accepted book as the first priority.)
The other thing I need to do is find out whether I can write from an outline, so that I can either say "yes" with confidence, or figure out a work-around. This doesn't have a fancy name or a goal beyond the outlining and writing of the "Something Borrowed" project; how I proceed after that depends on what I learn about myself in the process.
And, of course, I do still need to work on first drafts -- they're where the "fun" comes in. I know I'm risking burnout here -- I'll have to be careful to maintain a balance, with both writing and non-writing creative activities, plenty of exercise, and of course the Morning Pages to keep that from happening.
I'm just arrogant enough to think I can pull it off.