Collecting
A few years ago I decided to put my stories together into a collection. I pulled them out, lined them up, read the whole thing and walked away.
Too much work needed, not sure how to tackle it. Stories unfinished, stories needing revision, stories that will never make the cut.
Now I want to try again. I set up a calendar with a proposed finish time so that I can submit the book to some contests. I also started reading the work again. I have a fair amount of work to show for the last eight years. But the manuscript cannot go as is. I am sick of sitting on it. I am dead sick of not progressing. But the schedule for the months ahead is insanely not-doable. I would, for example, have to complete one big revision every two weeks. Some pieces are small and could, theoretically take less time, but others are gigantic. In the past I scheduled one per month and even that seemed insane.
How to proceed? I have four -- FOUR -- new stories that are in the works. Each is at a different stage of undress. And then there are all the really promising ones, which need completion or revision to really work. It's overwhelming just thinking about here -- how can I possibly make this get going? Should I just give up the deadline? Should I just work really really fast?
I read a little, get excited and hopeful, and then it crashes. There must be a way to work in a steady fashion. There must be.
Sometimes I think working fast is the only way ahead. Giving more time is getting me nowhere. What if I just had to write like a mad person? This is what cured my father -- if "cure" is the right word, since he was a procrastinator in the bone and that never left him. But it cured him of certain troubles with getting his writing done. He had short, two-week deadlines. They did something to him that helped. Two weeks. It has stuck with me all the years as the right amount of time. Three weeks means enough rope to hang yourself. I feel in my bones that life is passing me by. My children are practically gone and grown. And still I have no book. It cannot go on this way. It just can't.
Too much work needed, not sure how to tackle it. Stories unfinished, stories needing revision, stories that will never make the cut.
Now I want to try again. I set up a calendar with a proposed finish time so that I can submit the book to some contests. I also started reading the work again. I have a fair amount of work to show for the last eight years. But the manuscript cannot go as is. I am sick of sitting on it. I am dead sick of not progressing. But the schedule for the months ahead is insanely not-doable. I would, for example, have to complete one big revision every two weeks. Some pieces are small and could, theoretically take less time, but others are gigantic. In the past I scheduled one per month and even that seemed insane.
How to proceed? I have four -- FOUR -- new stories that are in the works. Each is at a different stage of undress. And then there are all the really promising ones, which need completion or revision to really work. It's overwhelming just thinking about here -- how can I possibly make this get going? Should I just give up the deadline? Should I just work really really fast?
I read a little, get excited and hopeful, and then it crashes. There must be a way to work in a steady fashion. There must be.
Sometimes I think working fast is the only way ahead. Giving more time is getting me nowhere. What if I just had to write like a mad person? This is what cured my father -- if "cure" is the right word, since he was a procrastinator in the bone and that never left him. But it cured him of certain troubles with getting his writing done. He had short, two-week deadlines. They did something to him that helped. Two weeks. It has stuck with me all the years as the right amount of time. Three weeks means enough rope to hang yourself. I feel in my bones that life is passing me by. My children are practically gone and grown. And still I have no book. It cannot go on this way. It just can't.