One of the many whispered questions I hear writers asking other writers is: how do you know what to work on at any given time?
Iāve thought about my answer to this, and yeah, I donāt. š
Hereās what I do knowāIāve got a lot of manuscripts. A veritable CLOWN CAR of manuscripts.
Best case scenario: there is ONE Iām not entirely sick of yet. Then I work on that one!
But does that ever happen? NO.
Instead, what happens is nearly always the worst-case scenario(s):
I do not want to see any of them (possibly ever) again. Rareābut it does happen. When it does, I write something new. Case closed! š§āāļø
I want to work on a bakerās dozen of themāright now, simultaneously, possibly employing a time-turner. This is typically what happens. Readers, in case itās not already as evident as my frecklesāthis is not something I can actually do. (Sad country music plays, probably Garth Brooksās Much Too Young (to Feel This Damn Old); pan in on Elayne trudging and dragging a stick, creating a wavy, dusty line in the dirt behind her).
Howeverā¦I can work on a few a week? (Elayne breaks the stick across her knee and awkwardly attempts to mimic a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtleāassuming the TMNT in question has aged as she has. Siaās The Greatest (ft Kendrick Lamar) is now blaring.)
So, thatās what I usually do! I try to revise two before I write a new one, though sometimes (if a story idea is coming in hot), I definitely drop everything and giddyup! (Youāve got to ride the inspiration when you can!)
What does that look like? Most weeks, I try to:
revise one picture book manuscript that has been around the block but isnāt quite there. (If Iām truly stuck, Iāll pick one discrete element to focus onāmaybe humor or verbsāand see if that helps.)
revise one newer picture book manuscript in some way. (These are always fun because they still have fresh energy flowing about them.)
either write something new, or finish/attempt to finish a proper draft. (Usually, finishing a āproper draftā means turning a negative first or zeroth draft into something I feel I can share sooner rather than later.)
This gives me a lot of variety while also fighting my natural tendency ONLY to write new (rough) things. Sometimes clowns pop out of the car (āta-da!ā), sometimes clowns get smushed back into the car (āget back in there, you!ā)ābut the vehicle is moving forwardāif sometimes at a baby elephantās pace.
How do you decide? Do you (like me) decide by sort ofā¦not deciding? (Or, at least, deciding to try a few thingsā¦?)
Your friend with a bulging, squirmy grab-bag of mutant stories,
Elayne
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Non-decision decisions are my life, sad to say