Been doing some cogitating about my writing struggles. I decided to sit down with my Muse and see if we could hash out something that will help us work together to get all this stuff out of my head.
I’ve got a long, long list of projects, going back decades, of various things I want to write. I was looking it over and I think there may be a few things I can let go, or at least push further down the list in priority. I’m a different person now than when I put them on the list. My tastes have changed and I’d like to think I’ve matured a little over the decades. That may not be apparent should I write all the B movie ideas I have on the list.
I think I need to pick out three to five projects and work on them. I know me, and my Muse, and I think having multiple projects running at the same time will keep me in check as we jump from project to project. I’ve got mental churn and the Muse is always chasing ‘shiny new objects’. If I get tied of working on one project, I can switch over to one of the other projects then work on it for a while. Yes, there is the potential that I will start projects and never get to the end of them. I figure if I get to the end of one of them, that means I can add another new project to the mix, which should keep my Muse happy. Hopefully that will give her the motivation to complete projects.
I was a programmer when working in Corporate America, so it occurs to me that I need to develop a system that will let me produce and publish fiction. When I programmed, I had a system for writing code and getting it into production. I’d start with wireframing, sort of an outline of the web app I was going to build. I could show it to my client and get their feedback, making changes to the parts that didn’t match what they wanted. Once it was the way the client wanted it, I could break each part down to the segments of code I was going to write. This gave me a design document to follow. I knew each segment would take abut 15 minutes to write and test the code, then put it altogether and do testing of the whole webapp. I could generate an estimate based on this system and let the client know how much it would cost to build the webapp. I’d write the code, test it, push it out to production, get paid.
It’d be great to have a system like that for writing fiction. Generate an outline for the book I want to write, figure out how long it will take me to write each segment, then write the story based on that ‘design document’. Once the book was finished, I could hand it off to an editor, get feedback, make any necessary revisions, then get it formatted and ready for publication. Then I’d have to create a cover and write the copy to go on the back cover (the stuff you read to see if you wat to buy the book while you’re standing around in the bookstore browsing. Or browsing online for eBooks these days). Then I’d need a system for getting the book distributed to ebook marketplaces and for print editions to be done.
All easier said than done, to be sure. But if I can start figuring out the system and get it set up, hopefully it will build the momentum to keep it going. Sort of like a flywheel. Then I might have a shot at getting all the stories written and out of my head.
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