{"id":1463,"date":"2019-07-28T15:59:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-28T19:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/?p=1463"},"modified":"2019-07-28T15:59:04","modified_gmt":"2019-07-28T19:59:04","slug":"new-vs-old-how-to-best-use-limited-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/28\/new-vs-old-how-to-best-use-limited-time\/","title":{"rendered":"New vs. Old: How to Best Use Limited Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p> $\"\"$ Most writers I know aren\u2019t only writers. They\u2019re also working professionals in a variety of other fields. They are parents, siblings, spouses, friends, neighbors. They have everyday obligations that can\u2019t be put on hold or neglected. Time to write, when it can be found, is golden.\n

So when a writer has more ideas than they do time, choosing between projects can be a challenge. Most writers I know speak of this, and each has their own way of prioritizing between their various works.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve not had this problem so much. My only large project has been my current work-in-progress (tentative title \u201cThe Founder\u2019s Seed\u201d). Everything else I\u2019ve written falls into the short-story or even flash category, so it\u2019s been easy to put \u201cSeed\u201d aside for a day or two when I needed a change of fictional scenery.<\/p>\n

That all changed about a month ago, when a really awesome idea for a new story fell on me like a ton of bricks. Not a series, just a single, standalone novel. I even have a tentative working title: \u201cEntheophage.\u201d This idea is huge. Ginormous. Timely. Badass. I can\u2019t wait to get started on it.<\/p>\n

Except now I face a dilemma. (Run program entitled \u201cProject Delay.\u201d)<\/p>\n

I envy other writers who are able to do work on major projects concurrently. That\u2019s not my strength. A short story, yes. But not another whole novel. Not one like \u201cPhage.\u201d So I had to choose between them.<\/p>\n

It was a hard decision, because \u201cPhage\u201d is an opportune story for our current world. I don\u2019t want to say too much yet, but its subject matter is very big RIGHT NOW. If I wait even a year, it might be too late. (I doubt it, but I don\u2019t want to take that chance.) Timing is critical.<\/p>\n

At the same time, \u201cSeed\u201d is my first novel. I\u2019ve already been working on it for many years. I want to give $\"\"$ it every chance at publication. I met a fellow writer only yesterday who said she\u2019d been weeks away from shelving her WIP, only to have an agent who had already rejected the idea\u2014but had moved to a new agency\u2014reach out to her about that same manuscript. Now, my new writer friend has a publisher and her book is due out in 2020. How exciting for her! Hearing this, I feel a sense of loyalty to \u201cSeed,\u201d and don\u2019t want to \u201ctrunk\u201d it too soon.<\/p>\n

In the end, I decided to finish the one I started first, for two reasons.<\/p>\n

First, I\u2019m oh-so-close to having a queryable draft of \u201cSeed.\u201d My biggest focus at this point is cutting away the fat. It\u2019s now down to 113K words, and it needs to be no more than 105K. So there\u2019s work to be done in the red-pen department. I\u2019m about to start on another round of those revisions, which will take maybe a week or two.<\/p>\n

Second, \u201cPhage\u201d will be a medical science fiction, with perhaps a few fantasy aspects thrown in. I want it to be as realistic as possible, to skate so close to the edge of reality and fantasy that it\u2019s difficult to tell which is which. I want readers to Google elements they read in Phage because it was so realistic and believable, they think it could reflect bleeding-edge scientific discoveries.<\/p>\n

The problem is that I am no medical professional. I know nothing about neuroscience, biotechnology, big pharma, or any of the other fields that will inform this story. More to the point, I don\u2019t yet have any expert resources on whom I can call. I\u2019ve made a few initial attempts to reach out to doctors and specialists who\u2019ve written papers or articles online about related topics, but only a few responded. Even those who did never got back to me after hearing my basic premise, but I suspect that\u2019s only because I didn\u2019t explain it clearly enough and now they think I\u2019m some sort of lunatic. Basically, I need to find someone I can speak to face-to-face, and that\u2019s going to take time. I\u2019m thinking a first draft of \u201cPhage\u201d could take 3-4 months. Maybe. If I\u2019m lucky.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve set \u201cPhage\u201d on the back burner for the time being. I\u2019ve made copious notes, character profiles, basic outline, the foundations that will help me reboot the creative process once I can devote my attention to it. I\u2019ve chosen a tentative setting (Austin, Texas), a tentative time-frame (contemporary), and a tentative ending (which is also badass). I\u2019m not worried the idea will wither. Not at all. It haunts me. Hell, I even dream about it.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ While that concept percolates, I\u2019ll make another run through \u201cSeed\u201d, mark it up, and revise, then re-print and set it aside for maybe a month. During that four-week period, I\u2019ll be free to reach out to experts at the universities nearby, and perhaps one or two of those in and around Austin, in search of others to whom I can turn for information to feed \u201cPhage.\u201d Establishing those resources will be an essential first step.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I find myself caught in one or the other of those worlds much of the time. I\u2019m either on Iridos or Haraj\u00fcd with my \u201cSeed\u201d characters, or I\u2019m in Austin with my \u201cPhage\u201d characters. I wonder, lately, what friends and family think when they ask me a question and it takes me a few seconds to even register that they\u2019ve spoken to me. I suppose getting lost in one\u2019s created worlds\/stories is part of the #WritingLife.<\/p>\n

Other writers\u2014how many projects do you have on the table right now? How do you choose which one deserves your focus most?<\/p>\n

All images courtesy of Pexels<\/a>. Handshake also courtesy of rawpixel.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"