There’s nothing quite like starting a new job (or having a baby or buying a house or…) to throw a wrench into one’s writing schedule. As you no doubt read in earlier posts, I have been suffering a bout of writing doldrums that I only just started to drag myself out of. No sooner do I begin that fight than massive change hits.
Don’t get me wrong, the change is a good one. It means working in my field again for a company that already seems pretty awesome. My co-workers are all very helpful/friendly and I actually get to read again (something I sorely missed).
Still, there is something inherently stressful in a new job. You want to make a good impression and learn as much as you can as quickly as you can to be useful.
That can make writing a more interesting (see difficult) prospect. If your mind is somewhere else, can you devote the appropriate level of brainpower to your story and characters?
It is a juggling act and only one of many for those of us who can’t yet write full-time (Full-time writers have their own balls to juggle). So how should I handle it? Should I step back and wait for things to settle or simply plow forward and write even though I know the prose won’t be my best?
It is mighty tempting to chose plan “A” and sit back to wait. Unfortunately, if I were to do that, I don’t believe I would ever write again; there is always something competing for my time.
That means I’ve got to push on and keep putting words to page. The good thing about that plan is it can be therapeutic to write out frustrations (for me, at least). The other thing that is perhaps less good (or more depending on your point of view) is that I have so many projects on the horizon that I simply have to keep going or I’ll never get done. I suppose that is a good problem to have – more ideas than time to execute them.
I know, everytime I go to a Scout Camp I come back with another story that needs writing. The past three camps I have taken to telling the Scouts stories by the fire. The first camp I came up with “Boy Scouts of the Apocalypse” which is sitting at 6,000 words in length currently. That story definitely needs attention.
The second camp (a Cub camp this time) I told the story of “Fluffy the Zombie Cat”. It was more of a younger kids story and I am thinking it would make a great story for that audience. I have already talked to an online friend of mine who happens to be an artist about working together on the story. I’ve started writing it down and it sits at about 500 words. I expect it will top out at about 4,000.
The last camp, in fact the camp I was at last weekend, I told the story of “The Abominable Snow Slasher”. The Snow Slasher is a mythical creature that has an unpleasant fixation with the color red. I tried recording the story so I could transcribe it, but something went wrong. Still, I would love to write it too so there is another project on the slate. Considering I have one more camp this month, I will have four stories to worry about.
That’s not even touching on “Mik Murdoch” edits and my “Secret Project” which will be coming to light very soon. Oh yeah and that little self-publishing venture I want to launch in May.
*Whew* With all that, maybe I should stop feeling sorry for myself and get back to work. 😉
