Once again in the Between Time. As I mentioned last week, the to-do list that accumulated while finishing my recent rewrite is not inconsiderable. I’m at the point where I can only address the stuff that’s on fire, or at least boiling merrily.
Item one: Proof a galley and return to editor. Check.
Item two: Respond to some correspondence regarding NASFiC programming. Check–albeit probably a bit too late. This pot boiled over.
Item three: Select a story for yesterday’s reading, and rehearse same. Check.
Item four: Give a reading. Check. Seemed to go over fairly well.
Somewhere in there, I managed to get a story back in circulation and do some prep for OSFest, which is this weekend.
Now, all of this sounds productive, and I suppose it wasn’t too bad–especially considering the scheduling minefield I had to navigate last week–but I have to confess that I’ve been mostly stressing over something that isn’t on that to-do list: starting my next novel. The reason it’s not on the list is that I don’t even know what it is yet. A few ideas have popped up, stuff worth exploring, but I’m not sure if any novels are in there.
Why is this stressing me so? Because a few years back, I set a goal of writing a novel a year, every year until I drop. I’m three for three since then, and that’s cool. But here it is mid-July, and I haven’t even started making any story notes yet. I do 20K a month when drafting, so I still have time for a 100K novel . . . but only if I start in August. Which is–lemme check my calendar–12 days away.
Right.
See what I’m getting at? This goal is really important to me, and I’m on the verge of blowing it. Meanwhile, all these other, smaller pots are boiling over. What’s a boy to do?
Take a chill pill, I guess. Writing the new novel is important, but so is selling some of the older ones. I haven’t hit that task anywhere near as hard as I should be. Might as well address that problem while waiting for the new novel to percolate. Who knows? I might still make my goal. I have a trick or two up my sleeve.
So it’s back to the list for me, and hope for the best.
No updates for Write Club.
Let’s see . . . what’s next?
