I admit it. I’m a cheater; I sometimes ignore my current work in progress to play with a shiny new idea. I usually don’t play for long, because once I’m committed to a work I pretty much stick with it ‘til the end. But I can’t ignore new ideas. It’s not like I’m going to remember them after all. I HAVE to write them down.
That’s what happened to me yesterday. I had three shiny new ideas. Two of them had to do with sequels to Almost Paradise – mainly the when of it. Book three I decided would take place in 1776, and I narrowed book two down to 1821-30, when Greece fought for her independence. I’ve been wanting to explore the Greek Islands and this would be such a perfect excuse, don’t you think?
As for shiny idea #3, my son said this word while we were out doing errands and my brain immediately twisted it. He said the word 'ripper.' Here's what I got:
Rippers
1. What are they? Something unpleasant, something that does bad things.
2. Where did they come from?
3. Who is going to stand against them?
4. How will they be defeated?
5. When does this tale take place?
Will I ever write that story? I don't know. But I had to make a file for it - just a tiny one. Today however, it's back to revisions on Grimoire.
Are you a cheater? Care to confess who you cheated on and with whom?
Funny, I feel like a cheater when I get pulled away from working on my new WIP to go back and play with finished manuscripts -- or sequels to finished manuscripts, ahem!
ReplyDeleteHowdy Hello. I like having more than one thing to work on. It's like any other job, to me. Stuff has got to get done and it's just easier for me to have a balance than to be all or nothing.
ReplyDeletenow Dianne, you know I'm only acting in your best interest when I request more Threshold :)
ReplyDeleteHappy, I've never worked on two 'new' things at once, I find it easier to stay in character working on one thing at a time - although my other characters tempt me all the time...
I'm a total cheater! That said, I normally work on more than one project at a time. I usually have THE ONE which is first and foremost, but it's normal for me to also have one or two others going at the same time. On top of that I'll digress to write down ideas for new projects, or if something important comes to me in regards to either something I've already plotted or something that I'm working on. Perhaps my process will change when/if I'm ever published successfully enough to write full time, but right now I'm always fighting for time to write, so I can't bear not to have as much as possible going all the time.
ReplyDeleteI love "Rippers" - there are so many cool ways to go with that. I try not to cheat. I won't allow myself to leave my current work. If I get an idea, I'm allowed to write for no more than thirty minutes on it for ONE day. Then I have to set it aside and go back to the current work. Although, was NaNo cheating? I walked away from rewrites to write an entirely new book. GASP! I guess I do cheat. Oh, I feel horrible.
ReplyDeleteI get a lot of writing done, per week, so it's nice to do more than one project. I like that. Happy Holidays :-) Great to have found your blog.
ReplyDeleteHa! Jen! You're a cheater, too!
ReplyDeleteHappy Im glad you found my blog, too! And glad I found yours.
Happy Christmas all.