On Saturday morning I came up with the idea I want my next, next project to be about (after Unicorns & Satellites, and after the Time Travel Noir story) and this morning the story began to take shape in the form of the initial plot/conflict, and my two main characters as well as some tangential ideas and themes to develop around them.
I began thinking to myself that I should take some time today to write out a basic “thesis” and overview of the idea, and that this could precede my initial proofreading of Five Talents, which itself is taking priority over a final proof read of Beneath the Wood as I get read for a print publication of that story.
I have a lot on my plate (never mind the whole full-time office job schtick I was getting ready for this morning while the aforementioned story started developing in my mind). Simply put, I did a quick mental breakdown of the aforementioned tasks, their relative priority levels, and my capability/importance to be the one handling each.
Of course, new writing is something only I can do, vis a vis drafting. Editing and proof-reading is absolutely something I should take responsibility for when I churn out a rough draft before anyone else is subjected to my work. However, as I noted in my Collaboration piece last week, I do recognize where my strengths are- at best- middling.
In order to best pursue my projects, and tackle the mountain of work I’ve dedicated myself to, I need to break down everything into steps, and start considering where certain steps can be supported by friends and other professionals.
To that end, since Beneath the Wood is something I’ve read end to end for copy edits six times already, and since there are apparently still typos and missing words, I have to admit there may be better people to handle a final polish on my work- and not only better in terms of capability, but better in that it allows me to move forward on my focused strengths: writing and editing for concept/characters.
To that end, I’ve asked a friend of mine- a professional writer who blogs for WaPo and has an MFA behind her to boot- to do a final copy edit of Beneath the Wood. As with my cover artist, if any writers out there want a precise and detailed copy editor for their work, I have someone to recommend.
In the meantime, my advice for today is this: have a plan, and play to your strengths. You can be Superman and do everything yourself, or you can be a member of the Justice League and yada yada- you see where that metaphor is going.
Stay at your grinds people.
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