Personally, I consider drafting fresh writing and new work to be the “sexier” side of the writing gig. Editing is patient, self-immolating (albeit necessary) work but it’s the tedium to the sizzle that putting new words onto a blank page have in my opinion.
As I’ve made clear on this blog, I’m already looking forward to getting down to my next novel and turning a blank page into a stack of filled ones that tell a story. The truth of the matter is that Five Talents is still being shopped around, and as I’m shopping it around, I realize it can use another round of punch up and edits, so I’m back at that.
The good news in this restraint and delay is that in follow up to my D.C. trip that I wrote about, I came up with yet another idea for a possible novel. Above is a screenshot of my Google Drive (I do all my writing in Drive, it makes it easier to hop from one computer to another and not mix up where I am in a draft). The blue “Published” folder currently has only Beneath the Wood in it. I highlight my current project (Five Talents in this case) in red, since that one is still under edits and being shopped to agents.
Yellow is boring, so let’s skip that, but all the green folders? Those are different novel ideas I’ve had that are more than just idle scribbles to myself in my moleskine. Each of those green folders has at least an outline or even a character map inside of it.
The “Good Problem to Have” that I reference in this title, is that I have a lot to choose from in terms of where I go and what I work on next, and I’m not totally sure which one to go with. In this case, I’m under no deadline but my own. I’m moving steadily along with Five Talents editing and querying, and I’ll make my decision by the time it’s necessary. For now, I’m focused on finishing my editing and querying so what I do next doesn’t change that just yet.
Patience is sometimes the right approach. I do try to approach my writing with a level of discipline as if it were my full time job, but it is still and will always primarily be art that I’m passionate for.
You can’t rush passion.
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