My Plans for the Future
Oh, yes, dear reader... we're doing this again...
That’s right, folks! I have yet another plan going forward... and no, I don't think it'll stop here. I’m absolutely incorrigible when it comes to both making and failing plans, then adjusting them so I can make them fit into my schedule or help increase my productivity without putting too much more work into it. Consolidating everything into manageable tasks.
I don’t like going into things without a plan, of going into the unknown and conquering the deep end of the pool without a floaty.
Water wings = Zoey’s besties.
So here’s my current plan — and be forewarned that they will most likely be changing… and if they don’t, then everyone needs to give a hoot and holler because it means I’ve finally found something that works.
Trial and error.
I can only hope this is encouraging to the members of the writing community who don’t know quite where they fit in, what plans work for them, and don’t know how to orchestrate things and keep on a set schedule.
You don’t have to stick with one particular method if it isn’t working.
That doesn’t mean you can just wobble around without any destination, though, switching things up without any logic or intention.
When I change up the pattern, it is because I’ve figured out a thing that’s not working, and I’ve figured out a way to at least attempt to fix that thing.
In this case, the thing that’s not quite working for me is the lack of completion. I need to have the slight rush provided by completing a task. While my multi-project working will make it to where I have a bigger rush later on, it doesn’t help me out right now.
But on to the plan!
PROJECTS
Xenith
I’m thinking this will probably end up being a trilogy, though I’m going to wait until I get through this current draft of the whole rest of “Book 2” before I make an actual decision… even though it very well may end up being like 150-200k before I’m said and done. Or at least bearing the potential to become that length. (My drafts usually grow by at least 25%. Sometimes even 50%.
I want the first drafts to be as polished as possible, and I’m hoping I can cut it down to first draft, second draft, then the AFT (almost-final draft), which will require only a few scenes being printed out again and edited for flaws. Because my best/only actually good editing happens on paper.
I can’t even apologize lol.
Tidesinger
My goal is to start querying this around the summertime. Maybe the beginning of the school year, but hopefully it won’t take too long. Definitely before October, at least.
All of this is very unsure, if you can’t tell.
Project M (& D)
These are a couple of faintly interconnected standalones I came up with because I knew I would need a break from Xenith at some point, and I was having a phase where I kind of wanted to pretend that Tidesinger didn’t exist.
We’ve gotten past that phase now, thanks to an impromptu query letter.
Now I’m going to be working on really preparing these in the background until I start querying Tidesinger. After that, the place Tidesinger filled in between various Xenith drafts will be filled by these projects. I think that’s a good plan. (Lol I feel so smart haha.)
The Plan
I’m going to be switching between projects every draft, making sure to get as much distance between myself and each finished draft so I can give it my genuinely best work — but I still want to be productive during that time because, to be frank, I can’t really afford massive month-long breaks.
Done it before, and I can’t let myself do it again. The lack of desire to write was so intense I didn’t write for a really long time.
I don’t want to inundate you with the whole plan in blinding detail, so I’ll just break it down into phases.
Finish Tidesinger — Two drafts of this, two drafts of Xenith
Finish Project M — Three drafts of this, three drafts of Xenith
Finish Xenith — Two or so “drafts” of this, two drafts of Project D
Finish Project D — Like one draft
Well, now that I’ve broken it down like that, I think I’ll go into some protocol. Oh, boy!
Some Simple Rules…
I’ve learned some things about my writing process over the past many, many years of writing, and I wish to actually implement those as I truly start on this massive endeavor.
First of all, if I’m not fully invested in a project, dedicated to it and ecstatic to get back to the characters, then I’m not going to be able to work on it — sometimes at all.
So what I’m going to do is, when I switch to a project, I’m going to pick something to associate with it. For Tidesinger, I’m going to listen to the soundtrack of Abzu. I already have a “playlist” for Xenith, but it isn’t really that story-accurate, and I wouldn’t want to share it. It’s just a thing that makes me think of Xenith.
Once I’ve fallen back in love with the story via music association and reading whatever material is there, I’ll be able to fully engage with the story and have a healthy-ish, loving relationship with my work.
I’m also not going to dabble between projects. I’m not going to fiddle with Xenith while I’m working on Tidesinger, and I’m not going to brainstorm for Project M while I’m in the slog of whatever draft of Xenith I’m on. Because I know that if I switch between them so quickly like I have been, I won’t get real work done on any of them. I’m tragically learning that I unfortunately do not work like that.
Though don’t get me wrong. I would love to be able to work like that.
The only exception to this is fanfiction, though I haven’t done much on that for at least six months, and it’s still just private. I just want to leave it here in case I want to work on it at some point later, over the summer — so I can reference back to this article and be like “okay, I’m allowed to do that.”
Not that I’ll be all that eager to stop myself.
Ah, well.
CONCLUSION
I know it might be starting to get tedious (*blink, blink* we’re doing this again?), but making plans is how I work best — and so far this one is looking like it’ll work. Not that I’ve actually made any real headway other than three chapters and a whole lot of outlining.
But I digress.
I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful, productive writing or drawing or painting or working or cleaning day — I know I didn’t cover everything, but we’ll throw an etc. in there to cover for what I missed. It’s been a pleasure to share my writing experiences with you, and I hope it brings at least one of you some small measure of inspiration.
Bye-bye!
