Wednesday, May 28, 2008

My Muse Has Attention Deficit Disorder


I don't know about you, but I can't seem to work on only one book at a time. But I just took inventory of my flash drive and realize I have five--FIVE--books in process. In all fairness, the first draft of one is complete, but needs to be trimmed by about 3,000 words. The others are anywhere from two to seven chapters in length, so far.

Coming up with ideas is not my problem. Keeping those ideas straight and on track is becoming an issue. It's like trying to walk five leashed, and poorly trained, puppies at one time.

When faced with multiple story ideas, how do you decide which one to run with first? And, once you do, how do you set those other tempting little nuggets aside for the future?

It's been my practice to work on two books at the same time. I find that it keeps my imagination flowing and staves off writer's block. But five works in progress seem to be a bit much. It can lead to a different type of writer's block, when you become so immersed in several stories that you can't focus on any one of them.

So, what do you do when your muse develops ADD and drags you in five directions at once?

Linda (who is covering her ears and singing, "la, la, la, la" while she works on ONE book.) :)