Someone once said, "If you try to be everywhere, you won't get anywhere."
This is a mantra that I would benefit from applying to several aspects of my life.
For this entry, I will focus how it pertains specifically to my writing, I have fallen into the pitfall of starting several projects and leaving them unfinished. Currently, I am working on rewrites for the "Dead Man's Breath" sequel and that, of course, is my main priority. To break up the monotony, I am doing research on a non-fiction book that I am very excited about, although I anticipate it will take years to complete.
I also have two fiction books that I have started. One is the third Clay Sullivan book and I have written four chapters of it so far. The other is not a mystery, but rather an in-depth story about the relationships of three friends over the course of three decades. I have only written three chapters on this one. I anticipate this will be a long book, so three chapters is but a drop in the bucket.
As the informercials say....but wait, there's more!
I have four short stories in various stages of completion. The short story format is something that I have not had any success in getting published yet and I am eager to change that. One of my goals is to have a story published in a very specific magazine. Until that happens, I will not be satisfied.
Additionally, whenever I have an idea for a book or story that I believe is worth working on, I sit down and outline the story, before I forget it. Some of these outlines are just a few fragmented sentences and some are ten pages of structured notes. As of this writing, I have nineteen such outlines.
A successful author that I enjoy detailed his writing ritual in a video and as long as my "day job" remains a necessity, I cannot mimic his schedule. However, I can be more consistent with the time I allocate to writing and I can and must work on one project until completed then move on to the next.
While I have more to say regarding "being everywhere", let's save it for my next entry.
To be continued....
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