Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Knowing What to Write Next

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And no... I am not talking about Sudoku. I am talking about scheduling, people. You know time management. Knowing what you will be doing in the future. A variation of divination, in which you sort of know, but can't expect to turn out quite the way you want it. In December I made a vow to never let time slip between my fingers. I wanted to mine it, hone my craft with it, spread myself over all the world [as far as the Internet allows, that is - Ed.] and since then I am fixated with keeping schedules: daily ones, weekly ones, blog themed ones, social event ones, reading ones and of course writing ones. Now, I am not going to talk about the importance of managing time in regards to writing. If you are not published and have several contracts on your head, then you can probably slouch a bit.

Instead, here is what I plan to do month by month in the remainder of 2010:

June: Work on "Lungs" collection.
July - September [incl.]: Draft "Wind Whispers" & edit "Crimson Cacophony"
October: Work on "Lungs" collection. Leave "Crimson Cacophony" with alphas/betas.
November: Work on "Lungs" collection. Final edits for "Crimson Cacophony", if alpha is ready. Otherwise jump on the two month edit on "Wind Whispers".
December: So far this last month is tricky. Most likely I will be editing a novel and hopefully will have finished with the "Lungs" collection. No novel length to start at the time. I plan on plotting a sequel for "Crimson Cacophony" called "Devised in Debris" and tackle some undone shorts.

Yes, I know that this is back breaking load of work and since I have not ever edited a novel, I am not sure whether I will be slow or puzzled as to how to tackle things. Nobody knows what else can pop up, but I prefer to have goals. Even if I achieve the half of this I would be happy. I also need to know what I will be writing, because I have poor memory and too many ideas written as series. Not ideal, when you have limited time and are not sure whether you can sell anything to begin with. And I am not C.E. Murphy to work on four series simultaneously.

What about you? Do you choke your creativity in these restraints?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is a lot. I've just decided I need to get more organised - with work, uni and writing to do, I need to get stricter with myself. Seeming as my uni finishes for the summer I have scheduled the ten week break to work exclusively on one current project - with daily and weekly word goals! I've never set goals before so it will be interesting to see how it goes. But I need to stop being so precious about writing and just learn to write rather than idling and waiting for my muse to tap me on the shoulder.

Anyway, good luck with your goals! And congrats on finishing the first draft of Crimson Cacophany.

Charles Gramlich said...

These days I almost always know what I'm going to write next. I have a couple of long term projects working. What throws off my schedule is the unexpected opportunities, some of which I hate to neglect but which interfere with other projects already rolling.

Harry Markov said...

@ Rachel: Oh yeah, I was like that. Is my muse on? No, not really. Then why the heck bother. :D But seeing as the uni is the easiest time for me to do writing and the likes, I am all for pushing it, until graduation and see what happens.

Harry Markov said...

@ Charles: I am glad to see fellow schedulers. :D I know about the opportunities. They pop in my head and they tease, but I am determined to add more structure and go about publishing from a more strategic angle.

Tessa said...

I have a long term plan that extends over the next year or two. I can't imagine not having one. Hmm I can see this turning into a blog post. It's probably time for a 6 month check in.

Harry Markov said...

Hah, I am very thrilled to have so many schedulers on board. And having check-ups is vital. I can easily see this turning into a series of blog posts to be frank. :D