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The Passage of Time (Photo credit: ToniVC)
If you’re like me, you have more than enough challenge in an average day to keep you occupied for a lifetime. Or so it seems.
At the moment I have too many limping, yet-to-be polished and submitted projects to count. How did I get to this stage? It’s simple. I have too many ideas than time to get them written, rewritten, polished, and out the door. That’s how. I get them to the rewrite stage and before I can complete the process, Squirrel——–>>>>
But I’m making a determined effort to change that habit or what I like to call “my little work dysfunction.”
This change has been about habit breaking and forming behaviors. I’ve talked about taking one unfinished WIP from the hard drive and getting it subbed before taking on another from the same personal slush pile.
I’m taking on at least three each week for the moment. When I get faster at the process, and more confident of my method, I want to increase that rate to one a day on small projects and one a week on larger ones. For those book-length ones, the time frame stretches to accommodate.
While I’m clearing that personal slush pile, I write down each new idea in a notebook to hold for later. I write enough info about the idea to ensure that I can recall it in its entirety—usually one paragraph—and set it aside. Each of these ideas has been for short stories or flash fiction. Poetry comes as it will all the time anyway.
What good does it do to write down these ideas and then put them away?
It allows a cooling period. You’re saying “Huh?” When I can go back and pick up that notebook, looking for a new project, I’ll have plenty to choose from. But more than that, if I can’t bring back to mind the entirety of an idea, I can scratch it off and let it go. I don’t have to feel guilty for not pursuing it.
And there you have it. The poetry chapbook that I’m working on now is halfway completed. I still have two weeks to get it ready for submission. An hour or two a day gives me enough time to make changes on it while working on other necessary items.
My editorial calendar looks different from its usual scatter and concentrated effort. It’s been streamlined. That’s an excellent change to make in a few weeks, especially when productivity is up.
Yep, I’m going to like this change of work habits. I hope your own projects are purring along nicely. Drop a comment here and share your trials, successes, and fruitful changes.
A bientot,
Claudsy
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
