Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Putting Hold on First Drafts

As much as I love writing new novels, there comes a time when I need to get focused on a few novels in order to get my goals accomplished. Plus, I work so much my writing time is very limited, so I made the decision.

While I'm working two jobs, no more working on first drafts. I need to focus my limited time on the novels that are past the first draft stage. Plus I figured that the adult mutant series would be okay if it is sent out sooner instead of later. That's encouraging at least.

Novels I will work on:
Standing Ground
Tattle Tell
Hellenic Distractions



Do you work on more than one project?
How do you find balance with work, writing and other life things?

4 comments:

Heidi W said...

I always work on more than one project. I like to try and write some part of a first draft everyday, even if I am deep in editing something else and can only plunk down a few hundred words.

But first drafts always tend to take over. I get excited about finishing them and whatever I'm editing gets pushed aside. Sometimes I think I need to be like you and decide to just focus on the already drafted. But at the same time, if I'm really sailing along with a rough draft, then I don't want to stop and possibly get stalled on it.

It's a hard balance!

Eric W. Trant said...

Lord help you, and help me, too.

I work a day job. I have my own company, which is a night and weekend job.

I have an 8mo son.

I have eleven and ten year old kids.

I have a wife and an ex-wife and child support.

I try to write every day, sans weekends which are too dang packed and would only frustrate me if I tried to wedge in my words.

I try to work out, stay in decent shape, so my body is healthy enough to kill with alcohol. It's a trade-off, and probably an even trade at that.

Yes, I balance. I said to my Pop a while back that this life is too short for me to get in all I want to get in.

So I do the best I can.

That's all you can do.

I don't sleep much. But hey, you got a lot of time to sleep when you're dead, huh.

- Eric

Emily R. King said...

Good for you! It's always good to have a goal. Sometimes I think new book ideas fit under "the grass is greener on the other side" theory. We think if we write another story it'll be better than the last, but we don't finish that first story, which is probably just as good as the second. Does that make sense? LOL! Anyhoo, good luck1

Dawn Embers said...

Heidi Windmiller - Thanks for the comment. I always write on more than one project, but the editing is new to me. And I have so many ideas that I want to write, it's hard to pick most of the time. Balance is hard to achieve.

Eric W. Trant - Wow, you are busy. I don't have kids or even a relationship, so it's more not used to working so much is making me physically exhausted. I need sleep and it helps me in my writing, so I won't wait till I'm dead. ;-)

Emily Rittel-King - Thanks. For me it's not so much of a grass being greener, I love all my ideas no matter where I stand on them. It's hard to fit them all in and I keep getting more ideas. But if I never rewrite/edit, all of the first drafts won't get me very far. So, it's good to try and focus occasionally.

Fun

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