Accomplishments, Goals, and Distractions

Does anyone else ever feel like you're working and working but nothing seems any closer to being done?  It can be a discouraging feeling, to say the least.  That's how I feel right now about a lot of things, but maybe concentrating on what I have accomplished will make me feel better.  

At least I know what my end goal is, and I know what I need to get done for this week. I'm on track with my blog posts this week too.  I put together my Tuesday post before I even started on this one for Monday.  Maybe you shouldn't be too impressed though. The post for Tuesday is a piece of flash fiction I wrote a couple of months ago, so it took a minimum of effort to put that one together.  I already wrote and posted my flash piece, which I called Dynamic Duo, for Flash Fiction Flourish.  I plan to expand on that story for my flash piece on Friday, and I already have some ideas for that in the works.  The only post I'm not sure of is the one I have scheduled for Wednesday, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

As for the rest of my writing, I know how I need to prioritize the week.  My story "The Dream Factory" still needs work, and that's high on my priority list.  I also have a time travel story I've been considering for awhile, so I hope to get a start on that.  I'll try to focus most of my energy on those, working on each one as inspiration allows.  

If I hit a roadblock with both stories, I'll move on to my edits on my story "The Absurdity."  Some of you may remember that I did that one as a serialized story.  For those of you who don't know it, you can check out the first installment HERE.  I inserted links to lead you on to the following installments.  Or, if you prefer, I have the whole thing on its own PAGE.  My plan for this story is to edit the parts together as smoothly as I can, insert some ideas that I think would work well, and polish it up as best I can.  I think it would make a good addition to the book I'm planning on self-publishing.

Pleiades:  I don't know why you're making plans for this week at all.

Me:  Wow.  Just as I'm really getting going with things you know I need to do, you just have to add in your two cents.  I thought muses were supposed to be inspirational.

Pleiades:  I've heard that tough love can be a good motivator.

Me:  Well, I think there's a difference between tough love and plain bitchiness.

Pleiades:  Hmmm.  It seems you're the one who's in a bad mood.  Besides, isn't one of your husband's friends supposed to be staying at your house for the next week?

Me:  Yeah.  So?

Pleiades:  Don't you think that might throw off your normal schedule just a little?

Me:  Maybe, but I'll do the best I can to get things done.  Writers need to be adaptable.

Pleiades:  In my experience, writers tend to be picky and high maintenance.  

Me:  I think it's time for you to go now, Pleiades.

All right, so the week is going to be kind of weird.  So what?  I can still set my goals and do my best to meet them, right?

Idea Overload

I feel I need to acknowledge and address one of the biggest problems I have as a writer.  And before I say what that problem is, I should point out that it wouldn’t be a problem at all if only I knew how to manage it properly. 

The issue is this: I have too many story ideas.

My main obstacle is that I have new story ideas brewing in my mind while I’m still working on another project, and soon that new idea is pushing the story-in-progress to the side.  I can’t let that happen.  I promise myself that I will take notes when new ideas come, and I will allow those ideas to blossom, but I need to continue to work on the task at hand while all this is happening.  This obstacle is better than having no new ideas at all, but allowing myself to lose focus ultimately hinders my progress.

That same issue rears its head when I write short stories that end up growing until they become novels.  I keep thinking of new plot threads, new conflicts, that would fit into the framework of the story I’ve outlined, and soon the scope of the project is so large I have to admit that it’s no longer what I set out to create.

Perhaps that isn’t so bad.  Maybe I need to let the project become whatever it needs to be.  Or maybe I really do need to learn some self-restraint.  This is simply another question I must keep in mind and work through as I keep writing.