Finishing Things

I have spent the last week reviewing all my current outstanding writing projects and working out what to concentrate on next. There are a lot of them.

For some reason, over the last couple of years I have been struggling to finish stories to my satisfaction and stop the rewriting process. I have seven short stories which have been completed, critiqued by one of my two writing groups and then have simply sat there waiting for the rewrite.

I much prefer writing new material to rewriting, which is part of the problem. A new story promises so much, seems so perfect while it is in your head and you are planning it; it is only when written down that you realise the problems and the gaps and the revision starts.

I also have a completed 80k YA Steampunk fantasy novel "Sheldak" that needs to be reworked into a publishable form and the start of three more novels that vary from 5k to 30k in length. Add to that the outlines for 2 more novel series and there are a lot of ideas floating around.

My plan is to work on rewriting a short story a week and only when that is done can I work on something completely new. As well as that I am aiming to write one chapter a week of the second Changers' Summer book "The Rat King", which has now been outlined (past the already existing 15k start), with the aim of having the first draft done by the end of September.

Wish me luck!