Change of Plans – Veering Off Course At The Start Of The New Year
I had big plans for the start of the year.
I published my second book at the start of December, and as soon as that was done I was going to revise two projects, break for Christmas, get feedback from my beta readers, and then initiate Big February Plan #1.
You see, someone pointed me in the direction of someone who might want some of my work. It’s a thing I like to do with short stories and novellas, in-between self-publishing my novels. Try to find different homes for some of the stuff that comes out of this head. And when I saw an opportunity to do so, I got excited. Really excited. I mean, both my projects seemed to be a good fit. They seemed to be just the stuff they were looking for. So I jotted down February 1 in my calendar, and set to work.
I made it. I got it done – and I have to say I’m proud of where I managed to take these two stories. They were ready to go. But when I looked a bit closer at where I was sending them, I hesitated…
I realized I couldn’t send them off to this place after all
In hindsight, I should have looked into things better two months ago – not that working through my projects have been extremely valuable regardless, but I got overexcited. After delving deeper into things, who they were, what they were looking for, and what they had done in the past, I realized it wasn’t as good a fit as I was hoping. In fact, it wasn’t a fit at all.
Here I am, two months later, with both projects on hold again. I’m unsure where to take them now – not because I can’t self publish them or submit them to other places, but… I had a plan. And now that plan is gone. I feel like I was invited to a party, but was left standing in the cold.
It’ll be fine of course – I’m happy about my decision. I wouldn’t – as I’m sure no one would – want to send my stuff off to somewhere I wasn’t 100% sure I’d want it to be. At the same time, it sucks that plans change. It makes me feel off course, and it makes me doubt myself.
I’m sure 2021 will be a great year for my writing, nonetheless, I just need to get my head back in the game. In the meantime, I’ll just keep writing.
How’s your new year been so far? Working on anything exciting? Have any big plans? Let me know!
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I'm definitely not sticking to one genre - actually, those two projects I've been working on are widely different, and none of them are thrillers like what I've already have published.I too have a long list of future projects, and it's difficult to say if I'll ever get around to writing them all. I say, go with your gut instinct on this one - if you want to move into new territory, then go ahead!
Good luck with your writing this year, Johnny. Sounds exciting!
I know exactly where you are coming from. I set my plans and focus so hard on the goal at the end, that when things go awry, I am lost for a while as I try to take in what is actually around me and not that distant goal I was set on. It often takes me a bit to reset and adjust to a new state. But thankfully, 9 times out of 10, the new path takes me some place better. Good luck.
Thank you, Brand - that's a great way of putting it! I think I've decided to let both projects lie for now, and write something else while I figure out what to do. Seems only reasonable!
My list of books to write keeps getting longer and more eclectic and it's difficult to decide which projects to work on next.
Do you plan to stick to one genre or venture into new territory? Do you think it's better to have a diverse collection or focus on a genre your readers expect based on your previous work?