I have three projects officially ‘open.’ A novella series, a short story, and a novel. You’d think multitasking like this would make things worse. Truth is, it’s how I keep blocks on one project from broadsiding me too hard. And it normally works! Of course, if you’ve been paying attention to my Round of Words updates, my writing has been suffering lately. Part of that is because I’ve been overly focused on the short story and trying to force it. But I also didn’t really feel like writing the other two projects either.
So what’s the solution? Well, every once in a while it’s a new plot bunny. You get an awesome idea, and it demands to see some progress immediately. Anything to move forward.
It’s kind of a neat idea, but first. . .
ROW 80 Update
Midterms this week, so I have very little free time and am focusing on test prep. I’m almost feeling ready for my Linux exam. I’ve learned some neat stuff in this class, but I really want to get to the practical stuff, as interesting as the theory is.
I’m about a third of the way through Little Brother. Enjoying it, though Doctorow kind of gets over excited about the technology and spends a long time explaining it. The characters are pretty cool, though, and the themes presented so far are pretty gut wrenching in how present they are.
Writing, a few hundred words since Thursday. But I’m getting into a plotting and planning stage again, so my word counts are likely going to be small, but the progress will be more apparent.
And I don’t think I need to update about the blogging every day thing. Still going. Even if I’ve been a bit behind the last two days.
The project is looking like it’s going to be an urban fantasy with themes about the nature of art, how far you should go to fix society, and who knows what else. Young plot bunnies are funny like that.
What’s your current opinion on new plot bunnies? (Admit it, your opinion will change by next week.) Comment below!
I love new plot bunnies! Sometimes I have to rein myself in from chasing them down and leaving my current stories behind, but the shiny new bunnies are so wonderful!
Planning phases always leave the word counts a little low, but they really help boost those counts once the writing begins, so it’s worth the lower counts for a bit. Enjoy your plot bunnies and planning!
I’ve always held the belief that having multiple projects open at once keeps writers’ block away, by then again I seem to always end up getting blanket block instead.
New plot bunnies are great, but as Kim said, the temptation is to always chase after them, abandoning whatever your current project is. I have so many plots patiently (or not-so patiently) waiting for me to get around to them. Some of them are more tempting than others, and sometimes it’s hard to continue focussing on book 1 or episode 1, for example, when book/episode 2 seems so much more interesting.
Good luck with your projects.