Thursday, March 3, 2011

Where am I going?

Are you the type of person who loves starting projects but has a harder time finishing them? The hope and allure offered by new opportunities is just so invigorating, and you get a sense that this might be The One, but as time goes on you realize that it's going to take some time and effort to get this project going, so you abandon it and look for the new project. I'm like this, and it's one of my failings, especially when it comes to my goals as a writer.

It may sound like I'm terrible at relationships, but the opposite is true. I'm in it with my wife for the long haul, mainly because she puts up with my project jumping.

This doesn't mean I haven't completed a project. I have many completed manuscripts sitting around, but rather than fully follow through with them, I just set them aside and pursue the next project, swearing this time that I've found The One. This new project will be insanely successful.  Publishers will line up for all my other projects. (I'm sure some other aspiring writers out there can relate.)

Part of being a writer is to have a game plan. I stink at those. The good news is that there are people great at game plans, and it's possible I just met one of those fantastic people. We will see how this works out. If I have someone giving me a deadline and a list of things to get done, then I can do that. Most every writing project I do finish, such as writing the Vacation Bible School scripts for my church, happen because there's a deadline and I'm usually good at meeting those. I need an editor or an agent to point me in a direction and then look out.

I realize that I'm setting myself up with a perfect excuse. It's not my fault I'm lazy, it's because no one else is making me do stuff. Bottom line, I am the one ultimately responsible, and it's no one's fault but mine if this goes nowhere.

So I'm trying to get a game plan together with my existing work as well as continuing to write new things. A balance is key for me. I'm looking at getting one of my books published, and I'm working on getting noticed as a scriptwriter (more on that later) and I might even try my hand at eBooks, which is a far better system of independent publishing. I've got a few ideas.

I know I can do this, I know I have the potential, it's just that I'd rather not. My procrastination is strong, and the siren call of diversion is powerful, and here I am without a mast to be lashed to and wax for my ears.