Writing Thursday: Shifting Gears; or What To Do Next?

So.

I’ve recently finished writing a short (for me) story. I need to go and work on something else for a week or two before I come back and give it the edit it needs (my critique group made some very helpful suggestions, but I need to figure out how best to implement some of them).

But what should I work on in the meantime?

I’m feeling torn by conflicting priorities. Part of me really wants to get Winterbourne 3 finished up, so I have time to let the characters “rest” a little before charging into Winterbourne 4 in November (for NaNoWriMo).

Part of me really wants to finish at least writing the faerie story I started two summers ago.

And then, after seeing a Facebook post from one of the editors at ElectricSpec wondering “where are all the steampunk stories?”–part of me wants to see if I can come up with a steampunk short story.

(As an aside: If you write sci-fi, fantasy, or horror stories in the 200-7,000 word range, you might want to check them out. http://www.electricspec.com/)

What to do?

I may take a week and have another try at writing a short story. If I still can’t get one to come in under 7,000 words, I’ll go back to work on Winterbourne 3 and try again once I’ve got that wrapped up. And then I can work on the faerie story between then and NaNoWriMo.

So many ideas, so little free time….

How do you set your writing priorities?

About sheilamcclune

Aspiring author, sharing the tidbits I've learned along the way.

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1 Response to Writing Thursday: Shifting Gears; or What To Do Next?

D. E. Atwood says:

June 20, 2012 at 8:20 am

I’m supposed to have writing priorities? *sighs* I so fail at that. I write what’s working in my head at the moment, and shift projects often. If I’m blocked on one, I shove it on the back burner and try another, hoping that something will have a break through and words will flow. I look like an ADD writer sometimes, and probably am. Sometimes this works better than others.

What I have found, however, is that if I tell myself I can only work on ONE project until it’s done, I won’t write at all because I’ll get irritable and frustrated. So I can’t prioritize that way, unfortunately, which is bad for my managing to finish novels.

I hope you write that short. I can’t wait to read it.