Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Limitless

Sometimes it seems as though we never have enough options. Other times it seems there are too many. In the latter case, I tend to think, "Why choose?"

The first novel in my epic fantasy trilogy is still being reviewed by a publisher; it's too soon yet for me to know whether it's an acceptance or a rejection. But I've been reading through the manuscript of Aspects of Illusion nonetheless, formatting all the chapters into one big Word document while nuking all the exclamation points I'm finding in the manuscript (I did write this ten years ago, after all.) Otherwise, it's pretty clean and the story hangs together well. It doesn't bore me. The writing itself is good. These are all good things. So...a little material there to work with, not to mention trying to find sections or parts of sections that could be cut if need be (there aren't many I could cut without impacting the plot, but whatever I need to do, I'll find a way to do.) When that's done, my Option A is to go heavily into edits on book 3 of the trilogy, just in case something happens with book 1.

Option B involves finishing the second Brenna book. I really want to do this, but I'd also like to hear more publisher feedback on the first book and its place/chances in the market. So I've waffled a little bit. On the one hand, if no one picks up the first book, the second book will be unnecessary. However, it won't hurt anything to finish the second, which is already a third of the way written. This way, when the first one does find a home, the second book will be done already. That could take a lot of pressure off me. It would be not only smart from a stess standpoint; it would be good business, also.

Option C is to write that novelization of a fairy tale that I mentioned briefly in the past. I have a much better idea of how to do it now, and it would be a standalone, so that can't hurt. It lends itself very well to urban fantasy, which doesn't hurt either. No series to commit to. And it would give us another book to market to editors who already like my writing. Sounds like a win-win.

Option D is a series that is a little different from all the others. I won't go into the particulars except to say that it would be fiction, but not exactly the standard commercial/mass market fiction. It's a very special project that I'm excited about, but it will take a very long time to write, and will have to be written concurrently with all the more commercial fiction.

Option E is a spiritual nonfiction project, and I'm not sure exactly how long it will take to put together. This one, I just need to let happen as it happens and not worry about exact deadlines or strict rules. It's way too subjective and intuitive for that. But if it comes together right, it could be a beautiful and transformative thing. It's also a risk and a step out on a limb since I'm not a recognized expert in the spiritual field. But then, I suppose all writing and indeed all spirituality is a step out on a limb, no matter what belief system is involved. I guess the only thing to do here is let it happen, then take a look at the completed work and prepare for another leap of faith. Which, I guess, is the point in the first place.

Why choose? Every one of these projects are important to me, and they all seem like a sensible next step along my writing path. So I guess I'll just have to do them all, and see what happens. When I'm stuck on one, I can work on one of the others. That could be good. At least there are things to write, things to work on.

In the most technical sense, I'm still at the place where the options are limitless.

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