How I Choose My Projects

in #steemit6 years ago

I have 60 projects in planning, 1 being actively written, 1 being outlined with a friend and 1 published. All of which are a part of the fictional Red Universe.

Sometimes people ask me how I choose what project I'm going to work on next. How do I know which project is going to mesh with me well enough to commit months or longer to completing? Well, it boils down to six things:

  1. Excitement
    I have to be able to feel excited for a project. If I’m going into a book, how I’m feeling about the characters, the setting, the plot and era play a major part. If I’m not excited to write it, I’m undoubtedly going to create a bad story with flat, lifeless characters and a humdrum plot. Nobody wants to read that. Hell, for that reason alone, there are ideas I had ten years ago that probably won’t get written for maybe another ten years because I’m just not feeling them and I’m not excited to see the stories on shelves.

  2. There’s a Story There
    When I have an idea and commit it to being a project, usually the most I have is a concept and a title. For me to write a novel, I have to be able to find a story in the concept. The better the story I can come up with the more likely I’ll be to pick it.
    I chose to write The Engine What Runs the World over Shadow City because I saw a better story in The Engine, where I started Shadow City because I’d finished Shadows begin and Shadows Fall already and wanted my third book finished. So yeah, I have to be able to find an engaging story with a good lead before I’ll think of picking it up.

  3. Am I Good Enough to Write the Story?
    Some of my ideas are big. I mean really big. Five hundred thousand to a million words long sort of big. When I look at those projects I want them to be cannon, I’m excited to write them, I’d be willing to put my time into them… But, I’m not the level of writer I need to be to do such stories justice.
    Books like The Immortal Condition and Swords & Stones* need a writer that can capture the grand vastness of their stories. They need a writer who has been places and done things. They need a writer who has experience not just within the world, but with words. I frankly am not yet that writer. I will be, someday. Until then, I’ll be choosing stories that I can manage with the experience I have and make the best books I am capable of.

  4. Time
    Books take a long time to complete. From the concept, to the outlining, to the research, to writing, to editing, to publishing. I am going to want to have to be willing to put the time and effort required into a project.

  5. Where do I fit this in the Story Cannon?
    Every project I work on, whether they are by me personally or working with a partner, will be taking place within the Red Universe. That said, every book has to follow a set number of rules and follow a meticulous timeline. The actions within any book could be used to shape the history of the Red Universe or even just a small area.
    One of my biggest rules is nothing is 100% cannon until it’s published and released. Well, The Engine What Runs the World set a pretty clear timeline. While years were not mentioned, the world from the 21st century to the 44th century are outlined. I have to follow that timeline; and the more books I add to the Red universe the more the timeline will become sturdy, giving me less room to shove dates around.
    So, I have to choose which books are going to help create cannon and which are going to accentuate the timeline, making it more interesting.

  6. Ease
    I can’t lie, I’m a man who likes things easier. I’m writing novels for the most part because I can write them and get them published much easier than comics or music. I do have a few graphic novels in planning as well as three of the six rock operas I want to do. Now, because I’m a shit artist, graphic novels will require an artist. It’s not exactly an easy endeavor.
    Music has the same problems. I require musicians and singers to make my dreams a reality. I’m working on a project; it’s just going to take a very long time before it’s done.
    Novels are just the better way for me to go at this time.

So there you have it folks, this is how I choose which projects I choose to work on.

*A working title as I have yet to think of anything better than Swords and Stones.

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