Getting To It

I've come up for air again. A fresh avalanche of freelance writing work has arrived and leaves me half thinking to be careful what I wish for! Of course, I'm happy to have people calling and offering me assignments. Before the day gets too far gone, here are a few thoughts I have about getting to those non-commissioned stories.

You know the stories I'm talking about. The ones taking shape in your richest imagination, the purely imaginary and unique that only you can write. The ones that can only come into existence if you give them your time and attention and which might just decide to pop into someone else's consciousness and manifest that way.

At this particular juncture, I've got seven original short stories in various stages of development. These are "in-work" projects that somehow manage to fall into the orphan category when paying jobs show up or life otherwise commands my immediate attention. I long to get to them with an almost romantic passion and yet...there they sit neglected and unfinished much of the time.

I have come to think of these works in progress as canvasses in my studio. Each represents a window on the world. One or two of them are near completion and a couple more are in that most delicate "inspirational" stage. In my mind's eye, those beginning pieces are covered in a sheet to help them further incubate.

What I've decided to do is make it a daily requirement to visit this imaginary studio every day to review these development projects and make some sort of progress on one or more - even it's only adding some shading, sketching in new character or a more defined subplot.

Over the years two ways of tracking progress on stories in development has emerged.

- A running list of stories I want to write.
- Each story has an inspirational "working title"
- Each title has a brief summary of what the story is about
- Each of these stories also has its own Manila envelope

The reason for the envelope system is that creative ideas often come at the weirdest times. Sometimes in the middle of the night, in the car or even while talking to someone about something else. So I'm compelled to write them down on whatever scrap of paper happens to be at hand and that paper is filed in the appropriate envelope.

Many of these ideas are in my journals so I've also developed a system whereby when a juicy storyline, tidbit or character pops up and lands in the journal, I flag that section with a bold note for later reference and collection.

The deadline, as I've so often said, is a great friend because it provides the boundaries that focus any creative effort. Adhering to the deadline, however, is challenging when there is no outside person or company enforcing it. This is where I see that I need more discipline. Maybe if I imagine that a producer or publishing house wants to see these stories by March 1...It could work! In fact, it could manifest the producer or publishing house!