Finish Things

I've heard this advice from a lot of long-term pro writers I respect. Dean Wesley Smith repeats this piece quite frequently under Heinlein's Rules of Writing. But I don't think it really sunk into my brain until Neil Gaiman posted a picture of this phrase written in Sharpie on his hand. And I was reminded of the term this week on Will Wheaton's blog.

This summer, I've been sending quite a bit of work to my formatter and my cover artist. My formatter commented that she'd been backed up the last couple of months and this wasn't her normal busy period. I replied that I couldn't vouch for any other writers, but I was simple trying to finish all the projects I started three years ago.

Yep, in ten days, it will be three years since the insane odyssey of trying to sell our house in Texas and moving to Ohio began. Things went wrong. Then more things went wrong. And then a few more.

Through it all, I kept writing. I just didn't have the focus to edit, much less publish, what I was writing. On top of that, I was so stressed out I'd get stuck on one piece, so I'd set it aside and start something else. That happened a lot.

So I've got a ton of idea pieces sitting on my hard drive in various states of completion. I'm trying to finish them as fast as I can. And I'm keeping other people busy and paid, too.

And the spice, aka words and money, must flow!

Seriously though, the older more experienced pro writers are right. The hard part is finishing what you start. I had life shit hold me back. Don't let your own fear hold you back.

How Far I Got This Week

As I posted Monday, I put together a priority task list for this week. So how did I do?

Alter Ego's paranormal erotic short story is live on Amazon. Since this is outside of her usual realm, I decided to put it, and its companion shorts when they are ready, into Kindle Unlimited just to see what happens. Eventually, I'll bundle them into an anthology.

Since Monday evening, I've been working on the Alter Ego novella. Oh, crap, let's face facts, it's now a short novel. I managed to get 426 words in that night after hitting the publish button on the other short story. I worked on it Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tuesday night was also when I had a major bout of insomnia. Instead on the short novel, I fiddled with another story in the Alter Ego idea folder. Over 3K words later, I've got a new series mapped out and the first couple of chapters written.

But, none of the insomnia session had anything to do with the short novel. Priorities, remember?

So after I awoke to the lovely screech of the tornado sirens, I buckled down and worked on the project I wanted to finished. Or I did until my brain turned to mush about five p.m. Then I started searching for potential covers for the new series and the paranormal series.

Thursday was taken by helping out MIL. Since she still can't drive because of her leg, I took her to her hair appointment. But then she insisted on buying lunch for me since I chauffeured her. By the time we finished at the restaurant, I needed to pick GK from school. Then take MIL back to her apartment, and stop at the grocery store to pick up a couple of things for dinner. By the time we got home, it was after three p.m., and I was exhausted.

So I worked on Zombie Goddess (the story's been in my head for ten years now, so I don't really have to think that much about what to write next) and doodled around on covers for Alter Ego.

Today? I've got one scene left in Alter Ego's short novel, and I really don't have a lame-ass excuse for not finishing it.

And looking back over my week, I can see where and how much I got distracted from a current project. I don't tend to get upset with myself since I'm usually working on something else business related, but I definitely need to work on my focus in completing what I started, which is Heinlein Rule #2.

Robert A. Heinlein was a very smart man.