Stolen Moments

Just a quick post before I head to work tonight.

Had a flicker of insight about writing and sharing ideas with people. I know it's tempting. I know if writers are like me they want to share what they're working on because they are proud of their progress and their characters and their story and usually the end result is to have OTHERS read your stuff. But hold off if you can from giving people drafts of your work. Here are some reasons why:

1.) The Draft WILL Change- you wouldn't wear a half finished pair of pants to work, nor would you get into a half finished car. If you're still working on ideas, if you're still hammering out kinks and plugging up plot holes you wouldn't want to offer someone a half finished idea. First of all it can hurt how much they like the whole story because what they read now may not be how it ends up. Things may improve information excised or expanded and you can confuse your reader.

2.) You may scrap the idea altogether- if you're working on something and share it all around and then scrap it, it's not really a good look for you as a writer. You want to be taken seriously as a craftsman of the written word and not a wordflake (i.e. a person who starts writing projects and doesn't finish them). If you keep your work to yourself until it's more formed and finished then you'll already know the idea has promise and is truly a work in progress, not some scribbles that don't have the strength to make into a whole book.

3.) Idea thieves -someone with less scruples and more time to write could steal your idea. Protect your plots and your characters. They're your creative property so limiting the amount of eyes on your work is a good way to keep people from siphoning off your creative juices.

4.) The Reveal- you are a word magician. You want your work to be fresh, new and exciting to as many people as possible. Don't give away the secrets of you creative process by over exposing your work. Let it be a bit of a mystery.

There you have it, four good reasons why you shouldn't show off your novel! And now I'm off to work, and an overtime paycheck next week!

Toodle-loo!

My Eyes Are Bigger Than...

It's been pretty hectic. I've moved out of my house to my first apartment where I am taking care of my grandmother who has dementia. I now work full time, and go to classes at night. On nights like tonight I just want to breathe but there is just so much going on that it's hard for me to find time to inhale.  It's amazing how the responsibilities keep piling up....

On a happy note my manuscript draft took off!. About two weeks ago I made some really great progress. Now I'm back to brainstorming the next chunk of it. Also trying to fight new ideas for new novels and keep them at bay long enough to get this one finished. I know the moment I sit down to write any bit of my new ones I'll get distracted from the half project in front of me. I'm a classic "eyes are bigger than my stomach" kinda girl. I just keep piling it on and before I know it it's just mutated into this evil doubt that makes me question how much I feel I can do. But in writing, it's important to not get distracted by new shiny ideas. As long as you can still see the greatness in your original idea you should see it through to the end. Maybe jot basic ideas but don't focus on developing new ones right away. If you think about it the more you work on simultaneously the easier it is to get bogged down and overwhelmed with it all and just walk away from it.

I keep thinking I can handle more and more and more and in the end I'm lucky if I get to steal a few minutes to get a bit of a break before I force myself to sleep in an unfamiliar place with my angry cat who has taken to sitting on my face the moment I shut my eyes. I think it's revenge for the cat carrier and the car ride to my new place, or she's just had it with me and is trying to off me altogether. I'm thinking pacification and asking for terms is the safest route to go on this one.