Dithering About

So. I’ve got Queen’s Man headed back to me next week, but in the meantime I don’t have anything to work on. And even once I’ve got Joss back, it’s a polish edit. Getting too creative is a bad idea, as there comes a point in any creative work that one is just messing it up. But I’ve had lots of vacations lately. I need to be working on something.

But.

I don’t actually have a writing project jumping on me right now. Don’t need to get anything ready for the next TDP slot. So there’s no outside imperative.

I should edit, but without the incentive of “ZOMG DEADLINE!” it’s hard to find the energy to do so. I’m just a wee bit burnt out on editing at the moment.

Hence the dithering. My options on the writing front (these are far from all I could work on. Just the ones that occur to me as something I could/should.) (whee, watch my lists and formatting go all weird!)

Fanfic. Some of these have not been updated in five years or more. I’ve always sworn I wouldn’t be one of those fanfic authors who posted stories with no endings, but the fact is that along with all the finished ones, I have some four or five unfinished out there.

• Pro: Finish them, and people stop threatening to hunt me down.
• Pro: In December 2011, I said I’d do these in the new year. Keeping promises matters.
• Con: I don’t really have any interest in working on them. I want to finish Hits, Chaos, Star, and Spoonful of Sugar, but I don’t particularly want to write them.

The second Flame story, started over NaNo and dropped When Editing Attacked.

• Pro: worked on it recently
• Con: dunwanna particularly

Kolya’s story (Dream’verse)

• Pro: It’s been poking me lately.
• Pro: It’s the book actually right before Joss’ (which is coming out in April, who needs chronological order?) (Queen’s Man, buy early and often!)
• Cons: dunreallywanna

The third Hiro book

• Pro: I wanna!
• Con: I don’t actually have any idea how to fix the mess I left our heroes in, and I probably won’t figure it out until/unless I clean up some of the mess that is the glorious and will-be-amazing second book. That’d be…editing.
• Con: See editing.

Of course, what I probably ought to do is editing. Here, again, there are Lots of Options.

Damsel in Distress (Dream’verse)—it’s my first NaNo, and the first story in which Joss appears.

• Pro: It’s also a Taro and Rafe story, so it would find an easy home with those already familiar with Taro, Rafe, and Joss.
• Pro: It’s a lot of fun.
• Con: It’s my first NaNo, so it’s a mess.
• Con: It’s editing.
• Con: Dunwanna.

Donte’s story (Dream’verse also)

• Pro: Of my Dream’verse stories, it’s probably the one in the best shape.
• Pro: I love the story.
• Con: it’s still editing.
• Con: Don’t really wanna work on this.
• Con: I’ve found many of my fans among the m/m readers out there, and Donte is straight. So’s his girlfriend.
• Con to that con: Do I want to be choosing my projects based on character orientation? Not really.
• Con to that con: It would just be choosing my next project, which is slightly different from choosing to write/not write based on orientation.

Eve’s story (Dream’verse)

• Pro: Eve is the beginning of the Dream’verse. She’s the foundation, and much of it revolves around her.
• Pro: Eve is always fun.
• Con: Her book is a big mess. Her novel is my first completed, later split into two novels. The first of those is actually Ben’s story, and I’d have to figure that one out before doing Eve’s, and I dunwanna.

Con with all these options: I’m a little burned out on the Dream’verse too.

(I notice I dunwanna do a lot of things. This is fairly typical of me. It’s better than wanting to do all fifty some things I could be working on? I think?)

So. Editing that is not the Dream’verse.

Hiro I and II need editing.

• Pros: I wanna. I do wanna work with Hiro.
• Cons: I’m not sure I want to move into another universe, for the same reason I’m not sure I want to move away from the m/m readers by doing Donte. (Pro to that con: Hiro is VERY m/m.)

I think the magazine that was going to serialize Flame I is probably never going to make it online. I could edit that. It’s neither m/m nor Dream’verse, but it is fun…

And from there we wander. There’s so much I could work on.

Bleh. I’mma go play more Words with Friends, finish a beta, and pick something to work on tonight.

Taking suggestions for tomorrow…