Over the last 15 years, I've started a dozen writing projects that fizzled before they were finished. Some were as short as 6 pages. Others, as long as 600 pages. For one reason or another (mostly work, lack of time, or dissatisfaction) I abandoned these projects and left them collecting dust on an old computer or hard drive.
Recently, I spoke with a writer friend of mine who asked me about the writer life. We talked for more than an hour about what we were working on, and I was intrigued by the difference of our two approaches. He had 4 or 5 older projects that he'd written and wished to revisit for potential publication, while I had 3 or 4 new ideas that I wished to start, but wasn't sure which one to explore first.
So I spent Wednesday night with a bottle of wine (actually two) reading through several old manuscripts to see if I might be making a mistake by exploring new projects. I'm conflicted. I had some ideas that intrigue me. They seem solid to me and I already have a base of work done on them, so perhaps revisiting them might be like beginning a project on second base instead of standing in the on deck circle. Seems smart, right?
Here's my issue. Writing a novel is more like surfing a wave to me than scoring a run in baseball. I sit on the board in the middle of the ocean and wait for the right one to lift me up and carry me back to shore. Sometimes I see one I like, and I jump on. I ride it as long as possible, but some projects throw me back into the ocean. So I paddle back out and look for another one. Sometimes, I find a good one, and I ride it gloriously into shore, and in the end, I have a finished project.
My stack of old manuscripts represent waves that threw me off my board. I couldn't ride them all the way back. To revisit these old projects is like trying to catch a wave that's already begun to break. I already gave that wave a shot and fell.
Is this too much surfer analogy for one post?
What about you other writers? How often do you revisit old projects? When it comes time to start something new, do you gravitate toward new ideas, or do you explore old manuscripts for unfinished gems?
No comments:
Post a Comment