When to begin a new writing project

The title of this blog is a little misleading. In reality I’m always writing, always thinking about new projects. It’s more a situation of: When do I focus on starting a draft of a piece. knowing I’ve done enough pre-writing work to feel as though I can finish the project?

The new revised edition of Luke’s Summer Secret has just been published. The manuscript for Hoosier Beginnings is still in the hands of a publisher and has already made it through two steps of a four step approval process. I’ve just talked with my current publisher and decided not to do a revised edition of A Winding Road to Freedom but instead I have ideas for a story that tells more of the life of William Bush…. and perhaps one last mention of Cassie on her way to pick up her son in Newport (now Fountain City), Indiana. I’m also working on a book proposal related to the Earlham College Master of Arts in Teaching program. And I’ve been reviewing dozens of pages of notes about two different ideas for a mysteries, one of them set in Richmond, Indiana in the 1920’s when so many Jazz musicians were coming to Richmond for recording sessions.

So in a way, I’ve already “begun” a number of writing projects. But no one idea has really jumped out at me and screamed “I’m ready!” All of the ideas are still simmering, still percolating. I know from experience that if I try writing a draft too soon, I get stuck. I actually have two ideas at the top of the list competing for my attention: An expanded William Bush story, and the book proposal about our teacher preparation program. For now, I need to sit back and relax and let one of the ideas emerge. It has nothing to do with logic or organization. I can’t plan my way into a project. I have to relax and let my gut tell me which project is ready to go.

For fiction projects, it’s easier. Keep fleshing out a major character until she (or he) tells me it’s time to rock and roll. For non-fiction projects, it’s different. Continue to write reflections and thoughts, continue to read other books on the subject, reread notes – until themes emerge that let me know the project is ready to take off.

All in all, it can be a frustrating time. Being in between projects. But it’s also exciting to know I’m getting close to a point where that next project is going to emerge. Time now to stop writing and listen.