Some people find themselves creatively spent after working on a project for an intense period of time, but for me, the opposite always seems to happen. After finishing the first draft of a novel, I'm quickly overwhelmed with new ideas. It's as if all of these stories that I've pushed to the back of my brain suddenly explode the surface.
In the last few days, I've outlined three new novels in immense detail that I can hardly decide which to occupy myself with next (though there is a leading contender that I can't seem to stop thinking about). I equate the feeling to that upon finishing reading a book and staring at the stack of books set aside to be read. A small part of me is too exhausted to pick up any of them, but the overwhelming majority of me wants nothing more than to grab the pile and read them all at once.
Of course, the work isn't finished yet on the novel I've been working on...so I must not get ahead of myself. In recent years, I've learned to temper my enthusiasm for tackling new projects. I sketch out the major points and let the ideas simmer and develop. One thing I've discovered in my career is that there are few mistakes worse than starting the wrong project at the wrong time.
No comments:
Post a Comment