Choosing a Project

Right now, I’m between projects — the release of “The Haunting of Winterthorne Hall” is done and I have not yet started a new book. By next week, I’ll have started it, of course, but right now, I’m not quite sure what to write next. For me, that is a common problem once I’m done with a book this way or that, either with writing or with releasing.

It’s not that I’m out of projects — quite the opposite. I have a long list of projects which are fully plotted and prepared, but do still need to be written. That’s of course the longest part of the process, even with my high output.
Even if I finished writing a project each month (not editing and not taking time off), I would have to write for the next 26 months to finish the projects I think I could release — and some more if I add stuff that is either fan-fiction or erotica. Given that I regularly have more ideas for new stories, both within and without my established series, there is always a lot of choices.

It’s always a bit of a challenge to choose the next project. I wouldn’t go through the long process of plotting and planning and preparing a project (more on that next week) unless I want to write that story, so I am motivated to tackle each of my projects. Yet, the motivation isn’t always a guarantee for swift work.
“DI Colin Rook”, for instance, was a project I wanted to write, so I chose it several months ago. Yet, the writing was drawn out, because I found myself hard-pressed to get down to it on many days. It took me a long time to finish the story — both because of me not being able to stay focused on it and because of things in real life.
Burning for a project, as I often am at the beginning of it, doesn’t mean I will breeze through — although on the other hand, I managed to write the novel “Changing Plans” within three weeks of focused work. Writing can be a strange craft.

My strongest contender at the moment is another collection of short stories which might, in time, become a series: “Scholomancer”.
It’s one of several sets of shorts I’ve plotted recently and I do like the basic idea and the characters I will have to work with. Anne is interesting on her own, a powerful mage trained as one of ten Scholomancers of her generation (based on the legend of the ‘Devil’s School’). Necro, her cat, is actually an elder abomination caught in the shape of a fat red tabby. They tend to squabble a lot and Necro’s laziness (which might or might not be connected to his current body shape) means he’s no easy Deus Ex Machina for the story which would make it boring.
Another book high on the list would be “Sword and Dagger”, a fantasy police procedural novel which might as well turn into a series, too.
It’s a buddy-cop situation in which Greg, an assassin who has too many morals for his job, has to team up with Javier, the guard captain, to prove his innocence and solve two murders. It does have a few nice situations and a budding friendship (not to mention a possible career change for Greg). I could expand it into a series of fantasy police procedurals, which could be fun to write as well.
Both of those books will be written in time, no doubt. I plan to finish all my projects at some point (even though there probably will be new ones by the time I’m through with those 26+ ones). Yet, the big question is ‘what shall I write next?’ and that one I can’t answer that easily.

There is no logical way to determine what I should write next.
It’s not about working my way through the projects as they’ve been planned and plotted. Quite some came about around the same time, so which one to choose in such a case?
I want to write all of the stories, too, so there’s no ‘do the least-wanted first’ or ‘do the most-wanted first.’ It’s hard to judge the intensity of motivation and it changes day by day. I was very motivated for “DI Colin Rook”, but often found myself unable to work on the story afterwards — and by that I mean I was sitting in front of the project for hours without getting anything written.
Because of Colin, I do want to write another set of short stories, but there’s more than “Scholomancer”, too. I could write “The Crew” which is a clear stand-alone, as is “Fallen Angel”.
I could get back to Maddie and write her second set of scoops or I could write a third set of missions for John Stanton. I have two more novella collections lined up for Isadora Goode and a novel and a set of short stories for Gabrielle Munson.
I could write one of the many stand-alone novels I’ve plotted. “The Black Friar of Milton Manor” would be fun to write, I’m sure. “Sun and Shadow” would allow me to step into the world of cultivation novels.
A lot of different choices and no logical way of choosing — that’s anything but fun, but I have to get through it every time and I will do so, too, this time.

It’s not always easy to choose a new project. Sometimes, it’s easy because there’s one you want to write more than all others. Sometimes, you simply want to continue a series or you want to go by the age of the project and do the old ones first. Sometimes, you’ve promised to write a book next — to yourself or other people. There’s no way that always works and choosing the project you’re most motivated to write doesn’t always mean smooth sailing and a quick success. It can take a lot longer than you think or it could be over in a heartbeat…