Daily Archives: March 7, 2013

Mar7

Sudden Realisation

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My first dip, not bad three months into the year. I have started re-reading books on the craft of writing that I haven’t read for over a decade. I went to bed last night and fell asleep just before I became depressed at the sudden realisation that I cannot do it all.

Last month I realised the importance of having a writing schedule. My March table is already looking very full. I had hoped with a little organisation and a determined attitude I would be able to meet all deadlines without the stress of the final week of February. I am half way through writing a short story which was due for submission today, I just don’t have a full enough idea for the twist, I don’t know the characters well enough and I realised that I had to make a choice.

Do I carry on writing the story and send it anyway on a wing and a prayer?

Or

Do I work on the characters, discover the twist, see the full picture, write it over time and use it for a submission later in the year?

I have woken up and decided on the latter. It is frustrating especially as I have known about this competition for years, have journals filled with other entries from previous years that I didn’t submit and 2013 is not any different. Next year I WILL ENTER IT! I WILL DO IT! I need to build up my skills as a story writer again, have time to edit and proof. I need to breathe life into my characters.

I have decided to make a proposal for a book commision and have a lot of work and research to do this week to enable me to produce the best proposal that I can. I need to focus on that and let other opportunities slip past, that’s hard for a writer, right?

My sudden realisation is I cannot do it all, we (Mr G. and I) are currently very busy moving forward, (disclosing details later) with work and everything else I feel like one of those stretchy toys and I am pulled to full capacity.

Have you experienced this? Is anybody able to submit everything they want to?

I guess, like all things in life, choices need to made… I just hope I make the right ones!