My first thought was to keep my head down and follow through on my goal. That's what focused people do. That's what accomplished adults do. That's what successful professionals do.
Since I am none of those things, I decided to chuck my original plan and follow this new opportunity's siren song.
Now, this siren song could be a deliciously haunting opera with dark notes and seductive shadows that premieres to standing ovations. Of course, it could be the cigarette-huskied ditty of an evil bag lady who wants to stab my creativity with a cake fork and add it to her collection of doomed writers' souls she pushes around in her cart.
I'm willing to take that chance.
So, for the next month or so, I'll be keeping my head down and following through . . . on this new project. Wish me luck!
*****
Have you been swayed lately by a new idea, a new opportunity? Or did you stick to your original plan? How did you decide?
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If your new work has any of that great word-swagger you used above, it will be great!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alex! I love the idea of "word-swagger" so much! Maybe because I have so little actual swagger.... :)
DeleteIt's actually great that you got this new idea before you started much on the one you planned to write. Good luck with starting it this month!
ReplyDeleteThe timing of it all was one of the things that helped sway me to the dark side. :)
DeleteGood luck with the new project! If it has you putting down the cake fork, it's got to be good.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to figure out a way to hold them both. :)
DeleteMadeleine, your metaphors are so beautifully written and true. I have heard the siren's call and followed it to my gain and detriment. It can be worth it.
ReplyDeleteLast night I was beating my brain over my revisions, and my new project beckoned with a smirky-you-know-I'm-sweeter grin, but I watched a b-grade movie and allowed my dog and cat to hold me captive on the couch - one on my lap, one on my chest. This morning, I woke up with new ideas for bot projects. I will take notes, then flip a coin. 😏
I pretty much just beat myself up because I'm overthinking a character's role in this new project, scolding myself that I don't have time for this. Agh!
DeleteGood luck with your coin toss! :)
Good luck! If it calls that strongly, you must listen.
ReplyDeleteBut oh, how I love cake forks - no plates, no slicing. Just me, a fork, and a big ol' cake.
Oh, that big ol' cake sounds like a wonderful idea right about now. . . and do we really even need a fork? :o
DeleteGood luck on your new project! I got an idea last week for a new story. It was shiny and irresistible. I wrote the first chapter because I couldn't stop the idea from being so gosh-darn shiny, but that seemed to be enough. That first chapter written has silenced the idea. For now.
ReplyDeleteIt's just waiting patiently for when you're ready to pick it back up. I love when shiny ideas behave. :)
DeleteGood luck with the new project! Like others have already said, if it was calling to you that strongly, you're very smart to listen. Better to give in now, or else it would've niggled at you constantly like a chigger in your skivvies.
ReplyDeleteHave I been swayed by a new idea lately? Only one involving cake... I made a couple of decadent ice cream cakes yesterday. It'd been years since I made one, but WOW! Am I ever glad I gave into the temptation!
You MADE ice cream cakes?! More than one? Hmm, where do you live again . . . ? :)
DeleteHi Madeline, god luck with this new project.
ReplyDeleteHope it turns out to be a siren song that is a deliciously haunting opera with dark notes and seductive shadows that premieres to standing ovations. Don't even think of the cigarette-huskied ditty of an evil bag lady in search of doomed writers' souls.
Just go for it, I say.
I'll try, but she's rather persistent . . . :o
DeleteI'm glad you are none of those things. Neither am I. Good luck with the new project. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
But what if I were those things? How much would I get done? Sigh. Oh well. :)
DeleteWhat a coincidence: I started a new project when a new title occurred to me: Mountain of Tongues ... and off I am onto a new novel. If we do not follow our muse, our writing will become stale. Best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteHow much do I love that title and the image it provokes?! Go for it!
DeleteGood luck with the new project. Sometimes it's so difficult to ignore them. I'm trying to be professional about finishing the two novels I'm working on, but new stories are chatting away at me, and I think I may have to go with one of them.
ReplyDeleteJust make sure none of those new stories sound like that creepy bag lady . . . .
DeleteHaha! If the project you're working on is as well written as this post, it will be a huge success! Great post, and question. I'm sticking to my original plan till I get 'er done! I've never taken this long to finish anything!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Lisa!
DeleteI hear you! Since the new song caught you before you started the other idea (hmm. I seem to have mixed up the metaphors pretty well. More coffee, please), I’d say run with it. Just hang onto the cake fork in case it turns out to be the creepy bag lady, so you can stab her with it. Silver, right?
ReplyDeleteCreepy bag lady guts on my cake fork?! Gasp! (But that's actually not a bad idea, in case of an emergency....)
DeleteOh, I have heard a siren call like that! :) I decided to write down a snippet of the idea and promise it I would come back when I finish my current project. Of course now I want to explore it again... and have cake!
ReplyDeleteAh, cake! A siren song all its own . . . . :)
DeleteThe title of your post cracked me up! All the best with your new project :)
ReplyDeleteIt could double as the title of my autobiography. :)
DeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patricia!
DeleteBest wishes on the new project. Go get 'er.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan!
DeleteI'll all about chasing the shiny new ideas. That's where the passion is, right?
ReplyDeletePassion is shiny! :)
Delete"Of course, it could be the cigarette-huskied ditty of an evil bag lady who wants to stab my creativity with a cake fork and add it to her collection of doomed writers' souls she pushes around in her cart." <---Words cannot adequately express how much I love this line.
ReplyDeleteI was recently waylaid by a shiny new story idea. I gave in and wrote about 20 pages for it, then stuck it in a corner and told it to wait its turn. We'll see if it stays there.
Happy writing!
Aw, thanks, MJ!
DeleteI hope that shiny new idea stuck in a corner doesn't think it's in "time out" or being punished.... :o
Good luck with your new project! I actually do have a new story idea floating around in my head right now, but I'm mostly ignoring it (besides watching scenes in my head, which is always fun). Must finish my main WIP revision!
ReplyDeleteKind of like your own private movie screening. :)
DeleteI was swayed. I actually posted about it today.
ReplyDeleteSometimes being swayed is a good thing. :)
DeleteOh please. I sway like cattails in the wind. I love a dark opera, so I say, go for it! BUT, I have stuck with my current project to 60,000 words - 2/3ish done. This far in, I'm committed.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, I'm ambidexterous. I can hold that fork in the right hand and the pen in the left. A skill worth developing.
I really need to work on that skill . . . . :)
DeleteThat's what happened to me!! It was so worth it!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for your new project!
Glad to hear it worked out for you!
DeleteHope it goes well!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Yvonne!
DeleteI think you just have to follow your muse. The project you left behind will still be there, if you need it to be.
ReplyDeleteI hope so - fingers crossed! :)
DeleteI'm often tempted to follow shiny new objects (projects) instead of finishing the one I'm working on now. That means I have a backlog of unfinished novels and stories, patiently waiting for me to return. In this last wandering away to follow a new idea, I've succeeded in finishing a novel that's now in the revision/self-editing stage and almost ready for submission. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, Patricia! Hopefully, following the flow will work as well for me. :)
DeleteUsually, I stick to my plan in writing. In my normal life, I flit from idea to idea, leaving half-finished projects all over the house. (Hubs is not pleased. LOL) But in my writing I have to stick to my plan. If another idea zings through my mind, I jot it down and get back to my work. Usually.
ReplyDeleteI bet your husband wishes you'd apply some of that writing life "stickiness" to household projects. :)
DeleteWishing you the best. Good luck with the new project.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Juneta!
DeleteWishing you loads of luck, Madeline! Loved this post! I am easily distracted. My sisters call me the ADHD One; but I prefer my brother's nickname which is "Butterfly." I can quickly flutter to a blossom with sweeter nectar. Go for it!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! And I love the "Butterfly" nickname. If only I was so graceful. :)
DeleteI did come up with an exciting idea for a novel, but I had already done the research for another. I stuck to my original project because I had a feeling that if I didn't go for it now, I wouldn't come back to it. The exciting idea needs a lot of research anyway.
ReplyDeleteThis "new" idea of mine is something I've been playing with on and off for years. I'm hoping this opportunity is the right time for this story to fly! :)
DeleteGood luck!!!
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow easily seduced, hardly professional writer, I say follow the joy. In the end, it's the joy that will matter.
Love this - "....follow the joy." :)
DeleteI think if something feels right, go for it. As long as you finish at least one thing!
ReplyDeleteI should finish the one project. I hope! :o
DeleteGood luck, Madeline! Sometimes you just need to go where the muse takes you. I've put projects on hold before to take advantage of other opportunities, and it's always worked out well for me. Hell, it's why I'm published in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThanks, JH! Good to know those chances worked out well for you. Hopefully the same will happen to me. :)
DeleteAlthough I can related, lately I've been having the opposite problem.
ReplyDeleteMy WIP, which is long, dominates my mind so much that I can't tear myself away long enough to write those short stories we are all supposed to be publishing ... or even to write queries. (Queries are their OWN tar pit of high drama, as you know.)
I think it's because my WIP is compelling and heartbreaking. Some day, we'll see whether anyone agrees.
It's been a very long time since I was in the query trenches. Maybe I'll jump back in, one of these days.... :)
DeleteAnd thanks for Following us here at TSR!
I hope the new project is moving along smoothly, Madeline!
ReplyDeleteIt's going along. Smoothly? Eh, not so much. Sigh.
Delete