Meredith Mansfield, Author

Lately, I haven’t felt like I’m making any progress.  It’s not because I haven’t been putting in the time, either.  I’ve decided it’s because I have just too many projects going right now.  Generally speaking, I prefer to have a couple of projects going.  That way, if I hit a stumbling block on one, I can stay productive and just switch over to the other until I can get past it, but I’ve decided that I’ve just got too many projects going at the moment.

Part of my problem is that I don’t really consider anything finished until it sells–which means that nothing is finished right now.  Until then, I feel like I should either be trying to make it better or trying to sell it.  That leaves me with too many things on the active list.  That wasn’t so bad when I had fewer projects nominally completed, but it’s just not going to work any more.  I have to prioritize. 

First, is the project I can actually finish.  I need to polish up the synopsis for BLOOD WILL TELL so I can send out more queries.  I’ve already sent most of the ones that 1) accept email queries and 2) don’t require a synopsis.  Now, I need the synopsis to be polished up and ready to send.  I can’t express how much I dislike working on the synopsis, but it has to be done.

Second, really should be my current main project, which is the first revision of DREAMER’S ROSE.  I’m so close to having the new material finished, if I just stop letting myself be distracted.  There’s only about a chapter and a half to go and then on to the revisions on the part that’s already written, which should go much faster.

Third, my current short story, “The Wrong Lion” (tentative title), set in the same world as THE SHAMAN’S CURSE and THE IGNORED PROPHECY.  (I have a fondness for titles with multiple meanings and this one could be read at least three ways in reference to this story.)  I’ve targeted this to a market with a short window for submissions.  I need to finish it up, if it works out, and get some critiques on it.

Fourth, revisions on THE IGNORED PROPHECY.  I’ve been doing a chapter exchange with another writer on this one and I do want to keep up with the chapter revisions as the critiques come back.  The rewrite of the beginning can wait until I finish the second draft of DREAMER’S ROSE.

And that’s really plenty to be working on and hope to show progress on any of it.  The stories that are currently out on submission are to be considered finished at least until they come back.  BLOOD WILL TELL is finished and in the query process.   THE SHAMAN’S CURSE and SEVEN STARS are on the shelf for now.  The only other thing I will permit myself to work on is brainstorming for the two novels I haven’t started yet, but I do that best outside of writing time, anyway.