Too Many Projects?

I've found myself in the perplexing condition of having too many projects waiting on my ever-growing "to write" list. And others keep coming to me, too. So many books to write, so little time!

The trick is to figure out my priorities; timing is everything in such a rapidly changing and evolving market. The thing is, I can't write something simply because it would be expedient or tactical, I have to feel the project. I have to have to write it because not doing so would cause me some sort of insufferable, catastrophic inner pain. This is probably why I'll never be on the New York Times Best Seller List.

But every once in a while--no, rarely or never would be more accurate--a really good idea comes and I know that I have to drop everything to follow it up. This has happened to me in the last week. This new book could even sell. Imagine that! But first, I must finish my trilogy, and that just isn't lighting my fire right now. A bit of burn-out, I suspect, is the culprit, but I'll be buckling down to it just as soon as I'm finished revamping a client's website and I'm done editing the legendary 'War and Peace' manuscript.

So I've set myself some easy multi-tasked deadlines:

1. Website completion and manuscript edits - I can easily work on these two simultaneously; website by day, edits by night. Deadline: June 15th.
2. Book Three and research/preliminary work on new book (these too can be worked on at the same time) Deadlines differ. Book Three should be published by the end of the year, which will leave my time free and clear for the new book beginning January 1st.

All of my other projects are just going to have to wait, but only one of them is what I would consider important anyway. I could probably work on that as I have been, that is to say piecemeal, whenever the inspiration hits me and I'm not in the mood to work on other books.

This is going to be a busy summer where my writing is concerned.