The time comes when the series is published, the trilogy released, the novel set free into the hands of eager readers. What next? Flashes of brilliance bounce around like nerf balls. Short stories, novellas, books, collections, fiction, non-fiction or what? Stay with the tried and true or step into unknown territory?
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The 'next project' challenges writers, artists, musicians, creators to test limits, take flights of imagination and discovery. If no editor is drumming impatient fingers, it's good to relax and let ideas drift where the current goes. It's a wonderful ride.
Meditate on aqua or magenta, colors of creativity and balance. Stare at walls. Mentally play out a scene like a movie. Scribble. Scribbling distracts part of the active brain, so creative elements can grow on intuitive levels. Options are endless. Discover new characters and brave new worlds. Explore the depth and infinite magnitude of those already known.
Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle
Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords
To create a semblance of order if ideas go round and round with no purpose, jot down descriptions, names, details, scenes, fashions, bits of conversation. Thoughts gain strength and clarity when written, which is why journaling is such an expressive tool for some writers and thinkers.
Writing it down helps narrow the options and lets the writer find out which projects yell 'Pick Me!' the loudest. In fact, deep down in the soul, we already know what we want most. The rest is just frippery.
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And what of writer's block? It can stomp down like a two ton blank page and the mind recoils in horror. Too many ideas or no ideas? Either way it sucks. So what's a writer to do? Gnash teeth and mutter with that wonky-eyed look as the cat hides under the bed?
Writer's block isn't just the cause of great angst, but often the result. Indecision, insecurity, self-doubt feed gleefully on perceived failure. Secret feelings of being a fraud mingle with pressure to perform and fear of doing the wrong thing in the eyes of others. It's a clear case of creative self-sabotage based on an emotional projection with no basis in fact.
Have no fear of perfection. You'll never reach it.
~Salvador Dali
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Life is a veritable orchard of idea trees. There's no such thing as no ideas. They are all around us. The world is rich with them.
There's no such thing as bad ideas, just those whose potential has yet to be explored. If Gordon Ramsay can create a multi-billion dollar empire based on bad risotto, we can see even the most insignificant seeming thought can be fruitful with work and care.
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How much work to you want to do? Personally I love research and can spend days immersed in it. I follow threads and research background to the background. In the end it's amazing how many more ideas and connections pop up. Research is work I enjoy but not everyone likes it.
Doing what you love stimulates and inspires the mind. Slogging through piles of meaningless work is an exercise in misery. No way a person can apply herself a hundred percent. Happiness is worth cultivation. Do what you love, and conscript someone else to the rest.
Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle
Sylvia Rose Books on Smashwords
Moving forward!
My next writing project began with a bunch of concepts and ideas, all vying to claim the spotlight. They include kids' books and short stories based on characters from the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series; continuing with adventures of private eyes Reiker and April as they leave for Canada; a speculative fiction book based on the campy horror movies of the mid 20th century. I could work with any of them. The point is to pick one and move on.
And I have. Look forward to sharing the journey. Happy writing!