Mein Kleine Geistkampf

I don't usually post about my own personal struggles on this blog but I thought some of my readers might find this particular issue of some interest. As I've mentioned before, I write fiction. My first story will be published later this year or early next—more on that later. Others are circulating. My first novel, EULOGY, is currently under submission at an agency and a publisher, and I have high hopes for it. The work, now, is to come up with another novel so that as soon as EULOGY comes out I'll have another in the pipeline.

Here, then, is my struggle: I have no less than four novels underway. Each is at a point from where I can take it to completion. The trick is to decide which will be most worthwhile to pursue. To which to commit my energies. Over the course of the next few posts I hope to lay out the arguments for each project: including a brief logline, or synopsis, and cursory outline and character sketches; current status; foreseeable roadblocks to completion; etc.

It may turn out that all these projects are hopeless and should be abandoned. It may turn out that all of them have potential and should be developed without delay. It may turn out that one is obviously superior to the others and should be knocked out forthwith. It may turn out that, say, two of them should be cranked out simultaneously—for whatever reason—and the others chucked. Whatevs.

I hope to make this an entertaining discussion, drawing on the lessons of our careful reading of James Wood's How Fiction Works and our investigation of what we've been calling the Ur-story. We shall be turning to sources of inspiration and to critical quotes from writers on writing, exploring along the way the creative process and the nature of fiction among other things.

Come along for the ride!