Fiction Update: Fic Overload/Delving into Ideas

Progress report time again.

So, I've got to admit, I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm finding myself really itching to finish some fics I started a while back. There are four I have in mind-- that's a lot of fiction to be working on all at once! I have a lot of unfinished work, and after going back to reread them, I've gotten completely excited about them all over again. They really deserve to be finished, if not just for the sake of finishing them. There are so many of them though, that I kind of don't know where to begin. All these fanfics, on top of a screenplay and a novel. I'm spreading myself a little too thin. You might be thinking, "Considering the trouble you have with sitting down and actually writing, why waste your time with fics when you could be working on career-building work?"

...That's a good question, actually.

Well here's why I do it, regardless of whether I should or not:
1) Actually finishing any work is really satisfying.
2) I want to write, gosh darn it. And somehow, when I'm writing fanfics, I manage to do that. I feel so much more capable and liberated when I'm playing in someone other writer's sandbox, as contradictory as that sounds.
3) My finished fanfics could very easily be adapted into something else. Grouped into a collection of short stories, maybe? Some of them are long enough to be novellas. So who knows?

I want it all. That's something I've learned about myself over the last couple of years. I want to do it all. This applies to me in a lot of situations, now that I think about it. In this case though, I want to write a novel, I want to write a screenplay, I want to write fanfics to share with close friends. I want it all, even though these things take time, effort.

You know something though? I don't see anything wrong with that.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to try to finish all my projects over the next, eh, I don't know. Six months, tarting tonight. Really. I mean it. Don't look at me like that, I mean it. I'll keep a running report right here. Here's the roster:



Orig. Fic/Plays
1) SJL (the novel)
Currently: You don't want to know.

2) Convergence (the screenplay)
Currently: just a pile of notes.

This is kind of disturbing, actually. I mean, my fanfics have got miles on my original fiction. Shame on me.

Potential Shorts
1) Looking Glass
Fandom: Michael Jackson
Currently: Chapter six in progress, almost halfway.
This is the fic I'm always talking about-- the one with Mike, his former best friend, and former best friend's fiancee.

2) Brother, Brother
Currently: Chapter four, but I've been writing out of order, so everything's kind of discombobulated.

3) Untitled (actually, it has a title but I'm reluctant to reveal it)
Currently: Chapter one. I've barely started this one.

4) Untitled (again, don't want to reveal title)
Currently: Chapter one

Method
I figure that to start out, I will allot a certain amount of time to spend with each piece-- thirty minutes each. Maybe I can write a certain piece on a certain day, but that's no fun. Once you decide, "Oh, it's Tuesday, that's a Looking Glass day!" and start stirring in a certain amount of rigidity to the mix, it gets harder to adhere to your plans. I also still intend to do my month-long SJL write-a-thon, so I'll have to work that in there somewhere. I'll do some thinking about this.