Bragging or whining? – How about both?

This is a post where I will do a little bit of bragging and a little bit of whining. The bragging … well, you’re used to it by now. The whining? It will only last a hundred words or so. After that I’ll go back to being my usual confident, smart-ace self. I can’t do humble for long. I just can’t.

Ahem, let’s get started before I annoy anyone with too much bravado.

1. First, the bragging.

• I had a great idea for a contemporary love story called “No Goodbyes.” I got all teary-eyed and emotional as it was unfolding in my mind. This is it! A future bestseller. It’s the next Notebook, but without all that paperwork.
• I also had a brilliant, let me say that again, brilliant idea for a vampire story. I’d tell you what that brilliant twist is but then I’d have to suck the blood out of you. I can’t do that. It’s too early in the morning and I don’t suck blood on an empty stomach. Hm, lame joke? Maybe. I’ll have to work on my vampire humor.
• Two awesome ideas in the span of a few days? Who wouldn’t be bragging and feeling awesome about that? No one, that’s who. Except for Mother Theresa. Or Gandhi. Or the Dalai Lama. Or the millions of people who think tooting your own horn is bad form. Or the … never mind. I think I’m undermining my own point here.  Moving on.

2. Now, let’s talk about the whining.

• Getting an idea out of my head and onto paper requires huge amounts of focus, great writing skills, and … you know … focus. That’s not my strength. My mind wanders a lot. I even lost it a few times. Thank goodness, I found it again, but still … my brain has a mind of its own.

Sooooo, when it comes to writing “No Goodbyes” I’ve already hit a few blocks and I’m only two thousand words into the story. That’s OK. I have a plan. This story shall be written and shall become a beloved book.

• How am I supposed to maintain focus when all these great ideas for new stories come to me? I mean, I’m already super excited about “No Goodbyes” when the brilliant vampire story (sorry, I had to make sure you remembered that it was brilliant) came to me. What am I to do with that story? Keeping it on the back burner will be frustrating. Oh, the struggles of a new writer!

Now that I got the bragging and the whining out of the way, let me try to make this post a little useful and give you a glimpse of my action plan for dealing with two great stories at the same time:

1. I will be adding two thousand words to “No Goodbyes” every day. That’s non-negotiable. Two thousand words or no chocolate, no running, and no blood sucking allowed.
2. I will indulge in fantasizing about brilliant vampires once my daily word count for “No Goodbyes” is met. I have already created a new folder for my vampires. I’m not writing their story yet. Just keeping track of random bits of “facts”, dialogue, and plot twists.

That’s it. I’ll try to keep things simple. One story that I’m spending most of my writing time on, one story for which I just jot down things as they come to me, two blog posts a week, some reading, and keeping in  touch with friends from around the world.

That reminds me that there are some emails I have to reply to. See you later, guys. Two thousand words and a few e-mails later.