On Threesomes

Ha. Not *that* kind of threesome, you pervs. 😉

No – I was thinking the other night about how difficult it can be to try to flip flop between writing multiple stories. I’d actually read part of the book there, Page after Page, some time last year. At the time I was in the middle of my procrastinator phase- I had just started writing and I couldn’t quite get my act together. One of those things where I was so tentative about actually getting the words down on the page.  Fear of success? Fear of failure?  (And maybe those are one and the same). So, yeah, I picked up a number of writing motivational books. Never finished any of them, because I already knew what my issue was – I just needed to suck it up and write the thing. The books were a sort of safety net – i.e. I couldn’t possibly be expected to write now, could I?  After all, I’m reading on how to do it, dammit!

Circular argument at best – and one pretty much guaranteed to go nowhere. But Heather did have a good point in her book: Treat your writing as if were a lover. Be faithful to the words and they’ll be faithful to you. If you treat your writing like a weekend tryst, then that’s what you get – hot and heavy when it works, but a major lack of commitment. If you love your writing, you’ll find time to write, regardless of the rest of it.

Strange concept to me, but it does make sense. There’s a certain sense of giddiness involved with falling in love, and I think it applies to writing as well (or any type of creative action, really). When it works, it’s like magic. When it doesn’t…well, that’s when you have to dig down a little deeper and try to find that spark.

So what does any of this have to do with threesomes? Well, not much on the surface, but in my case, I’m trying to write two new stories at the same time. (As well a few assorted smaller projects). But the books are my focus here.  I find myself torn now – I’ve been balancing between both, trying to commit myself to writing a chapter of each before switching. It’s hard to change mindsets sometimes. Both stories are very, very different. Different worlds, different pov, different styles. Both bring me equal parts joy and frustration.

So why, then, do I feel guilty? When I’m working on one, I sometimes find myself feeling like I really *ought* to be working on the other. Like I’m betraying the dedicated boyfriend for the pool boy.

And both have their issues.  Would it be smarter to work on the sequel to SotI, in the off chance that it gets pubbed and then I have the next one lined up?  Or do I focus on the unrelated piece in case it doesn’t?

Or do I just invite them both over, open a bottle of wine and see what happens?

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