Choosing a new project

[sarillia]

How do you go about deciding what to work on next? Does one just call out to you or do you have a process for choosing one?

Normally I can just pick one and work on it until it's done--though occasionally I end up deciding that I'm not ready to start the one I chose after all and it works better if I get back to it later--but lately I my mind has been all over the place and I can't decide.

Sometimes what I do is I make a list of my top choices and then I go through that list and make a new one out of my top choices from that list and keep doing that until I only have one left. But I can't seem to narrow it down this time.

Part of it, I think, is that issue of audience appeal I talked about before. Instead of basing it entirely on my enthusiasm, I can't help thinking about what might be most salable too.

Comments

[lunabee34]

I have to work to a deadline or an obligation myself. So I write the conference paper that I said in my yearly goals that I would write. Or I write the fanfic for the fest I signed up for. Or (I'm part of a writing group in RL), I write the short story or the personal essay that I've committed to write for this month. I'm also doing a Letters Game with a friend that is proving to be very fun.

I have no time any more to write something that I haven't committed to write. I can't remember the last time I just spent time writing something (outside of blogging or meta) that wasn't under deadline or obligation. :(