Dealing With Project Paralysis

While it isn't universally true that writers are constantly brimming with new ideas, in addition to stewing on older inspirations we've been saving for a rainy day, most of us who do this for a living have far more projects on our to-do list than we could ever finish in a lifetime. Even if we got in an acceptable word count every, single day, and had someone else paying all of our bills so we could focus on putting words on the page, it is rare indeed for someone to ever get so much written that the mill stops due to lack of grist.

And whenever we finally put the finishing touches on something, and release it into the wild, we're left with one question. A question that can provoke anxiety, uncertainty, and for some of us an outright fear freeze. That question is, quite simply, what are we going to dedicate ourselves to next?

No pressure... no pressure at all...

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The Right Tool For The Right Job

Now, all kinds of writers get project paralysis. Doesn't matter if you're doing it for the love of the game, or if you're an international bestseller, all of us will have those moments where we look around at the entire backlog of projects we have, and feel overwhelmed by our options. And the bigger your backlog, the easier it can be to feel overwhelmed. After all, what if you pick the "wrong" idea? What if you can't finish this one, and end up wasting time? What if it's not as creatively fulfilling as you'd hoped? What if you're out of touch, and no one likes this story as much as you do? Or, even worse, what if this is the one that defines you, and it becomes something you have to work on forever?

Pause. Breathe. Exhale. Drink of water.

It can be hard to know which story idea you should pick next out of your entire collection of concepts and characters. However, think about your stories as a cabinet full of guns. They're there in all kinds of different shapes and sizes, each a tool for a different job. So rather than panicking over which one you're going to take with you (or, worse, trying to take all of them at once), ask instead what kind of hunt you're going on, and which piece of your armory will serve you best in that endeavor.

Pot boiler mystery. I can churn these sum'bitches out!

First and foremost, ask what your goal is with this project. For example, if you are looking to get in with a certain publisher or agent, they may only accept books of particular genres. That will help narrow down your choices. Alternatively, you may want to win a particular award, which will also narrow down the projects you have to choose from. If you want something that's going to be profitable, or appeal to the broadest market possible, you can also use that as a tool to evaluate which of your ideas has the most potential. You should also ask if you want to start a big, rolling project that might have many sequels if audience response allows it, or if you just want a one-and-done, standalone book.

Practical filters are often more useful, in my experience, than personal ones because they take a lot of our emotions and our egos out of the equation when it comes time to choose a book. After all, we may feel torn that we've left some of our older ideas to sit and rot, or we might feel guilty trying to choose among our projects because we've very attached to all of them. But if we can step back and say, "Look, I love all of you, but we have bills to pay. Our fantasy novel did really well, and our sci fi series is growing. So, next project needs to fit one of those two molds," then you're going to get a lot closer to actionable solutions than just agonizing back and forth about things.

Lastly, if you have either professional connections who can give you insight into your work, or a very active fan base, consider consulting them before you make your decision. After all, if you have a publisher or an agent that you've worked with already, they might be able to help read the tea leaves with you, and to make recommendations based on project pitches as to what they think will do really well. Or if you have a fan base that follows you on social media and weighs-in with their thoughts and feelings on your work, you can just ask them what they'd like to see most.

While no one data point is likely to help you escape the clutch of decision paralysis, if you get feedback from yourself and others, while comparing it with what you need as a return on investment for all the work you're putting in, that will often help you whittle your list of potential projects down to something far more manageable for you to choose from.

Speaking of Audience Input...

While we're on the subject of decision paralysis, though, I did want to ask my readers for their thoughts regarding what I pursue in the near future. For those who don't know, in addition to all my other projects, I also make videos for the Azukail Games YouTube channel. I've been working hard for the past year and a half or so to get that channel monetized, and one of the projects I'd like to pursue when that happens is to make some kind of long-form audio drama in a podcast format. Something that would be an extended version of the very short audio dramas that I've already made for the channel, like the one below.

Now, my original plan was to put together a show telling dark, modern fantasy stories in the Chronicles of Darkness setting, which I outlined in "Windy City Shadows," A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal. I even followed that original pitch up with some ideas for what I'd like to do with a second season, if I get that far, with Dead City Blues: A Potential Second Season For "Windy City Shadows".

However, while I would very much like to work on that idea, there are several other directions I could go with it. For example, I could put together an original sci-fi podcast drawing element such as the Titansworn Knights in their mechs, and the fanatical warriors of the Knights of The Void, both of which were found in my first Sci-Fi Audio Drama Trilogy. Alternatively, I could dial in on the Harrier's Guild, the corruption of corporate officers, and the struggle for worker rights that were the center stage of my Cyberpunk Audio Drama Trilogy. I could also delve into my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting to tell high fantasy tales, not unlike Send In The Dogs (a story of the Manhunters being used as a pawn by the Landers Guild), or Testing Your Wings (which details a sky race with the white dragon Frost Fang in Hoardreach, The City of Wyrms).

In short, I've been experiencing a bit of project paralysis, as my mind keeps coming up with more and more directions I could go, and all the different stories I could tell. My question for you, as the audience, is which one would you like to hear most?

If you want to weigh in, and help give me the feedback I need for this, please do the following:

- Leave a comment either on this blog, or on my social media where you found this article. Give as much feedback as you can about what you liked, and what you want to hear more of!

- Watch, like, and share the videos on the Azukail Games channel that are in the category you want to see a bigger production of. Videos with the most views are likely to get more consideration, and we still need over 1,000 hours of watched time at time of writing to get monetized.

- Subscribe to the channel. It technically only takes 500 subscribers to get monetized, but the more the merrier as far as the algorithm is concerned!

Your assistance and input are much appreciated, because it's difficult to figure out what is likely to get the biggest response from the audience. And at the end of the day, you all are the ones I want to make this for, and to entertain with these upcoming episodes!

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Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Writers Need To Parse Criticism Carefully Before Making Changes

When your whole job is making sure you have a happy audience, it's important to keep an eye out for criticism. I've said more than once that if you create something, and people don't like it, that doesn't mean the audience doesn't "get" what you were doing as a creator; they're the ones who have the final say in whether or not you are successful. Talent, vision, a large platform, a big marketing budget, all those things can help, but at the end of the day the question is whether or not this thing you made pleased your audience.

But there is a flip side to that coin. Because there's going to be criticism of your work no matter what you choose to make... the question is whether the people and quarters the criticism is coming from matters, and if it should require you to change course or not.

Original comic by Phillip M. Jackson

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If They Aren't Part of Your Audience, Who Cares?

I talked about this back in my post Cancel Culture is Not a Thing, but I wanted to reiterate it this week for all the authors who are feeling skittish here. You cannot please everyone. Period. You could write the most heartfelt romance with absolutely soul-clenching drama, and there are going to be people who hate it. They might not be fans of the genre, or they think it's too bombastic, or they feel there's no substance; whatever it is, there will be people who hate your work. You cannot avoid that.

And that is not the kind of criticism you should be worrying about. At all. Why? Because the people who are making these complaints aren't part of your audience. There is nothing you can do to please them, so it's pointless to try to do so because (as the comic above proves) you're more likely to alienate your current audience than you are to win over a new one.

Your complaint has been noted. Now piss off.

Imagine for a moment that you ran a burger restaurant, and someone came in off the street to complain about your menu. You didn't offer pasta, or your vegetarian options were lacking, or you didn't have a smoothie machine, and they're mad about it... what difference does that make to you? Are they an existing customer of yours? Have they been loyally supporting your operation, and they're simply making a request about something they'd like to see you offer in the future? Or are they someone who doesn't actually patronize your establishment who is loudly complaining that you aren't catering to them, even though they aren't actually part of your demographic?

Because if we're looking at the former, those are people you might want to listen to. They're already interested in what you're making, and they'd like to see more of it, but they also want you to take their wants into consideration for future expansion. If we're talking about the latter, though, who cares what they want? Especially if the things they're demanding aren't part of your service, and it isn't something they're going to support, they're just blowing wind.

Consider Who You're Trying To Please

Too many of us just assume that if people are criticizing us that we must be doing something wrong, and we need to fix it before we do damage to our reputations and careers. And that might be true... or you might just have blowhards screaming at you because they're mad they aren't the center of your universe.

And sometimes, if you listen very carefully, the criticism you're getting can actually tell you if you're going in the right direction.

The guy with the Confederate battle flag in his profile is upset? Good.

Give you an example. When I was working on my 100 Kinfolk Project for Werewolf: The Apocalypse I had all sorts of less-than-desirable folks slinging negative criticism my way. I had people who were upset that neo-Nazi characters were only present in the villain book, and not available as "edgy" allies for heroic characters. I had people throwing hissy fits that I "overrepresented" gay and trans characters in the project (something I addressed in A Response To The "Flaw" in My Kinfolk Project for those who are curious). However, given that the whole purpose of the project was to be more inclusive of the sorts of people usually ignored by the game's material, and to make it clear that we were no longer playing in the 90s, these were basically people who were mad I'd baked a chocolate cake. They didn't want chocolate, they wanted vanilla, and they didn't want to share it with anyone else.

If you get my drift.

Should I change the content I'm putting out to make those people happy? No. If they don't like it, or they think it isn't white or straight enough for them, I don't really care. If my work upsets somebody because now they can't play a neo-Nazi without everyone calling them out for it, good, I helped in a small way. But if someone who was part of a marginalized group reached out to me and told me I'd messed something up, or used hurtful language? If someone wanted to correct a mistake I'd made regarding a tribal identity for an indigenous character? Now that I would listen to, because that is literally the audience I'm aiming for, and the purpose the work was supposed to fulfill. So if I can't make my intended audience happy (or if they appreciate the effort, but feel I should fix problematic aspects) then that is something that is definitely a problem that needs corrected.

So keep that in mind when your work is being criticized. Are the people pointing out factual errors that should be fixed to make the work stronger? Are they trying to be helpful, or telling you what they want to see more of when you come out with your next piece? Or are they just screaming at you because you aren't catering specifically to them, and they're mad about it?

Consider the source, and if what they want is something you want to serve with your work, before taking out the red pen.

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my cat noir novel Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Readers Are Going To Make Assumptions About Your Book (So Feel Free To Play With Them!)

We always say not to judge a book by its cover. If you've been in the game for a while, though, you know that readers are going to do just that. They make judgments based on you as the author, your name, your genre, your cover art, and a thousand other little details that get calculated in the first few seconds of exposure. The same thing happens as soon as someone hears your sales pitch. No matter how fine-tuned you've got it, they're going to have reached certain conclusions before you get even halfway through it.

It does you no good to ignore this, or to wish that it didn't happen. The human mind forms judgments and separates things into categories. However, with a little bit of strategy, you can actually hack this tendency in order to surprise your readers and catch them off guard.

 

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Speaking of My Latest Book...

My latest release is a perfect example of reader assumptions in action, and before I even typed the first word of the first chapter I could already hear readers dismissing it as a cozy mystery or a YA novel because my main character was a cat, and the cast was made up of street-level animals. As most folks who've read Marked Territory already know, however, this book does not pull punches when it comes time for the cast to throw down... and alley cats are nasty, vicious creatures when the claws come out.

Seriously, go get your copy today if you don't believe me!

For some readers (judging from the comments I got on social media) this was pretty jarring. They saw there was a cat on the cover, and read the blurb about him helping out a bunch of strays on the south side, and assumed this was gonna be a bloodless tale of a bruiser with a heart of gold. The book is far more similar to stuff you'd see from Dashiell Hammett or Robert B. Parker in terms of content, though, and tends to focus a lot more on underworld figures and solving the central mystery. When violence breaks out, though, it's short, nasty, and brutal.

Using Their Assumptions To Your Advantage

Some people will argue that if your book runs counter to what someone thought it would be, then it's your fault for not putting some sort of indicator on it. On the other hand, some people believe that it's the consumers job to check what they're purchasing, such as how parents who took their kids to see Watchmen in theaters had only themselves to blame for ignoring the R rating because it was, "just a superhero movie," and should have been safe for the little ones' eyes.

I tend to fall into the latter category, for those who are curious.

On the one hand, I can confirm that you're going to have to field questions from people who want to check their own assumptions. And if you answer honestly, you very well might lose a sale or two (I've run into this with people looking to buy a book for a particularly young reader, and that is definitely not my audience). You're also going to receive at least a few strident comments from people if they bought a book expecting it to be one thing, and it turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

With that said, anything that makes you stand out from the rest of the field (and which gets people talking) isn't something you should avoid!

I've had conversations with several authors, especially newer ones, who worry that stepping too far outside of genre conventions and reader expectations will mean their stories aren't as widely read or accepted. However, I'd venture that if everybody else is trying to fit in, and you're willing to stand out, then people are going to notice you a lot more often than they will your peers.

If you're worried about not fitting a formula or confounding expectations, don't worry. That might just be what you need to get people to sit up and take notice!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list.

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!