It's August and I want to tell you where things stand with my Summer of Projects. I completed my villanelle. And I felt good enough about it that I submitted it to both my publisher and a literary journal where I hope it will find a home. So out of my four projects one is done. I'm working madly on the middle-grade novel. And I've made a serious breakthrough about the mystery project where I need to change the point of view. As for the YA novel, I've jotted down notes, but haven't worked on it in a meaningful way this summer. Things aren't happening as fast as I'd like. I need to carve out more time. I hope to make a real push and finish the middle-grade novel this month. Summer doesn't officially end until Friday September 22nd, so I've still got some time.
One thing I need to confess is that I worked on another undisclosed project and submitted it to my agent and she loved it. I'll talk more about that in another post. The reason I mention it is because it made zero sense for me to write this project when I did. But I have a motto: Go through the doors that open. I mean this literally. For instance, my favorite Mexican restaurant has two doors. One has a very shiny handle and one handle looks untouched. The first time I went there I opened the shiny handle and didn't think twice about it. But the next time my friend led the way, and she tried to open the untouched handle, which is permanently locked. Here's the thing, my impulse is to seek out doors that will open. So if my imagination brings me a fully formed idea, I consider that a door asking to be opened. I worked on this project feverishly. I told my agent it was formed out of obsessive polished pressure. I have a child. Responsibilities. Of course I had to strike a life balance. But I stayed up late and got up early. And literally used every spare second to write this project. Five years ago I would have spent some time doubting whether or not this was a smart use of my time. I had other projects in the queue. But I've learned to trust my creative urges. So I did the fifth project. And it was the right thing to do.
Okay. I've got to go so I'll leave you with a photo. This summer my husband and son and I traveled to Boston and my friend let us stay at her house (she was away with her girls).
She texted me: You'll need to move a few dolls off the bed.
And I arrived at two AM to find this:
So I have great news. The Poetry Foundation selected my manuscript Half-Hazard for the Emily Dickinson First Book Award and Graywolf Press will publish it in October 2018. I've been working on my first poetry manuscript for twenty years so this is a thrilling development. But it also means that I haven't made much progress on my Summer of Projects. Technically it's not summer yet. Technically summer begins on June 20th. So here's the deal. On June 20th I will commit to working on my Summer of Projects three hours a day. Six days a week. No matter what. (I like to think I'll have one day off each week. It is summer.)
I'm going to post my progress here. Wish me luck. By the end of summer I should have:
1) A finished villanelle
2) A finished middle-grade Animal novel
3) A completed YA Comedy/Romance/Adventure
4) A completed mystery project written in the correct point of view
I know it seems like a lot. But don't worry about me. I actually think I can do this. I'm a burst writer. And I wouldn't state my goals publicly if I didn't think it was possible for me to achieve them. Or at least I don't think I would. Below is a snapshot of the current state of my writing desk. I'll order the disorder tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Here we go. I'm not gonna lie. This was a rush job. I've still got some Post-it note organization to pull off before this is actually a done deal. But before I can tackle my Summer of Projects, I had to have a clean writing space.
In a few days I'll post my projects that I'm going to finish this summer. I'm still waffling on the third one. I can't decide. On Monday I'm commit. Happy writing!
Hello. It's me. Kristen. Do you want to see my messy desk? Okay. Here you go. Here's the thing, I'm an extremely goal-oriented person. I can't live like this anymore. I've got goals. Dreams. And way too much paper-pile drama. In two days I leave to teach at http://ldstorymakersconference.com and before I go this desk needs to be clean. Why?
Because I am about to start my summer of projects. What's that? It's a motivational tool I'm using to finish three creative projects I should've finished months ago. Two days. This desk will be clean. This summer. My projects will get finished. And what about you? Do you have an actual or perhaps metaphorical Tickle Me Elmo obstructing your productivity too? Any projects taking up a bunch of your free brain space and file cabinets? Track them down. Get them out. Before I leave I'll post a picture of my clean desk. It's the first step. And then I get down to business. For reals.
