Writer's Glut, The Opposite of Writer's Block

[Peg Herring]

There isn't enough time in the day. You all know I'm hard at work on the sequel to HER HIGHNESS, which is moving at a snail's pace for some reason. But then I get into my old computer files for some reason and stumble onto other projects, some barely started, some almost done.

Gee, that was a good idea. Why didn't I finish it? Oh, right. I was stuck on motive. Oh, and that one's nice, too. I was going to work on the characters, get them some depth. Oh, that clever idea for a plot still seems clever; I just need to write down what's in my head. And look at that one, ninety percent done, but the original is still under consideration at some publishing house, so I stopped working on Book Two until Book One sells.

Then there are family and friends. "When do we get a sequel to MACBETH'S NIECE?" shows up on Facebook. And someone else mentions "that one you told me about with the crippled girl. That sounded good." And one family member is still waiting patiently for me to finish the one she and I talked about for weeks.

So why don't I finish? Because writing takes waaaaaaay longer than people think. Which brings me back to my original statement: There isn't enough time in the day.

[Dana King]

This is the kind of thing that comes to mind when I hear someone ask a writer where they get their ideas. We're tripping over ideas, good ones, all day. The trick is, which ones lend themselves to how each of us tells a story, and how many do we have time to execute?