I have 60 projects in planning, 1 being actively written, 1 being outlined with a friend and 1 published. All of which are a part of the fictional Red Universe.
Sometimes people ask me how I choose what project I'm going to work on next. How do I know which project is going to mesh with me well enough to commit months or longer to completing? Well, it boils down to six things:
Excitement
I have to be able to feel excited for a project. If I’m going into a book, how I’m feeling about the characters, the setting, the plot and era play a major part. If I’m not excited to write it, I’m undoubtedly going to create a bad story with flat, lifeless characters and a humdrum plot. Nobody wants to read that. Hell, for that reason alone, there are ideas I had ten years ago that probably won’t get written for maybe another ten years because I’m just not feeling them and I’m not excited to see the stories on shelves.There’s a Story There
When I have an idea and commit it to being a project, usually the most I have is a concept and a title. For me to write a novel, I have to be able to find a story in the concept. The better the story I can come up with the more likely I’ll be to pick it.
I chose to write The Engine What Runs the World over Shadow City because I saw a better story in The Engine, where I started Shadow City because I’d finished Shadows begin and Shadows Fall already and wanted my third book finished. So yeah, I have to be able to find an engaging story with a good lead before I’ll think of picking it up.Am I Good Enough to Write the Story?
Some of my ideas are big. I mean really big. Five hundred thousand to a million words long sort of big. When I look at those projects I want them to be cannon, I’m excited to write them, I’d be willing to put my time into them… But, I’m not the level of writer I need to be to do such stories justice.
Books like The Immortal Condition and Swords & Stones* need a writer that can capture the grand vastness of their stories. They need a writer who has been places and done things. They need a writer who has experience not just within the world, but with words. I frankly am not yet that writer. I will be, someday. Until then, I’ll be choosing stories that I can manage with the experience I have and make the best books I am capable of.Time
Books take a long time to complete. From the concept, to the outlining, to the research, to writing, to editing, to publishing. I am going to want to have to be willing to put the time and effort required into a project.Where do I fit this in the Story Cannon?
Every project I work on, whether they are by me personally or working with a partner, will be taking place within the Red Universe. That said, every book has to follow a set number of rules and follow a meticulous timeline. The actions within any book could be used to shape the history of the Red Universe or even just a small area.
One of my biggest rules is nothing is 100% cannon until it’s published and released. Well, The Engine What Runs the World set a pretty clear timeline. While years were not mentioned, the world from the 21st century to the 44th century are outlined. I have to follow that timeline; and the more books I add to the Red universe the more the timeline will become sturdy, giving me less room to shove dates around.
So, I have to choose which books are going to help create cannon and which are going to accentuate the timeline, making it more interesting.Ease
I can’t lie, I’m a man who likes things easier. I’m writing novels for the most part because I can write them and get them published much easier than comics or music. I do have a few graphic novels in planning as well as three of the six rock operas I want to do. Now, because I’m a shit artist, graphic novels will require an artist. It’s not exactly an easy endeavor.
Music has the same problems. I require musicians and singers to make my dreams a reality. I’m working on a project; it’s just going to take a very long time before it’s done.
Novels are just the better way for me to go at this time.
So there you have it folks, this is how I choose which projects I choose to work on.
*A working title as I have yet to think of anything better than Swords and Stones.