Reay Jespersen

It was just a matter of time, really. Here I was, all gung-ho about having this one main concept in my head (a kids’ book with a brother and sister going on a huge adventure, in the tone of Narnia but minus the religious overtones) and being able to focus on that as my main writing project. And then it happened: other totally viable, appealing ideas popped into my head. And not along the same lines, either. As my brain is wont to do, it went for a wander and came up with something totally different than what’s at hand: in this case, a concept for a horror film. Better still, as a quick check of IMDb told me, one whose name (which is tied directly to the thrust of the idea) has surprisingly never been used for a horror film before. And in fact, while I was writing down the concept for that, an idea for another horror film occurred to me, so I wrote down that one, as well.

So back the old conundrum: to continue with Project 1, which has a lot of promise and cool potential but which has now dimmed somewhat next to the shining star of the newer idea (I am somewhat like a crow in this respect, always getting distracted by and attracted to the sparkle of a new idea), or start with Project 2, which appeals more so will inherently lead to better writing than something I’m making myself do less willingly, but which will leave Project 1 undone? The real hell of it, and this has been proven countless times before, is that if I start Project 2, another idea will come along part way in, and it’s back to square one. It could all be shown in a very small, sad flow chart.

My mind, however, was already made up for me a while ago. Not in regard to the specific Project 1 vs. Project 2 in this case (and did I mention how awesome both ideas are? Because really…), but rather, the decision to stop leaving work undone in favour of a more sparkly idea. As has been demonstrated to an embarrassing degree in the past, that invariably leads to a whole lot more stuff started than finished, which rather defeats the purpose of my wanting to finish writing projects in order to peddle them to publishers and producers. And other “p” words.

So there you have it: the awesome Project 2 will have to wait its turn until awsome Project 1 is completed. Which may take some time, but that’s the way it’s gotta be. That, as the kids these days say (because I’m nothing if not “street”), is the way I roll.

Word.