Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Wrestling with Writing

I need your help.

Here's the situation. I've got a bit of time on my hands at the moment. Not a lot, but enough to get a writing project completed. Most likely only one project, however.

Although I've written a number of essays over the years, and had limited success in getting some of them published, I've been working on some book length projects at the same time. I've not submitted any of them for publication, as none of them are even close to being completed. My dilemma is that I tend to flit between them, resulting in nothing being completed, and some severe problems from blending the voices of the various projects.

So, I need to pick one, and stick with it until completed.

Here's where I'd appreciate your help. I'll list the projects, in order of my current enthusiasm for them (which I'll admit does tend to change from day to day). I ask for your recommendation as to which one I should work on for the next couple of months. The goal is to get it done. Marketable, etc. are secondary considerations (although insights regarding those aspects will also be appreciated). Eventually, I intend to complete all four projects. My current wrestling match is in regards to which one I can realistically expect to complete within the next 60 to 90 days.

So, here they are:

1. Autobiographical - This would be the easiest to finish writing, as it requires little research. I've got lots of stories, some over 30 years old, of which the details are still quite vivid. Most likely the format would be to include some kind of spiritually oriented commentary. Some examples would be The Boys of Hall and Longing for Home. Much of this is already written, in various forms. It would be a matter of pulling it all together under a unifying theme, perhaps along the lines of the Stopping the World series.

2. The Anglican Wars - Although this would take some research, much of that work has already been done on this site and elsewhere. This might be structurred along the lines of telling the story of Jake's place, and using some of the posts and comments to document the last six years of the current unpleasantness within the Anglican Communion (since the Windsor Report). The reservation I have with this project is that it would offer little in the way of new information, and would serve no real purpose, as those who are interested could get the same info by spending some time here. However, it might be helpful to have all the information pulled together into one resource.

3. Fiction - I'm playing with a story that might be labeled as falling into the "urban sci-fi" genre. I'm hesitant to say more about this. Fiction is a real art, and on bad days, I look at what I've done and define it as nothing more than amateur crap. On good days, it's not all that bad. But this is a very competitive field, in which only the brilliant survive. My work is far from brilliant. I find it an amusing pastime, however, so will probably continue to play with it. Not sure this is such a good choice for the limited window of time I have right now.

4. Evangelism - I've done quite a bit of work in this field, and have something to say about it, but I'm not sure this is the best time for me to complete this work. There's some internal turmoil in regards to this particular topic right now. I'd rather wait until I was sure I was not being driven by an underneath "I'll show you!" motive. You can get an idea of what the content might be in this video, which is hosted through the generosity of the Diocese of Washington.

So, there are my options. Please note, "none of the above" is a valid fifth option, and any alternative proposals would then become a sixth, seventh, etc. option.

What is your advice?

Thanks for your help!

J.

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