Always Think Forward

I find a lot of authors these days struggling with this concept. They simply are not seeing a future with their writing. Oh, I get that many will talk about their dreams and aspirations, but I am talking about things more short term.

For many, they only focus on that one book they are writing. Even more so, they focus simply on that single scene they are writing. While this focus might be great for really adding depth to that scene and keeping an author from being distracted, the bigger issue comes later when they end up in a place they did not want to be. This will often lead an author into having to spend huge amounts of time re-writing and massively redoing a story. That is wasted time.

The other issue of just focusing on that single story prevents an author from keeping that flow of writing going. Let me explain it this way. If you are thinking only about that single story, when you get to the end and are ready to move on, you end up not moving forward with your writing as you have to "think of a new project."

If you talk to authors who are very successful, they will often tell you the same thing. They could never write all of the stories they have in their head. As they write, the keep journals and lists going of potential future projects. The nice thing about this is they can shift at a moment's notice when the publishing industry zigs or zags in a new direction. They are reading for those changes!

When I talk to potential new authors I want to sign, I always ask what else they have planned. There have been a stack of authors who I move on from simply because they don't see a future and I don't see it either.

So, where is your future?