My current writing project is a long way from finished – it’s barely started – but that doesn’t mean I’m not already planning the next big thing. That’s sort of the way of the creative life, or at least my creative life. I surround myself with notes on potential plots, interesting titles waiting for a story, and twisty little subplots waiting for the right characters. When the time is right, these elements will magically come together for a novel of substance, brilliance, and charm.
Or not.
Although I am a pantser at heart, I realize that accountability makes all the difference between a project completed and a project in pieces. That’s why I belong to two critique groups. Having a deadline is the best tool I’ve found for compelling me to sit at the keyboard until the words flow.
Now I’m seeing there might be another tool I could use. My husband and I are about to pay off the bills for one house project. Sometime in the next six weeks, we will sit down with the budget and discuss how we will choose the next project on our extensive to-do list. We’ll look at our assets and liabilities, and decide which of the many items is the most reasonable to undertake at this time.
The idea of treating time as an asset isn’t new, even to me. What is new is budgeting it for my writing, the way I budget for home repairs and renovations. If I am very clever, I will first budget my time to complete my current writing project before I get sucked into another, but that’s a blog for another day.