Some wise person pointed out the obvious when they said, “When you say yes to one thing, you say no to countless other things.” I said yes to more clients. That automatically put a giant “no” on other things I could do with my time. I’m not regretful or wistful, just observing the shift in my energy and how I juggle daily tasks. And as those tasks get completed (if my plans actually turn out), there will be more choices.
I ordered the cover for The Found Gift. I’m excited to see what the designer creates. I’m waiting for the beta reader to finish so I can make my final rounds (yes, plural) of edits. In the meantime, I have all the extra stuff completed that goes into one of my books.
So I’m choosing to use this time to finish MV2. When I write a story, I’ve learned to let it be how it wants to be. I’m doing the same with the flash fiction and short stories I want to include in MV2. But I get to choose which stories and how many to include. In a way, there’s freedom in all those choices. In another, it goes against what so many creatives have decided about the creative experience: limits push the boundaries, not infinite choice.
When I compare MV2 to MV1, I think about the page numbers, the word count, the table of contents. Then I remind myself that this will be a free book in ebook format only. Half to three-fourths (depending on what I decide) of the stories will have already been published in my monthly newsletters. The rest will be new to my subscribers.
I can say no to the same number of pages as the first volume. I can say no to writing a bunch of new flash fiction and short stories just to flesh out this free book instead of using that time to get the next novel in one of my series written. I can say no to agonizing over the order of the stories and allow my readers to enjoy them in any order they choose. And I can say no to the inner critic who pipes up about quantity and quality and price and extras, and say yes to being done with the project. What choice have you made recently that closed the doors to other possibilities?
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