One Thing at a Time
March 1, 2000
6:46 a.m.
I've got to many projects going. That's all there is to it. I'm actively working two short stories, and trying to find an adequately long span of time to finish what I'm calling the "Storyboard Read" of my December Dare. Just to be clear, my Storyboard Read is where I sit with the book, read page after page, and use colored post-its to identify the detail of the plot. I don't really edit or even attempt to change much of anything, though I will make a few notes as to ideas that come about, and loosely mark up really egregious errors. When I'm done, I then take most of a day to analyze each piece for consistency and support and characterization and all that stuff. Consider it my system diagram. Yeah, I'm an engineer. What's your point? Beyond these projects, I've got a third short work boiling in my mind, and another very intriguing idea for a novel. Add to those a pair of articles I'm piddling with. If this sounds like a good thing, I guess it generally is. But for me it's a bit of a problem. So many things at once tends to dull my ability to focus. I get antsy thinking about all that work in front of me and lose track of the idea that every job gets done one step at a time. We may say we multi-task, but really we don't. Really we just break things into small enough discreet units that we can progress several tasks "at once" when looked at over a day's time. So, one step at a time. My creed for the month. One step at a time. Priorities. Goals. Breathe. Have fun. Why else do this, right?  What about the groupies, Ron? Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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