Idea. Junkie. (Holly Schindler)

I’m an idea junkie. It’s a bit of a disease, actually. I get two, three chapters into a new project when I'm suddenly bowled over by the concept for yet another book.

When I first began the pursuit of publication, those new ideas would sometimes get me sidetracked. I learned I need to keep a spiral-bound notebook where I can jot down the basics of a new plot, then get back to the project at hand.

Being the idea junkie I am, I recently found myself with a backlog of projects I wanted to get out of outline form…I reorganized my office, getting all my materials in order so that I could move straight from one project to the next, throughout 2012. Ten in all. Yeah. I know. Ten new books. I’ve got the list of books (written in the order in which I'll tackle them) thumbtacked to the wall above my computer, in my office.

My true goal for 2012, though? Not to get all the way through the list.

Writers know the scenario well: you get about halfway through drafting a new book when your editor sends you the revision notes for a book you’ve already got in development. You have to put your current project aside, to work on revisions.

Right now, my agent’s shopping several new books...and I have to admit, my Christmas wish is that my agent will sell those projects, and I’ll be interrupted all through 2012, as the revision notes for those books come in from editors…

At this point, I’ve quit just crossing my fingers. I now have my toes crossed, my eyes crossed, the strands in my ponytail crossed…A little bit of praying doesn't hurt anything, either:

Until then, I’ll be plugging away at the first project on my list!

Here’s to 2012!