My muse is a fickle bitch. She leads me in directions that I don't really want to go.
I've wanted to finish 'Traveller' for at least a year now. I've wanted to finish my next story (which, I admit, I was first writing under a different pseudonym - what? You didn't know I had two pseudonyms on here? Well, I do. I won't reveal it to you, though...gotta keep people guessing...) for nearly 3 years now.
Yes, you read that correctly. When I first started writing my 'Next Big Story' (NBS) it was early 2012. I know this because I still have a few files with the original time-stamp on them; also, I write nearly all of my stories in 'the future' by a year or two so that I can 'catch up' as I'm writing and NBS is written to occur in 2013. I went along for a while and then hit a road block (story block? Mind block?) because my muse came up with a DIFFERENT story that had me excited (which turned out to be the beginnings of 'Traveller', but I digress). As the years have passed, I've written a part of the story here and there as it's come to me; I've changed some aspects and tightened others - I think it's called tinkering. I want to be clear: my muse and I set this story up from beginning to end; we outlined the entire first story (of a four story quadrology that may end up being a quintology) chapter by chapter with key points and cross-indexed different sub-plots to make sure I didn't miss anything. That first blush was 21 chapters. Since then, the NBS has grown some - 26 chapters, but they're firm. I didn't start posting it because I learned my lesson from 'Traveller' - the lesson of which is 'my muse is a fickle bitch'. I started posting 'Traveller' sure that I would sit and complete it before moving on. My muse decided otherwise.
I tried to give myself a break with the 'Speed Demon' series. I figured I could write the entire story as a series of shorts. That way, I could complete the story and come back to it as I wish. Again, the 'complete' story/series IS blocked out but...
So, there you have it. I fully intended on working on NBS and/or 'Traveller' this morning when I woke up with another excellent story idea that I just HAVE to get on paper so I don't lose it. I'd fire my muse but she already knows I can't live without her...