Forum: Author Hangout

Forty-seven roads diverged...

JoeBobMack 🚫
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Robert Frost wrote of the difficulty of choice:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

We like to have options, but options can also freeze us, especially when there are too many of them. (See, Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice).

I'm writing a series that has a pretty broad scope and, starting the fifth book, I'm finding it harder and harder to choose directions. Just too many options, too many paths, even though I have pretty clear idea of how it will all end. I'm brainstorming ways to help myself move forward, but this group has such a wealth of talent and often a spirit of helpfulness, so I thought I would ask. How have you faced the challenge of too many choices in your writing, and what was most helpful in moving forward?

Replies: Quasirandom Ernest Bywater Remus2

Quasirandom 🚫

@JoeBobMack

Every time I start a new story.

Most helpful has always been either a) talking it over with my beta reader or b) just start writing whichever way seems most interesting at the moment. It may be the wrong choice, but that's what revision is for — that or backing up to where it went wrong and starting over. It's just words getting deleted.

Replies: JoeBobMack

JoeBobMack 🚫

@Quasirandom

Most helpful has always been either a) talking it over with my beta reader or b) just start writing whichever way seems most interesting at the moment.

Thanks, Q! As yet, I don't have anyone to talk this over with, but perhaps I'll be ready to seek a beta reader soon. And, so far, "just start writing" has been the final answer - after I've tried to think through the possibilities, find the best plot thread to hang the next book on, consult my characters for where they are and what needs to happen with them next, and maybe throw a few bombs into the mix to make things harder for them. Still, in the end, I've not been able to completely plot out the book -- it tends to morph from what I planned.

Ernest Bywater 🚫

@JoeBobMack

How have you faced the challenge of too many choices in your writing, and what was most helpful in moving forward?

Yes, often. I tend to put the story aside for a while and let my mind think on what would happen if I went this way, then that, and eventually choose a path I like. There have been many times when the other path has turned up in another story as well.

Replies: JoeBobMack

JoeBobMack 🚫

@Ernest Bywater

I did that once, so far, and ended up with about 75,000 words in another book that I like and will probably finish. Right now, however, I'm hooked on this story and want to see it play out. That's good, and bad, but it's the way I am right now.

Remus2 🚫

@JoeBobMack

People regularly face a multitude of choices every day. Regardless of the subject, many get caught up in analysis paralysis, and end up doing nothing. Run with the first impression but keep your mind open for change or outright canning the current project. Sometimes working on one thing, allows the back track of your mind come up with a clearer picture of what you really want to do.

Replies: JoeBobMack

JoeBobMack 🚫

@Remus2

Yes, there are lots of choices in a day - and that can be another issue, especially for those with inadequate resources to address many of those choices. But, it's a slightly different challenge from a single choice point with too many possibilities. And I do kind of do allow the "back track" of my mind - love that phrase - come up with stuff. I think that happens when I just start writing and see issues I've thought about but not fully plotted start to emerge in the dialogue and actions of my characters.

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Forum: Author Hangout

Forty-seven roads diverged...

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