Good morning, squiders!
If you’ll remember, in February I finished up my serial scifi story in one of my writing communities, a story I started in January of 2009 and hence had been working on for 10 years.
(I really should back it up in a word document and see what the final word count is. I’d bet it’s about 70K or so.)
I don’t think I’ll do anything with the story–it kind of feels like I’ve spent enough of my life on it already, and I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily worth the time to revise and so forth to try and publish it.
Plus it wasn’t my favorite story idea to begin with. I just felt like I needed something, a story I could work on periodically for said writing community (you’re supposed to post at least once a month), and so I put it together off a weird dream I had once.
I requested a few months off after the completion of the story, which I was readily given, but it’s now six months later and I find myself at a crossroads.
A couple, actually.
The first one is: do I want to stay in this community?
It’s a LJ writing prompt community that I joined back in 2006. In 2006 I joined a lot of different writing communities–I was fresh out of college and living in a new state where I knew no one except my significant other, and I found myself falling into a depressive spiral. So I threw myself into writing as a coping mechanism, which worked pretty well, all things considered. I made a lot of friends, many of whom I still talk to today, and it’s really the point where writing went from a hobby to a more serious pursuit.
And the community has generally been great. The other writers are talented, so it’s nice to read their stuff, and the feedback and encouragement I’ve gotten over the years. And it has been a good way to ensure I’m writing somewhat regularly, especially if life has been otherwise problematic.
But is it still helping me meet my goals? Would it be better to use the time I spend every month on something else?
The community has quieted down lately, too, with only a half dozen people actively posting, if that.
The second question is: if I stay in the community, what do I write?
Do I start another novel-length serial story, posting 600-1500 words a month for the next ten years? Do I actually rely on the prompts and write little drabbles and shorts that I may or may not want to do something with? (That’s what I did for the first few years. There’s some I like, but not enough to do anything with.)
Do I use it like the RaTs system on WriYe and focus on writing drabbles in universes that already exist?
Do I go for a serial, but something shorter, something designed to only last a year or so?
I’m not sure. Nothing’s jumping out at me. But I feel like I’m reaching a point where the decision needs to be made.
Thoughts, squiders?
