Can you have too many stories in the queue? I don’t believe so – but your mileage may vary.
In September 2015, I began a sci-fi story idea that would evolve into my Void Incursion series.
I published the first two books of the series in 2020, then the next 2 in 2021. The fifth and final book of the series is currently waiting to be sent to an editor.
At the end of 2020, I began a new series. My Forgotten Fodder series was written, edited, and published over the next year. Though the first 4 books of the series are a complete story arc, I have created another 4-book arc. Those are plotted, but I’ve not begun to write this yet.
Going back to 2014, I published the first book of my fantasy series The Source Chronicles. Book 2 was published in 2015. Now, Book 3 is waiting to go to the editor. Book 4 of this planned 5 book series is underway – though untouched for several years.
Recently, I had the cover for the first book of my Vapor Rogues series redone. I’ve decided that book 2 – which I finished a while ago – should be edited by me so it, too, can go to an editor.
A few months ago, after a lot of planning, I started my new Savagespace sci-fi series. Books 1 and 2 are complete, and book 3 is underway as of this writing. There are 6 books total plotted for this series.
And now I am in the initial stages of creating a new fantasy series. No name, no plot, just worldbuilding, and some vague story ideas.
Suffice it to say – there’s a lot in my queue. Are there too many stories, however?
Who decides where the line may or may not be?
I learned a long time ago that no two writers follow exactly the same process. They might be close, and they might have many similarities, but they’re never the same.
I learned last year that author Timothy Zahn writes 1500 words a day. Cool – I do, too. Or rather – that’s my goal (specifically related to fiction. I do not count the 1000 words or so I write for blog articles in my total). That alone is probably one major difference between us.
Further – up until the creation of my Forgotten Fodder series, I wrote more or less exclusively as a pantser. I sat at my keyboard, words flowed from my head to my fingers to the screen – and a story came into being. Now, however, I’ve learned the value of planning – and am working more as a planner. And that’s part of why there are so many stories in my queue presently.
I have works already planned or underway in 4 different series. Additionally, I’m building a new fantasy world and anticipate stories to create for that, too.
When I was a pantser – I’d have started with some vague notion in a world I could half imagine with no discernible plot at the outset. Now, writing as a planner, I’m especially excited to work out the worldbuilding more thoroughly – and then see what plot I can create therein. And thus far, I’ve got a vague idea for the main story. More to come.
So, who determines where the line between enough writing and too much writing lives? Who chooses where the lines are for insufficient, sufficient, and too many stories in the queue?
Can you have too many stories in the queue?
Who can make that determination? The answer, of course, is you. You, and you alone, know how much belongs in your queue.
This is true of anything you do – from writing and the arts to mundane jobs and family responsibilities. You’re accountable and responsible first and foremost to you yourself. And the only person who knows the lines between not enough, enough, and too much is you.
But this can be very easy to lose track of. What’s more, it’s also far too easy to let other people tell you what’s best for you. And there are always people happy to give you their take on what the shape of your life experience should be.
Many of these people mean well. They only want what’s best for you. From their perspective. But the truth is – they don’t know. They can’t know. Why? Because they’re not you.
You’re the only one in your head, heart, and soul. Ergo, you’re the only one who knows what does and doesn’t work for you. What makes you feel good, bad, or otherwise? I can’t tell you – because you’re the only one who knows.
Is there such a thing as too many stories in the queue? For me, the answer is no. Given the joy I get from creating, worldbuilding, plotting, and writing – how can there be too much? I love what I do – and having more in the queue means more opportunities to create.
However – that’s now. A point may come, in time, where I find that there are too many. That’s because nothing about my life is written in stone and unchangeable. Change is the only constant in the universe. Thus, at some point, I might reach a place where I find there’s too much in my queue.
Mindfulness of too many stories – if such is a thing
It all comes down to mindfulness. I get to be mindful of what I’m thinking, what and how I’m feeling, my intentions, and what I’m doing concerning my writing work.
Via mindfulness – conscious awareness, here and now – I can know my limitations. And thus, I get to recognize where the lines exist between not enough, enough, and too much. If such lines exist at all.
The same is true for you.
Nobody else can tell you how it should be. That’s because nobody else is in your head, heart, or soul. That’s a good thing – because it means you are empowered to choose what’s best for you and your life experience.
I know that not everyone can follow the path I take for my creative work. But I also know that there are enough similarities that sharing how and what I do can be helpful to you in how and what you do, too.
Can you have too many stories, works of art, projects, or anything else in the queues of your life? You alone have the answers. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Keep on kicking ass and taking names. Create what you create, and plot and plan as you see fit to do.
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