Ghosts of Projects Yet (or If) to Come

Pat's comment on Monday about keeping an idea list made me think about all the projects I'd like to work on "someday." There's a lot. I've already mentioned how I want to write another series set in the same world as the Season Avatars series. I'd also like to write more stories in the Catalyst Chronicles series. Indeed, it seems like many short stories beget novels, which beget series, which soon become multigenerational family sagas.

I could probably spend the rest of my writing career just expanding on the worlds I've already created. However, there are still plenty of other ideas and genres I'd like to explore. They include superhero stories, alternate history, and solarpunk, to name a few. I don't want to say too much about these ideas now in case they change later.

So, what's stopping me from working on all of these ideas? One of the biggest obstacles is lack of time. I have a lot of daily responsibilities to manage, and what little writing time I have tends to go toward works in process instead of new ideas. The other major problem is that many of these ideas are just that: ideas. They might give me a backdrop, but I still need to develop characters and a plot to turn these ideas into stories. To do that, I need time for research and rumination, and that can be hard to find.

Ultimately, I don't know how many of these ideas will ever make it out of my head and onto the page. They'll have to be managed around with the rest of my other projects. I may never get to any or all of them, but they'll inspire me to keep writing as long as I'm physically and mentally capable of it.