I’m really beginning to feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day for the inspiration and ideas tearing around my mind. Grasping a writing lifestyle isn’t enough. You have to find a way to focus on a project, move it along to completion, THEN go forward to your next inspiration while the first one either percolates or moves to the next stage on the chain (beta reading, editing, agent search, etc.). I haven’t mastered this process.
Right now, my brain is trying to lock onto a poetry chapbook with a New Orleans theme, several picture book texts, a grade 3 to 5 chapter book, a middle grade (4-8) novel, a cozy mystery, and several short stories. All at one time. This is overwhelming and actually paralyzing my writing.
Obviously I’m in over my head when it comes to inspiration. I need to shut down, at least temporarily, a couple of these muses. After a great deal of thoughtful reading and sorting, I’ve decided to focus on two projects: the grades 3 to 5 book which has a first draft about 3/4 finished, and the cozy mystery, which has the most decent planning I’ve ever done for a writing project.
The first draft project, Welcome to Fate, Wally Woodson, has had the first 3 chapters critiqued by a writing group. I need to act on the feedback before I can’t decipher my notes and work on the next three chapters to hone them for a future critique. The cozy mystery, temporarily titled Crafting, Clues, and Killing, is almost fully outlined including my first setting map.
Even with just those two projects, the research for both, free classes I’ve found, and still trying to find some sort of remote job to up my monthly income, there still doesn’t seem to be enough time in a day, even stretching my day to near midnight. I’m still working on time management, either specific hours to specific projects, or specific days to specific projects.
Has anyone ever had this conundrum and figured a way out of it? Please let me know at taraguillot6@gmail.com. (I’m not sure I have my response form set up properly so don’t depend on that.)
Time for some research. Send inspiration, help, or encouragement. Anything is welcome.
taragwrites.com 
Writers always want to know your thoughts. Indulge me.