In the past two weeks, I've started four stories, and I haven't finished one. I only when it's dark: early in the morning before class; late at night, if I can't sleep. It's no easy business when a writer is in the transition phase of her career. Between grading papers, reading and reviewing books, revising accepted works for publication, thinking (obsessing) about Absurd Hunger, and maintaining a happy home, my writing time is limited. So what do I do? I sign up for NaNoWriMo and begin a wholly new book based on my grandmother's life. This book has been a seed, planted deeply in the back of my mind for some time now, and on the advice of a student (an extremely talented writer whose work I will no doubt be promoting in the near future), I have begun to revisit the story that's been germinating for so long. So, here I am faced with another project, and I can only hope to get a good start, and eventually to do my grandmother's remarkable story justice.
So, am I overdoing it? Yes. Yes, I am. But as long as I have it in me, I'll continue. Who knows, maybe the time will come when I begin finishing things again. In the meantime, I'm in that all-too-familiar place we writers find ourselves in. I'm in transit. And it's driving me crazy, in a pleasant way. To the writing life!!!