Building an Inventory, One Word at a Time

Now that the shakeup I experienced with my proposals has been dealt with (too complicated to fully explain; let's just say that a decision at Dafina made me reconsider the proposal I had planned in favor of another one that wasn't even complete, much less Ready for Prime Time), I am turning my attention to the synopses I started last year but didn't finish. Not because I've got the attention span of a 3-year-old, but because I got stuck.

I've started four projects in the last six months. One of them now has a completed synopsis (I wrote it as soon as I knew where the story would go, with the story itself about two-thirds written). Another I just started last month, after being unable to stop thinking about an article I read on-line about a real-life incident in Pennsylvania. Considering the relatively short time I've been working on it, I've made damn good progress.

As for the other two . . . well, they're languishing. I've got great premises for each, but a premise alone will not sell a story. The enthusiasm and excitement apparent in the beginning has to carry through to the very end.

Now, I know enough about myself to know that inspiration strikes when it's good and ready and not a moment before, but this weekend I'll be concentrating on trying to speed it up a bit. An unfinished synopsis is pretty worthless, since it can't be sold unless it's complete. Besides, two of these have been laying around long enough to sprout a family of dust mites. It's time to cross that finish line.

If you're a writer (published or unpublished), how many WIPs, either entire manuscripts or simply synopses, have you started but not finished?