Writing Longevity, Part Two

There are two parts to writing longevity. The first we talked about, which is writing beyond today into tomorrow. The second part is a long writing life. Some writers like Harper Lee, May write one to two books, and it is enough. While others like Louis L’Amour wrote over 80 novels.

The question only you can answer is, do I want to write my project and be finished, or do I want to write for a lifetime. Either answer is a right answer for someone, but which one is right for you? Once you’ve decided that, then you lay out your course of action.

If this is one work, or one work of a select few, i have these suggestions. First, do want you are doing, write. Second, give it your best. Third, enjoy the process, and the fruits of your labor. You are a writer, and once you’ve completed your project, you’ve achieved a life goal, and you should celebrate that achievement.

If you’re like me, and you want to write for a lifetime, there’s some things to think about. Keep a list of what you have written. You want to avoid redundancy. That doesn’t mean you’ll never have another story with a happy ending, just that they’ll be variety in how they get to happily ever after.

It also does not mean you can’t write in the same genre more than once. Only that, I’d say it’s a mystery, that each plot has its own story, and is not a retelling of the same mystery. I like telling stories involving show business, but I take steps to insure each story is different.

For example, one story was about the friendship of a group of show business people. One was about a struggle to make it, and what was really important. Another was about seeing what was right in front of your eyes, perspective. Also, they were not all in the same facet of show business.

The second thing for long term writing, is keep a list of what you want to write. This is different from banking ideas, in that an idea may just be an idea. A list of future works should be more about what you want to say in a theme, or group. As a Minister there are certain topics I want to share, and they are on a broader scope than my idea list.

Third, keep reading, watching, and learning. It’s easy to be so busy that we don’t continue to learn and read. However it not only makes your writing better, it adds value to you as well.

Writing longevity, whether it’s keeping your book relevant, or a long writing life, takes preparation. These steps are not hard, they just take planning. If you plan ahead, you can write for years to come.