Indecision

I don't know what to do. I've put off going back to submitting for reasons both legitimate and imagined. I've had my confidence hit rock bottom and creep back up again. And even though I said I wouldn't change it, having received a searing critique on the first 500 words of my main MS, I've attempted to rewrite it. And now the quandary.

I actually like several elements in the new version. But I think it's different in style to the rest of the book, even though it's been revised less than three months ago. So - do I insert the new section and then revise the rest of the book to 'match?' Do I stick with the original that I love, but that may be flawed? Do I accept that this may not be the book to try and launch my literary career with and submit my recently completed novella instead? Come back to my main MS later?














You see, in some ways I'm on a very tight personal schedule. I had planned to concentrate on submitting Keir to publishers up until July, as most quote their decision time as three months. Three months from July is October and the start of my next University course. If I have a request for edits or revisions to my MS from a publisher during that time, I hope to complete it before my course starts, or at least be able to justify time spent on both to my long-suffering husband. By September next year my youngest child will have started school, and if I don't have any prospects in terms of my writing then I will be busily job-hunting. No telling when I'll have time to write if I'm working and taking care of my family. I'll also need to do another literary course next October to gain my Diploma.


But things have conspired against me. My muse not only prompted me into writing a novella - Gethyon - which started off as something to publish as a free e-book (and a self-publishing test project) - but which became another potential candidate for submissions. Another quandary. On top of that, my muse then drove me to write a short story, something I'd convinced myself I couldn't do. And while I shouldn't complain about all this inspiration and having a handful of differing writing projects under my literary belt, it's delayed my plans. Add to that various illnesses, pc problems, a raking critique that left me so down I even considered quitting Facebook, Twitter and my blog, and the continuing pull between pursuing traditional publishing versus taking the indie route, and the time has been eaten away.



I need to do something, but I want to focus on one thing. How do I decide? I can't do it all. I've jumped from one editing task to another. I've even been inspired to work on the other completed drafts which really could (and should) be left to a later date. It all feels like prevarication, that I'm still putting things off instead of knuckling down and making some real progress and solid decisions.



So how do I decide? I could post the two versions of Keir and put it to vote, but I usually find it's a split decision. How would you prioritize?