Greetings and salutations. It is I, Graham.

Last week we discussed writing influences from television. Clevenger and I had talked about expanding that to cover movie influences, but then I realized that we spoke about that way back in January. So I decided, alright, I’ll move to next week’s topic, contemplating a “dream cast” if Manticore’s Shadow was ever made into a movie or TV series. But if I’m honest, I need more time on that. So I searched around for some other blog ideas. One I saw discussed flash fiction and whether it can help or hinder. That’s also not what I am going to write about this week, but it got me to thinking.

I write other stories on the side, typically serialized chapter stories that I post for a few friends. So I wanted to talk about that for a minute, and look at ways that they both help and hurt my more “professional” writing. Clevenger knows nothing about this, so we will see how well this goes over.

First, let me get into some of the problems. I am easily distracted. I have way too many hobbies, spend too much time on sites like Tumblr, have school classwork, and just *waves at the internet in general*. So another writing project on the side is just one more thing that fills my time and pulls my attention away from plugging away at our book.

In addition, my side writings are in a lot of ways, easier to write. They are quicker, lighter fare, much less serious, with a lot less riding on them. This is a matter of frustration for me, since I can either struggle through 500 words in a scene from Revelation of Shadows or hammer through 2000 words of pure schlock in a throwaway short story, guess which easier to write. Clevenger is repeatedly telling me that any time I spend on any of my hobbies and projects is not wasted time, if I enjoyed the activity. And I get that. It doesn’t stop me from feeling guilty for the time I took away from my project with him. I love Clevenger to death, and I’m still working to take his lessons to heart.

On the flip side, however, there are strong benefits to my side writing. First, I’m still writing, and any writing at all is practicing the habits of putting words to page. Even these blog posts help, as it is a point of pride that we have kept to our weekly deadlines, cancer surgery permitting. Haha. It is satisfying to know that whenever I have difficulty getting into my book writing, I still have the knowledge that I can still put word to page when I get out of my own head.

That leads to the second benefit I derive from my side writing. Where Clevenger prefers to keep his mind solidly on one writing project, feeling that writing other works would frustrate him and detract from what he can put into our project, there are times when I need to exorcise a few demons. I will get a bug in my head for a plot piece, or I will get in a mood to write some too dark or *ahem* “inappropriate” for our book, I will go write it out in a quick short story, then either stash it or post it, depending on what it is. This keeps my creative juices flowing and my self confidence soaring.

Overall, do the benefits outweigh the downsides? Don’t know, don’t care. It’s what I do, for better or worse. And I suppose that answer right there tells me that I find the benefits to be there, whether others do or not. Clevenger and I have discussed it, and he agrees that the benefits are there, and he has no issue with it. Now to see if he has any issues with this unplanned post! Until next time…

Don’t forget to love one another.

Graham