Chunk It Up!

By Jamie DeBree 2025/03/17 Weekly News, Writing Notes

If you are still waiting around for ideas to hit you, or working on developing an idea or a world before you start writing, you really need to toss all that in a dumpster along with that myth and just go write stories for yourself and have fun. – Dean Wesley Smith

I am never waiting around for ideas…they come at me from every direction. So the first part of that quote isn’t an issue for me. I will not run out of ideas for as long as I live. Ideas are everywhere.

However, I have been overthinking my ideas, trying to create worlds and map out series and get everything “just so” before I start writing, and while I realize that works for a great many people, it isn’t working for me. I was hoping it would make the writing easier and faster, but instead, it’s stifling me, and turning the stories I want to write into Very Big Things that makes them loom too large in my head, and I can’t just settle down and *write* because there’s always one more detail I haven’t quite worked out yet, and it might affect the whole entire world/series I’ve been trying to outline ahead of time.

The result? I spend all my time plotting, and just don’t write. Which is both frustrating and depressing.

The fact is, I am very, very unlikely to make enough money as an author to make it a career (very few people do or will, statistically). Luckily, I have a career I don’t hate, and a pension for retirement, so I don’t *need* my books to make money – it would be nice if they would pay for certain publishing & marketing related things, but even that isn’t strictly necessary. They can sell or not sell, and while I do want them to be the best stories they can be, I really don’t need to make the actual writing such a serious affair. Brazen Snake Books can be a hobby and that’s all it ever needs to be (though I admit I do have a sense of pride in having a registered business name and paying my city business license).

So. Back to basics, and the “early times” when I would just sit down with a vague idea of a character and a situation, and just start writing. Writing was far more fun back then, when I wasn’t worried about whether or not it would sell, or whether I could turn it into a series, or any number of marketing-focused things I tend to think about now. My ideas now are going to be somewhat more thought out anyways, just because I’ve been writing a long time, and our processes tend to evolve, but I think the key for me is even if I have a fairly comprehensive idea of what I want to do, not to overthink it or make lots of notes and try to get a bunch of info down on paper before I start.

The fun of writing for me is in the discovery of the story. I can do that before I write, at which point the actual writing becomes a slog, or I can do that while I’m writing, and keep myself moving forward simply because I want to see what happens next. The latter is definitely the way I work best, even after all these years.

I’ve long been interested in the concept of “legacies”, and how certain tangible items are valued or not valued by friends and family after we’re gone. I’ve always wanted to write a story about someone’s estate being divvied up amongst the remaining relations, and their stories or reactions to what they received.

My original idea was to write a novel based on that premise, but instead of tackling the whole thing at once, I’ve decided to break it up into smaller chunks – a short story for each item (or collection) handed down. Instead of trying to plan out multiple stories ahead of time, I’m just going to write one, see how it goes, then write another one, and see how that goes, and just see where the whole thing takes me. I used to write like that all the time, and really enjoyed it, so I’m going back to what I know works. I have several short story collections like that already published (one under my name, a few under alter-egos, and one that includes work by all three names), and they do passably well for sales, considering I don’t do any marketing at the moment.

I started writing the first story in the Legacy series last week, and got around 800 words down over the course of four nights. Not bad for not having written regularly for awhile, and it felt good to be writing regularly again. Even better to just “write”, and not worry so much about whether it was “good” or not. It was fun, which is exactly what I want/need it to be.

If I eventually end up with a pile of short stories I like, I can collect them into one book. Or turn them into a novel. I have options. I also don’t have to think about that just now. Focus on the “chunks”, not the overwhelming big picture.

I’m going to apply this idea of smaller chunks to my crafting, too – specifically crochet. I’ve wanted to start on some projects, but everything just feels “too big” right now (I think the general state of things and the high level of intensity at work is definitely contributing).

So instead of thinking big, I’m going small. One small square at a time – granny squares, stitch sampler squares, just your average crocheted square…I’m going to just grab a skein of yarn and a hook, and make squares. Later, when I have a pile of squares, I can stitch them into something bigger, but for now, smaller chunks is what feels manageable, so that’s what I’ll do.

Chunk it up, wherever possible. That’s my personal goal for the rest of March and into spring (along with sleeping 6 hours per night).

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Tagged on: attitude, baby steps, chunks, overwhelm, perspective, writing