It is common for me to have four plus storylines going at any given time. I am often given new ideas when I am in the middle of working on something. When that happens I will open a folder within my future storyline file and jot down any information which is given to me. Normally doing so will do the trick, and that voice will back off and wait its turn. When I finish working on a manuscript and am ready to begin another, I will open my future storyline file and read through until something pulls at me. Sometimes it takes a few days or even weeks of my working on several manuscripts before one takes the lead. When that happens I lock the others back into place and focus on the lead storyline. Occasionally during this process one or more of the other voices will pop in and give me something important that pertains to their storyline. Rarely will this happen during normal writing hours, it is often during off times, after I have finished for the day. The information I receive is never ambiguous. I always know exactly which story the information goes with, so, I am able to take the information and stick it into the folder for which it was intended. That is why my current WIP is so perplexing. Because, even though my time travel voice is speaking the loudest, and demanding to be next, the stuff it gives me is so erratic. The voice will give me information, good information, I will take it and run with it, and then the next thing I know it is like, yea that is good, but what do you think about this? I have never worked with a voice that has been so indecisive. Normally the information given is clear and concise. It makes me wonder, is this particular voice new to the "voice community." A rookie, so to speak, and simply having trouble focusing, or does this indecisive voice have ADD? Can voices have ADD? I have been working on this storyline since mid August 2013 and have had to revamp the beginning several times so that the story could go in a different direction. The poor heroine has undergone three name changes, although I am fairly confident that the last one is permanent. I also thought I knew what was going to happen when she goes back in time, but that scenario changes frequently. It is almost as if my voices are all sitting around a table discussing the manuscript and one of them pitched a new idea that they all liked better. Or, if this current voice is a rookie, maybe he took what he had to the experts who were like, well that is good, but what do you think of this? Maybe there is a simpler explanation. Could it be that the issue is with time travel itself? Maybe the voices have to keep popping back in time to make sure the storyline is meshing the way it needs to. I am not sure, but the story is fun and unique, with an introvert heroine who decides to be a princess for a day. The Navy SEAL hero suffering from PTSD, who tries to capture her heart. A pocket size beagles with a full size attitude (once real, they are now a thing of the past) time travel, lost souls and pirates. While my voice may be indecisive he/she has some awesome ideas!
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