When I take breaks from longer projects, I work on something shorter, like Star Kings. It is coming along. It will take me a while to finish it, as I have other long projects to work on, and the real world to contend with. Each Star Kings story is stand-alone, though all twelve stories together are an evolving series, and completes a cycle from first to last.
Each story has to be created individually, and takes a lot of effort. Beginnings are always difficult for me. Descriptions of places are difficult. Each story has a new setting in the larger context. My main characters have evolved, and confront new situations. I have to get to a strong ending, and create a middle that leads to it.
I am doing one story at a time, each one taking some three to five weeks — not counting interruptions for trips, health, home maintenance, etc. Working on Star Kings while taking a break from a longer project helps me put it out of my mind for a while, and gives a fresh view of what has to be done when I get back to it. Star Kings is coming along, and I like each of the three stories I’ve done so far.
I’m taking a short break from my larger project. Doing the occasional short story or four helps with the upkeep of my mental gears.
Exactly. And spending time on a sketch or rough or draft of a long project lets the two shorter projects become fresh again too. Star Kings is a cycle of twelve stories set in a galaxy so far away George Lucas can’t find it. The Empty House is a long series of connected stories that’s a fusion of H. P. Lovecraft and Shirley Jackson.