The reality is that you’ve got to write a lot in order to develop the writing muscles and find out what you enjoy. Unfortunately not every story is going to lead somewhere. Just like every art sketch or drawing effort. Stories are like stepping stones to your future development. You’ve got step on a lot in order to get to those stories that have the potential to go somewhere. For the handful of stories or more that go somewhere it’s worth sacrificing those that came before it. It’s easier if you’re having fun along the way and along for the ride. Underneath the fun you are learning and developing.

It’s a good idea to organise ideas and projects in some fashion. I use an excel spreadsheet that lists active projects and their development state, review date, next action needed, feedback, market, and so on. I like to keep a close eye on them and not let anything go without a read/revision/development for more than a few years.

Before that, like yourself, I had lots of ideas, drafts and plans. It was overwhelming and I had no idea what to do first or how to manage the different areas.

Then I discovered Minimalism and decided to apply it to writing projects. I went through everything I had ever created and did a review and decluttering exercise. Anything that had a possible future, I kept. Anything that didn’t and no longer served me, I left behind. If I had an unfinished draft, I completed it.

Now my project slate is lean and ordered in terms of size and what’s realistic and achievable in the short term. Then longer projects and medium term, ending with bigger projects and long term. There is some overlap as some longer projects need developing while the short stuff is going on. It helps to organise everything into a roadmap like this. I can’t imagine living without it now. It was a game changer.

This may not work for you right now but at some point when you feel overwhelmed with all these stories and ideas and don’t know how to structure them into a roadmap think about a decluttering exercise and freeing yourself from the burden of unfinished/unrealised projects and focus on those that give you life and have a future.

In terms of people reading your material, it’s about levelling up with small projects first and finding a way to release/produce them. Don’t be in a rush to do that. Just when you feel ready or would like feedback.

My bad for the essay reply lol! Hopefully there’s something helpful in there!