In a post on Killzone, James Scott Bell offers advice on choosing between two projects that are competing for your attention using a simple self-test.
The test has three levels:
- Passion. Bell calls this the most crucial factor. He asks himself a list of ten questions about his excitement for the project and his investment in the main character or theme.
- Potential. Next, Bell asks about the potential for this idea in the market. This may not be important to you, but if you’re trying to make your living as a writer, market considerations do come into play. Is the plot marketable? Does your story have high stakes to engage a reader?
- Precision. At this stage, Bell writes a logline for each project – a sentence or two that captures the essence and potential of his story. Then he assigns a score of 1-10, based on which logline best captures these elements.
The project with the highest cumulative score becomes Bell’s next project.
As a writer with more projects than time and a fondness for mathematical solutions, this idea is intriguing.
