While writing Manuscript 8, I realized that the story I wanted to tell was much larger than my initial scope (maybe not in words, but in content). Perhaps it was a weird place I ended up, but I felt that the novel needed to go deeper and deeper into the two main characters and their struggle. I began to spiral and twist in the wind. Knowing what I wanted to do, I had to decide what to do with Manuscript 8: 1) to keep going with sheer willpower or 2) take a break and research the necessary non-fiction to make that novel rich and multifaceted.
I chose the latter, and I ended up moving forward with Manuscript 9. Which has thrown me into a confounding predicament: which one came first? I’ve had this feeling before when I thought about how my manuscripts would be listed on a website or in the front of a book. But this is even more problematic because, in that situation, you could use the publication date to add their chronological order.
But here, in my internal filing system, I have two manuscripts and I jumped over an incomplete version to focus on the next one in the list. I fully plan to go back to Manuscript 8 and have been researching it, but can I still call it Manuscript 8? [Click “Read More” to… well… watch me spiral]
So do we go by their born on date, what is their born on date? Is it like a human where society choose not to count their days until they burst forth from the vaginal canal or abdomen (c-sections bro)? I should have chosen a better analogy because I feel like just triggered a shit load of inherent biases. No matter where you end up on that debate, I believe it is accepted practice that a kid starts at 0 once they join the external world. But this prompts another question, are my manuscripts even numerable right now?
I’ve got seven completed manuscripts (as in story is done and only revisions are happening), but technically, all of these manuscripts are in gestation because they change. But, I have to name things in order to provide context to people and just saying manuscript doesn’t help people understand what you are working on or even help you keep track of your progress. Does this mean, none of my items can be chronologically ordered?
So, I’ve gotta identify these novels in gestation because humanity needs order. Hell, I need order. For me, the moment the concept is formalized, I begin writing on the project, and I know I am going to complete the project, the manuscript will get a number based on what had preceded it. Manuscript 8 will never die, that world, that story, those characters, I want to write them. But I want to do them justice, and to do that, I have to improve myself in many ways.
In review, there are many ways to name things, when it was conceived, when it was completed, when it was published. For some reason, the proper way to do this naming would be to flop the numbers for Manuscript 8 or 9, but I am stubborn, so I am going to keep them the way they are. Now… I just need to come up with a reasoning so I can defend it from the internet trolls in the future.