A Few Projects Now - Writing Update by Greg Luti

Greg Luti
Jul 20
4 min read

A writing update that offers insight into a busy creative period. In “A Few Projects Now,” Greg Luti discusses juggling several book projects at once, including finalizing one collection and starting new work, while reflecting on the excitement of moving deeper into publishing.

A Few Projects Now

In my writing update last week, I had no idea what I was doing, and I even had to take a second to ask about the very question. Now, I am not asking myself the question but wondering how I am going to get the stuff done. I got a laundry list of stuff to do, only so many hours in the day, only so much coffee, and not to mention actual laundry to do. I'd better buckle up my seatbelt.

Little Fires and Hit of Henry

The first good piece of news is that I am finishing up my book, Little Fires, which is a collection of flash fiction pieces from this site. I expect to be done with the book sooner rather than later, honestly. I announced the book in my newsletter recently. I only have a few more things left to do before the book is available for purchase.

Then there is the current novel I am working on, Hit of Henry. Although I will be honest with you in that I have not really looked at the book as much as I should have recently. Whenever I am working, and it gets time to look at the book, another assignment always seems to get in my way for some reason. The book is done in that the outline is done. I just need to write up a few major scenes.

Starting a New Novel

I started a new novel, one that I am very excited about now, even more than Hit of Henry, even though I do think the Henry book has a certain charm to it. I don’t want to give away any more details about this, but the new book has a plot I think the readers will like. I will give more details on this story as I get closer to completing it.

Still Building Clearance

Then, because I apparently think I have all the time in the world, I am still putting together poems for my next poetry book, Clearance. I have already included some poems on the site in my book updates.

Sheesh, did you get all of that? I don’t even know if I did. I may have to look back at the notes I wrote about all the stuff I am working on, like I do when I write down the previews of movies when watching a movie in theaters. Can you believe that I liked four previews the last time I saw a movie? That has nothing really to do with anything, but I just thought you should know.

Moving Into Book Publishing

I told you guys that the publication of books would eventually come into play on the site, and I am happy that I am in that part of it. I will still be writing up blog posts on the site, but the books will also be written, which I am excited about.

Still Dealing With Facebook Spam

I am still in Facebook spam hell, where I am blocking everyone I can to get the page somewhat normal. I will let you know when I get out of that disaster. I guess I can only do a block at a time. I am trying to get this done, since I know for authors, Facebook is the best social media platform.

Why I Love the Different Parts of Writing

I think the transition to adding the books to the writing schedule will be a nice challenge for me. There is something fun about having a story and creating it, and seeing the parts that can go into it, rather than writing up a two-page story and making a message and a fun character for people. I love both parts, but sometimes when I just write up the flash fiction or poetry on this site, I find I am not really being the writer in the creative sense where I am putting a story together.

I will relate this to the two novels. For Henry, I cut out a part in the latter part of the story that I felt was not needed. It would hurt the flow of the story. In the unnamed novel I am working on, there is a major plot point I just haven’t figured out. It really decides the entire story, and I just don’t know why it happens. Those are what I am talking about. I don’t think it is editing or writing as much as being more of a storyboard creator or an outliner of the plot. Technically, you can call that writing or editing, but I view what I am talking about as different.

There is always a part in the stories where I say, “Ah, now this would work in this. This makes sense to what I am doing.” In Henry, when I originally wrote it, I didn’t really have the inspiration for the character’s certain actions. I just knew that the character would do the task. It was only when I was creating the outline of the story that the inspiration came to me.

I guess I am describing why I love being a writer. I love writing up short pieces that are spur-of-the-moment write-ups. I love editing the works to improve them. I love outlining the stories to make them complete. They are a part of the writing process, and I appreciate each in their own way.

Learn to Listen

Okay, so now I'm going to tell you something to take with you. Listen. That is the advice from me. Learn to listen more. If you listen to people more in your life and give them the time of day, I bet your life will improve. When someone talks, give them the same attention you would want from them. It seems like such a simple thing to do. I mean, who can’t listen? But the more you look around, the more you see there are too many who would rather state their views than listen to what others have to say.