I have a confession to make. I am an addict. I am addicted to starting stories. When I first sit down with that beautiful shiny idea and my brain smells like a new car, its like an unbeatable high. The first few thousand words flow out of my mind, through my fingers and onto the blank page slicker than snot on a doorknob. The characters don’t just speak they sing. The setting is as clear as day, the plot moves like its on rails, and all is right and fine with the world.
Then inevitably it happens. Ill be 10 maybe even 20 or 30 thousand words in and it happens. I get another idea, and while I still like my current one, the new idea is new. It’s shiny. Its seductive and different and oh so clever. And so my work on the last idea starts to slow down, the characters aint quite so vivid, the setting not nearly so clear. So I figure, you know what? Lets take a break just for a little while, get the outlines of this new idea, the timbre of this new voice on paper, and I’ll come back to this. I’ll just bet you can guess what happens next. Yup. As soon as I’m 10 or 20 or 30 thousand words in, the next new idea strikes. And its new. Its shiny. Its…. you get the picture. Which is why I have a metric screw-ton of half finished drafts and not one completed work. Is there something wrong with me or does this happen to everyone? And much more importantly how do I deal with it? I’m specifically look for advice from all the successful authors (and by successful I mean you have actually finished something, possibly even published it) I am FB friends with or who might see this post on WP.
MishaBurnett said:
Yes, it happens to everyone. Sadly, the only solution that I know of us is to plow on through and finish the damned book. I’ve published four novels, and I got to that point with every one of them. I’m at that point now with my fifth.
Here’s the deal–what separates successful novelists from unsuccessful ones isn’t loving what you do, it’s finishing what you start even when you hate it.
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marsultor13 said:
Isn’t there like a pill I could take? Can’t I just ask my doctor about completol? LOL
Yeah I figured as much. In your experience whats the best way to deal with the new idea, just jot down some quick notes and go back to project A, plow through untill done and then go nack to your notes for project B?
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MishaBurnett said:
I just ignore new ideas that aren’t relevant to my current project. If they’re good, they’ll come back when you need them.
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marsultor13 said:
You have a LOT more discipline than I do. I do appreciate the advice though.
Now the question I have to figure out is which one do I finish….
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marsultor13 said:
Would you recommend I go back to my first project, or plow on with the most recent one and then go back?
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MishaBurnett said:
Pick one and make a commitment to keep working on it until it is done. It doesn’t matter which. There are no such things as “good ideas”. If you want a method for deciding, pick the one that currently has the highest word count. Stick everything else in a drawer and just concentrate on the current project. Open the document every day and write at least one sentence. Don’t let yourself start anything else until you have reached your final goal on the current project.
I know this sounds harsh, but I honestly don’t know of any other way. I bounced around from project to project for thirty something years before I finally buckled down and finished “Catskinner’s Book”.
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marsultor13 said:
No that actually makes a lot of sense. I’ve been working on one of the current WIP’s for at least 4-5 years. its the oldest and has the highest word count. Funny thing is I started it because I thought it would be easier than the kind of sci-fi/fantasy my other WIP’s are. Not so much. But thanks again Misha, Harsh may not be fun but its real.
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