Thread: Is it healthy to constantly switch from one writing project to another?

Is it healthy to constantly switch from one writing project to another? Because I have a notebook filled with like, ten partial pieces of work, none of which are even close to being finished, but if I stay with one idea after I've come up with another the idea becomes...boring and 'writers block (laziness / discontent) ' sets in.

Is it bad that I almost unceasingly switch from one work to another? Perhaps what I'm reading has something to do with it, because whenever I get a new book and the genre changes, the genre I'm interested in writing changes...is this normal? Or healthy? It's happened four times in the last month...

Do you ever finish anything?

Outside of writing LONG projects, yes. This kinda only happens with long projects such as a novel or novella, one that needs planning and dedication...

So the long projects don't get finished?

Haven't yet...ever...

The farthest I've gotten was 30,000 words and then I realized the plot had run dry. So I started a new one

Well, there you go. It sounds like if you want to finish anything long, you need to learn to focus.

And how would you propose I do that?

Because once my mind switches interests, it's impossible to focus on my old interests.

You may not be able to. You may have to resign yourself to never writing anything longer than a short story. Most people can't finish writing a novel. It's hard work that you have to keep at for a long time.

If you want to write novels, well, you're just going to have to try different things till you find something that works for you. One thing you can try is, when you get an idea for another story, write the idea down, make some notes, then go back to your main project. Finish that project, then look over the notes you've taken to decide which one you want to tackle next. If you can't go back to that main project no matter what you try, you're not going to write novels. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

Hello AaronTP,

I have had similar experiences. I'm an explorer by nature and have notebooks and shoe boxes filled with things I want to write about. Ideas, outlines, chapters, even single words are waiting. Sometimes when I go back through the material, I wonder what grabbed my attention in the first place, which I think is an indication I did not include enough information. Anyhoo, if I am in the middle of the story and something draws me away, I spend a little time with the new material but with the intent to return to the original project. I'm becoming more successful at this and try not to beat myself up about it. Though, if a deadline loomed, I would. Sometimes, and for no reason, a project which I abandoned some time ago will re-emerge. I'll totally be back in the story and can 'see' it the same as before with the characters interacting in the same places. I get drawn back in completely. This mostly happens at night when I'm drifting off the sleep or when I'm doing domestic chores. It's as though the material is just below the surface and emerges on its own free will, but sometimes it's willing to emerge if I'm willing to spend time with it. So, I show up each day and try to be open to what's there. Taking short breaks to work on Flash Fiction has helped me a great deal. I get a little gratification from having completed a piece and then can return to the larger projects. Pieces of my most important projects are taped to the wall by my reading chair to remind me there is still work to be done. Try to be patient with yourself. For me, writing is a little like dancing - sometimes I follow and sometimes I lead. I hope this helps. Regards, Liz

Originally Posted by Chronopunk

You may not be able to. You may have to resign yourself to never writing anything longer than a short story. Most people can't finish writing a novel. It's hard work that you have to keep at for a long time.

If you want to write novels, well, you're just going to have to try different things till you find something that works for you. One thing you can try is, when you get an idea for another story, write the idea down, make some notes, then go back to your main project. Finish that project, then look over the notes you've taken to decide which one you want to tackle next. If you can't go back to that main project no matter what you try, you're not going to write novels. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

Very well said.

I would only add this: If you want to write novels you have to have the skill for writing novels. One of those skills is to make yourself write creatively when you don't want to. That's the discipline of writing novels. I had it once. I don't have it now, so I don't write novels. I am a one-novel writer. I wrote one book called, Caretakers of Eternity. When I finally accepted that I would never write another novel in my life, I took it down from Kindle to give it one last copy edit (because I intend to have copies printed), and when that's done, I will never write another novel again. I can barely get through the final copy edit on this one. The fact is, I don't have what novelists have: that ability to sit down when they don't want to, and write for a specific period of time on a daily basis.

Maybe you should be a journalist. Perhaps you should follow Chronopunk's advice and write short stories. Perhaps you should write reveiws (which is a type of journalism). Or, perhaps you can find something in yourself that gives you the discipline you need to write and finish long pieces.

Good luck.

Edward

I believe it is a discipline which can be learned. I started two novels which stalled out after about 20,000 words because I didn't stick with them on a daily basis. Then I finished my first book, The Legacy of Aaron Geist, after more than 4 years of on-again-off-again writing. It was like completeing a marathon. Last November I started my current novel and made myself sit down and work on it 6 days a week, one to two hours during the works week after my day job and 3 to 5 hours on Saturday and Sunday. This has become a habit now. I actually feel unsettled if I don't get downstairs and start writing by about 6 PM each night. I'm 47,000 words into my current project and I know I'll have the first draft done by August. That's reassuring to know. Some days I get as few as 250 words hacked up out of my imagination, but on other days the muse is generous and I can get nearly 2,000 (a prodigious amount for me).

If you really want to write that novel you must make yourself write even when you don't want to. All crafts take discipline to master and writing is craft as much as art.

If you want to tell a larger story, but find yourself wearing thin, maybe try setting several separate short stories in the same world, illustrating it for yourself and your readers, and then writing a full piece that takes place in that world when you are ready.

If you still want to take on the novel, I would recommend that you try to write about five hundred words every morning, taking breaks on the weekends. It is definitely pecking away at a novel, but it is progress, and hopefully steady progress.

My writing teacher was telling me to work on no more than 2 books in a year, because yes, your brain will go 'oo! Shiny new idea! Something new to think about!' and drop the old idea like a hot brick. It means that nothing gets finished. Write down any plot bunnies for other books, then let them go.

I gotta ask: is that what you want to do? Go from unfinished project to unfinished project? If so, carry on. You're doing fine.

If you're serious about finishing something that you can submit to market, pick one story and finish it. Then work on the next one. Then the next.