It's time again for Alex J Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group. This is an excellent opportunity to air your worries and frustrations about writing, gain helpful feedback from others in the same boat and hopefully offer your own support to others too. To read more about it and to sign up click on Alex's link.
My productivity over the last month has not been great, I must say. I started off well with a plan to write four short stories over the four weeks in September, but I only managed to get half way through before hitting choppy waters.
I think the trouble I've been having is trying to juggle too many ideas at once. I've made plenty of notes, a story idea here, a character there. Every time I try and concentrate on developing one of my ideas, however, my mind keeps wandering across all of the others and I wonder if one of them would have been better to work on. I then lose focus on the one I picked and end up without having developed anything. Maybe it's just my attention span?
Anyway, I think the way to move forward is to pick an idea and try my hardest to stick to it. I could carry it around for a while in my mind, let it simmer awhile until it's ready to go down on the page. I have a feeling that this is how writing is supposed to work anyway but my mind hasn't done that for a little while. I need to get myself back into the swing of things.
I hope that next month's entry will be something a bit more positive, but given the dip I was in last week I think this one's not too bad :-)
It sounds as if you just tried to take on too much. We all do it, unfortunately, and it stinks when we can't live up to our own standards. I've done it many times, myself.
ReplyDeleteJust getting two short stories done in that time frame is pretty impressive, from my view, though.
Keep writing!
Thanks for stopping by. Taking on too much is unfortunately a recurring event for me. It's my biggest challenge.
DeleteI've done the exact same thing so many times. I used to start story after story, never finishing any of them until I became serious about writing. Now I have to tell myself to focus on one, maybe two projects at a time. Even now it's hard to resist starting something else alongside my current projects.
ReplyDeleteWhen I start feeling the urge to dive down the "new story" path, I write the idea down and any little details I'll need later and file it away. Even after I've filed it away, it'll still take up a little space in my brain, marinating until it's time to pull it back out.
Maybe all you need to do is tuck away some of those ideas for a while until you have the time to get around to them. ^^ :)
I do have a notebook that I carry around in my bag, I really need to start using it instead of giving it to my daughter to scribble in.
DeleteI completely understand that. I have no idea which project to flesh out next because I have several in mind. Picking one and sticking to it is the only way to move forward, for better or worse.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm going to be working on now, sticking to one thing at a time. I hope I can manage it this time.
DeleteI agree that you should try to pick one and stick with it. But I have a project that I work on primarily and when I hit a wall with it, I'll work on something else for a while until I get unstuck with the first.
ReplyDeleteI have a novel idea that has been sitting about, both in my head and in notes, so I may use this and do as you suggest.
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
Visiting from IWSG. Well, you mentioned Stephen King, Terry Pratchett and David Eddings (OMG David Eddings) in your intro so I had to check out more than this one post :)
ReplyDeleteIts not easy to just write on one project until its finished when so many ideas are crowding your head. I get there sometimes. Well, a lot, if I'm honest. Its easy to give advice to "focus" but not easy advice to implement :)
Nice to meet you Heather.
......dhole
"Have an idea and stick to it"... I've told myself that a thousand times. Guess I needed to hear it again. Thanks Heather!
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