My writing style, right for me, or too 'distracted' ?

[Naruzeldamaster]

No I'm not talking about what goes into the actual stories (not that form of writing style)
I mean how I'm handling keeping myself from feeling burnt out on any one story at a time.
Currently I have four stories 'cooking' right now, used to be 5 but I put one of those on the back burner.
Thing is, I don't always want to work on the 'same' project all the time, but my brain wants to write, so having multiple projects going keeps me from getting writers block.

Some here have said four is too many, but the whole point of having four is to give me options, but to limit those options so I'm not starting up a new idea every time I get a spark. I used to have it really bad with that, especially when I was writing on one single project for any length of time.

 

[pmmg]

Where is the love? What is your master?

If you find them boring and easy to be distracted from, what should others think? These are your babies. Do you want them or not? Until you find the discipline, and give the one you feel most strongly about the love it deserves, it will never be done.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Where is the love? What is your master?

If you find them boring and easy to be distracted from, what should others think? These are your babies. Do you want them or not? Until you find the discipline, and give the one you feel most strongly about the love it deserves, it will never be done.

When I'm working on multiple, I actually CAN focus down and work on them, one at a time, one chapter at a time, to make some progress.

I'm the same way with games, I'm usually playing 2-3 at a time, though usually no more than that. Usually longer ones (or one long one and two short ish ones) with beefy content so if I'm not in the mood for one I can play a different one.

It's just kinda how my brain works. Kind of half way between SQUIRREL and 'must stay focused'. And yes I am more than aware of my progress overall being a bit slower.

If I try to focus down one singular idea, the initial spark of interest wanes, with multiple projects (currently two original and two fanfiction) if I'm not in the mood to work on one, I can shift focus and work on a different one. As I'm working on a different project, my brain starts going 'oo can't wait to work on that other one again'

It's been working so far, it especially helps because all four of them are a wildly different genre. And most of the characters aren't similar to the other stories either, so no getting them confused.

 

[Karlin]

Hi, I am often tempted to start another project, in parallel to my current one, but I manage to resist. Maybe you have some attention issue (I do), so it works better to have several going at once. It isn't The Standard Way to do Things, but if it works for you- why not? As long as you're not making a liviing doing this.

 

[TheKillerBs]

How long have you been working like this? Has it actually allowed you to finish a project?

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Hi, I am often tempted to start another project, in parallel to my current one, but I manage to resist. Maybe you have some attention issue (I do), so it works better to have several going at once. It isn't The Standard Way to do Things, but if it works for you- why not? As long as you're not making a liviing doing this.

I'm not planning on making a living (Tho I might publish my two original fictions, can't publish the fanfictions because you know, copyright) on it yet. I'm taking it at my own pace.

How long have you been working like this? Has it actually allowed you to finish a project?

I was in a writing slump for a long time (no interest in writing at all for a good bit) until recently where I said 'you know what, fine, multiple projects, but I'm not allowed to play 'favorites' and I have to actually finish them.' I've been making slow but steady progress on all of them since.

One of the Fanfictions is at chapter 1 (But it's rather long) The other fanfiction is Chapter 1 (But that chapter is complete.) One of the original fictions (Hound and Fox, which I've talked about a lot here) is partway into chapter 3. The other Original Fiction is on the tail end of chapter two. So while it's not 'Fast' progress, it's still progress.

Once I get all three stories 'caught up' to Hound and Fox (And Hound and Fox itself) to a finished chapter 3. I've made a rule that I'm not allowed to 'play favorites' and I have to finish a chapter of one project before I 'switch it up' this has gone swimmingly in keeping me motivated writing said chapters. I know it's a bit of an odd way to do things, but hey, it's working, and I'm not constantly picking up new ideas as they come to me anymore.

 

[Prince of Spires]

The simple truth is that you don't need our permission to do this. If you think this will work for you, then go ahead and give it a try. The only way to find out is to sit down each night (or whenever your preferred writing time is) for the next 30-60 days and see if you make progress. That's all that counts.

I know there's at least one best-selling author out there who has a similar process (though I forgot his name...). He just sits down each day, thinks about which project he wants to work on and does that. Rinse and repeat.

As long as it gets you finished stories, then it's a proces worth using.

 

[Mad Swede]

This is not really about how many stories you have on the go at the same time. It is about your writing discipline, because it is this which enables you to finish your stories. Do you write when you sit down to write? If you can't answer "yes" to that question then you're at risk of never finishing those stories.

Isaac Asimov was well known for writing several stories in parallell. So was Robert Heinlein, so was Dashiell Hammett and so was Edgar Wallace. What they all had in common was that they finished what they started writing.

The key to being an author is to finish the story you are writing. That means writing even when you're not quite in the mood or when you can't see quite where the story is going or when you're feeling bored with the story. You must finish the story.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

This is not really about how many stories you have on the go at the same time. It is about your writing discipline, because it is this which enables you to finish your stories. Do you write when you sit down to write? If you can't answer "yes" to that question then you're at risk of never finishing those stories.

Isaac Asimov was well known for writing several stories in parallell. So was Robert Heinlein, so was Dashiell Hammett and so was Edgar Wallace. What they all had in common was that they finished what they started writing.

The key to being an author is to finish the story you are writing. That means writing even when you're not quite in the mood or when you can't see quite where the story is going or when you're feeling bored with the story. You must finish the story.

My old discipline was allowing myself to get 'distracted' by new shiny ideas every time I had one. This (often) lead to that spark of interest petering out partway through. Never mind finishing anything I was working on.

My new Discipline is limiting myself to four stories, period and chipping away at them until I finish them, before I start anything new, even if my brain is throwing new ideas at me right and left. I'm also not allowed to 'shift focus' until I finish the current chapter that I'm working on so SOMETHING gets done, if that makes sense. This makes the focus shifting a bit more of a 'reward' for behaving and focusing down than an impulsive behavior and I think it's working.

I've also taken this approach with video games, rather than working on like 5-7 games and never finishing them in a reasonable time I've picked 3-4 to focus down on until I finish them. It helps that like the stories I'm writing, that the games have vastly different content.

 

[Incanus]

I think you are the only one who can answer this question.

I can safely say that I am one-hundred and eighty degrees in the other direction.

I would never finish anything if I worked on four projects at once. Also, I don't get distracted by new ideas for stories because they are exceedingly rare (which is why I reject the notion that story ideas are 'cheap'). The idea for the novel I am working on now came to me in 2011, I believe. Since that time, I have not found another story idea worth turning into a novel, not a single one. I've done some short stories, but those ideas are almost as difficult to come up with as well.

However, I did take a break between my initial draft, and my current revision, to work on a short. And I took a break to work on another short in the summer (about 15K words between the two shorts--they aren't exactly tiny things).

Anyway, good luck with your approach.

 

[skip.knox]

Have you finished any story? That is, all the way to either self-publishing or submitting the story to an agent or magazine? If the answer is no, then I suggest you stay flexible regarding your writing style (more properly, writing habit or discipline). It is too soon to say what works, if you haven't actually had anything work.

I had three self-published novels behind me, plus a couple of published short stories, and I still didn't have what I would call a discipline. A couple of novels later and the best I can say is that I discern a pattern. It's chaotic, depressingly slow. At the end of every project I could swear I see what to do next time around and it still never works out that way. For next time around my determination is to find a way to enjoy the experience of the project rather than trying to formulate a right way to do it, even a right-way-for-me. It's possible that every project will have its own patterns. If I can find a way to enjoy the process, who cares how it works?

At least, that's the view from this particular mountain. Or am I in a valley? It's sorta foggy.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I think you are the only one who can answer this question.

I can safely say that I am one-hundred and eighty degrees in the other direction.

I would never finish anything if I worked on four projects at once. Also, I don't get distracted by new ideas for stories because they are exceedingly rare (which is why I reject the notion that story ideas are 'cheap'). The idea for the novel I am working on now came to me in 2011, I believe. Since that time, I have not found another story idea worth turning into a novel, not a single one. I've done some short stories, but those ideas are almost as difficult to come up with as well.

However, I did take a break between my initial draft, and my current revision, to work on a short. And I took a break to work on another short in the summer (about 15K words between the two shorts--they aren't exactly tiny things).

Anyway, good luck with your approach.

So far it seems to be working, we'll see how well it works when I get 'deeper' into all four projects. (Well, further than chapter 3 when all four stories have completed chapter 3) At the moment it seems to be keeping me focused on finishing a chapter at least.

Have you finished any story? That is, all the way to either self-publishing or submitting the story to an agent or magazine? If the answer is no, then I suggest you stay flexible regarding your writing style (more properly, writing habit or discipline). It is too soon to say what works, if you haven't actually had anything work.

I had three self-published novels behind me, plus a couple of published short stories, and I still didn't have what I would call a discipline. A couple of novels later and the best I can say is that I discern a pattern. It's chaotic, depressingly slow. At the end of every project I could swear I see what to do next time around and it still never works out that way. For next time around my determination is to find a way to enjoy the experience of the project rather than trying to formulate a right way to do it, even a right-way-for-me. It's possible that every project will have its own patterns. If I can find a way to enjoy the process, who cares how it works?

At least, that's the view from this particular mountain. Or am I in a valley? It's sorta foggy.

As of now, no finished stories, but at the moment, in this process I've completed two chapters almost (The process is motivating me to finish the chapter I'm working on, I'm on the tail end of chapter 2 for one of my original fictions) as I said above, I'll see how this process works once all chapters are caught up to chapter 3, with chapter 3 finished and I have to pick one to work on for chapter 4.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

There is only one rule to writing. Writer's write. All else is process. If this is working for you, it works for you. I'm a compulsive editor. "Everybody" says to never edit while writing, but it works for me and is a crucial part of my process. Only you know what's working for you and what's not.

 

[skip.knox]

>As of now, no finished stories,
OK, so what I said above applies; that is, don't sweat the methodology too much at this point. Struggle, stumble, crawl your way to a finished story (short, if you mean to write short stories, otherwise novel). And get it all the way to done--published or submitted.

Once you reach those golden fields, then you can look back on how you got there. Write it down (something I wish I would have done from the start). Then, when you look to start another project, you can review those notes and ask yourself if you might want to change work habits.

And even then, don't sweat the methodology much because chances are very high you will simply go through the project in a way different from both what you did previously as well as what you intended to do this time. But again, take notes, think about it afterward, and adjust as you see fit. Or, and there are authors like this, just charge ahead every time and never spend two thoughts and a nickel on the how of it all.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

There is only one rule to writing. Writer's write. All else is process. If this is working for you, it works for you. I'm a compulsive editor. "Everybody" says to never edit while writing, but it works for me and is a crucial part of my process. Only you know what's working for you and what's not.

This new discipline is encouraging me to finish chapters before I 'switch' to a different project, so at the very least I'm getting stuff done, however slowly.

>As of now, no finished stories,
OK, so what I said above applies; that is, don't sweat the methodology too much at this point. Struggle, stumble, crawl your way to a finished story (short, if you mean to write short stories, otherwise novel). And get it all the way to done--published or submitted.

Once you reach those golden fields, then you can look back on how you got there. Write it down (something I wish I would have done from the start). Then, when you look to start another project, you can review those notes and ask yourself if you might want to change work habits.

And even then, don't sweat the methodology much because chances are very high you will simply go through the project in a way different from both what you did previously as well as what you intended to do this time. But again, take notes, think about it afterward, and adjust as you see fit. Or, and there are authors like this, just charge ahead every time and never spend two thoughts and a nickel on the how of it all.

Yep, I'm gonna keep at this process until all four projects are done completely, then have a think on it, what worked and what didn't.

Another thing I'm doing (unrelated to my four stories) Is when I sit down to write, I set a timer for 45 minutes. And I just write, period, for that 45 minutes, if I make a lot of progress? Great, if I only make some progress that's fine too, the goal is to get myself back into the rhythm of writing regularly again after a long break. The only exception to this is if I finish a chapter (and I do mean finish) at the tail end of the 45 minutes.

 

[pmmg]

There is only one rule to writing. Writer's write. All else is process. If this is working for you, it works for you.

I would assume they are asking the question because what they are doing is 'not' working for them, and so they are looking for validation on a process that is not working, or they are looking for another way of doing it.

Certainly, if you feel you have a process you want to try, go ahead and try it, and maybe it will be all the magic. But if you are back here in a year with no completed work, consider some of the voices that are aimed at getting it complete.

Course...maybe you don't want them complete. Not everyone is shooting for publication.

I ask where is the love, case love of what you are creating will drive you to wanting to stay with it. There should be a passion for it, and all of it will seem like something not worth finishing in the length of time of takes to actually finish one. Less...you write like Dolly, and get them done in a week.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I would assume they are asking the question because what they are doing is 'not' working for them, and so they are looking for validation on a process that is not working, or they are looking for another way of doing it.

Certainly, if you feel you have a process you want to try, go ahead and try it, and maybe it will be all the magic. But if you are back here in a year with no completed work, consider some of the voices that are aimed at getting it complete.

Course...maybe you don't want them complete. Not everyone is shooting for publication.

I ask where is the love, case love of what you are creating will drive you to wanting to stay with it. There should be a passion for it, and all of it will seem like something not worth finishing in the length of time of takes to actually finish one. Less...you write like Dolly, and get them done in a week.

To be honest I'm still very early in trying out this process, so I'm uncertain of how positive these results are.

I need to test this process further(maybe get 1 - 2 chapters of each project) before I fully decide if it's the right move (at least with 4 different projects rolling at once)

I'm actually finishing chapters and focusing down until I'm finishing them, so I'm getting something right, just the process don't feel perfect yet.