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Does anyone else have this problem when writing?

Jmanchu

Jmanchu

El Capitan
Joined
Nov 23, 2017
Posts
347
I have a fairly busy schedule (work, school, girlfriend), so I have little time to write. Some weekends I have plenty of time(when GF isn't hassling me like a cat that needs attention, not that I mind though). Now I've always got plenty of stories on the back burner(some partially written, some still swimming in the back of my head for years), but I've lately been putting all my focus on finishing one story.

My problem is, aside from the occasional writers block, when I focus on story for too long, my extremely A.D.D. mind starts naturally drifting to one of my other stories(when it's not drifting to the random stupid crap that occasionally runs through my weird imagination). The more I try to focus on the story I want to finish, then the more my mind starts drifting to that other story.

Now I don't WANT to start working on that other story yet(...again), I've got another story that I'm trying to stay committed to right now, but that other story keeps tempting me. I feel like if I give in to this temptation then I fear risking never getting anywhere with either story, but it only gets harder and harder to say no. What do I do? Am I doomed?
 
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Jmanchu said:
I have a fairly busy schedule (work, school, girlfriend), so I have little time to write. Some weekends I have plenty of time(when GF isn't hassling me like a cat that needs attention, not that I mind though). Now I've always got plenty of stories on the back burner(some partially written, some still swimming in the back of my head for years), but I've lately been putting all my focus on finishing one story.

My problem is, aside from the occasional writers block, when I focus on story for too long, my extremely A.D.D. mind starts naturally drifting to one of my other stories(when it's not drifting to the random stupidity that occasionally runs through my twisted imagination). The more I try to focus on the story I want to finish, then the more my mind starts drifting to that other story.

Now I don't WANT to start working on that other story yet(...again), I've got another story that I'm trying to stay committed to right now that other story, keeps tempting me. I feel like if I give in to this temptation then I fear risking never getting anywhere with either story, but it only gets harder and harder to say no. What do I do? Am I doomed?
Click to expand...

This happens to me, to some degree. I've got lots of stories cooking at once, and it's psychologically easier to drop the story I want to finish and tinker with the ones I feel no pressure to finish.

My recommendation is not to get too pressured about the one story you want to finish, but make sure when you start your writing time to START with that story. Write what you can, and if you feel the urge to jump to another one, let yourself. When you start writing again, follow the same pattern. Eventually, the story on the front burner will get finished. Balance your desire for discipline with the desire to give in to spontaneity.
 
Jmanchu said:
I have a fairly busy schedule (work, school, girlfriend), so I have little time to write. Now I've always got plenty of stories on the back burner(some partially written, some still swimming in the back of my head for years), but I've lately been putting all my focus on finishing one story.

My problem is, aside from the occasional writers block, when I focus on story for too long, my extremely A.D.D. mind starts naturally drifting to one of my other stories(namely one other one at this moment). The more I try to focus on the story I want to finish, then the more my mind starts drifting to that other story.

Now I don't WANT to start working on that other story yet(...again), I've got another story that I'm trying to stay committed to right now, but she, that other story, keeps tempting me. I feel like if I give in to this temptation then I fear that I risk never getting anywhere with either story, but it only gets harder and harder to say no. What do I do? Am I doomed?
Click to expand...

As someone who has adult ADHD, I'd say, no, you're not doomed. It is possible to stick to one thing, but it has to inspire you (me). I go through periods where I can't finish one thing, and start half a dozen, and other times when I can write an entire novel in a couple of months (something Chloe can do in a couple of weeks).

Things that help:

* Reduce stress (hahahahahaha)
* Sleep more (hahahahahah)
* Remove all other commitments from your life (hahahaha)
* Make sure you emotionally connect to what you're writing, and if you currently can't, find a way to include something that makes it matter to you.

I can't write anything of any length unless I can connect to it personally in some way.
 
SimonDoom said:
This happens to me, to some degree. I've got lots of stories cooking at once, and it's psychologically easier to drop the story I want to finish and tinker with the ones I feel no pressure to finish.

My recommendation is not to get too pressured about the one story you want to finish, but make sure when you start your writing time to START with that story. Write what you can, and if you feel the urge to jump to another one, let yourself. When you start writing again, follow the same pattern. Eventually, the story on the front burner will get finished. Balance your desire for discipline with the desire to give in to spontaneity.
Click to expand...
So I'm not the only one. :| I thought I was just mentally being disorganized, glad to know it's a normal thing. Also, thanks for the pointer. I'll definitely make sure to give that a go. Hopefully I'll actually be able to finish this thing now. :D
 
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JasonClearwater said:
As someone who has adult ADHD, I'd say, no, you're not doomed. It is possible to stick to one thing, but it has to inspire you (me). I go through periods where I can't finish one thing, and start half a dozen, and other times when I can write an entire novel in a couple of months (something Chloe can do in a couple of weeks).

Things that help:

* Reduce stress (hahahahahaha)
* Sleep more (hahahahahah)
* Remove all other commitments from your life (hahahaha)
* Make sure you emotionally connect to what you're writing, and if you currently can't, find a way to include something that makes it matter to you.

I can't write anything of any length unless I can connect to it personally in some way.
Click to expand...
Whenever I write something, I try to keep some sort of emotional inspiration to it. If I can't enjoy it, I scrap it. If the part is boring and I can't find a way to make it interesting I either scrap it, rewrite the whole scene, or just rush through it(ie. I make it short because my extreme A.D.D will kick in hard otherwise).

Well, I'm a master at sleeping and giving zero fucks, so I'm glad to know I'm on the right track then. :p

A couple weeks!?!? Jesus! It can take me up to a month to write a few chapters! Anyways, thanks for the advice, really appreciate it. :D
 
JasonClearwater said:
Tell me how to sleep. TELL ME HOW TO SLEEP! :D
Click to expand...

Well, good sir, here's the magical secret. First you lay down, THEN you close your eyes! :D

The REAL secret, eating some good food. You get that "Itis" mayn, you'll sleep like a baby. : DDD
 
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Jmanchu said:
Well, good sir, here's the magical secret. First you lay down, THEN you close your eyes! :D

The REAL secret, eating some good food. You get that "Itis" mayn, you'll sleep like a baby. : DDD
Click to expand...

Food, Mr Clearwater. I detect a common theme, here.

Back to the OP - I seem to be fortunate and/or disciplined. I write no more than one big piece at a time, and allow myself one side project, and that's it. Sometimes the side project takes on a life of its own, for example my Geek Anthology thing - but that's done now, so back to the main game (until the next side project wanders by).
 
We’ve all got this problem.

My answer is to be very detached, very brutal. Triage, like a nurse. Some stories are not worth finishing, and you need to be honest with yourself: if the next story WILL be better, abandon the current one and move on to the one you can save.

If the current story is good, though, it deserves to be finished before moving on. That’s the time to cowboy up and apply yourself, with gritted teeth if necessary.

At a free site, we don’t serve the readers. We serve our stories. We owe it to them to make them as good as we can.
 
A lot of good advice on this thread already, so I'll just add one thing. I sometimes negotiate with myself- get through with this scene in the story I'm working on, then I can flit off to other projects. Often I find that once I refocus myself with a short term goal, I don't want to chase after that plot bunny anymore.
 
Alice_Rosaleen said:
A lot of good advice on this thread already, so I'll just add one thing. I sometimes negotiate with myself- get through with this scene in the story I'm working on, then I can flit off to other projects. Often I find that once I refocus myself with a short term goal, I don't want to chase after that plot bunny anymore.
Click to expand...

this works for me, too. i always have the insistent stories trying to jump the queue. i tell myself to just add a bit to whatever i'm already working on, then start the next. usually i get so caught up in the task at hand that the problem solves itself. until i stop actively writing, again, that is.
 
I honestly don't try. If I lose focus on something specific, for whatever reason, I put it down. Fighting it only makes things worse for me.

If I have other ideas, and those are flowing, I jump on them. As long as I'm at least writing something, I don't feel quite so bad about longer projects going into temporary limbo.

Now, time to edit my most recent such distraction, "Coming in Third" so I can pick back up SOTM Ch. 21 and see if I'm ready to put that back on track. :D
 
electricblue66 said:
Food, Mr Clearwater. I detect a common theme, here.
Click to expand...

Food. Sleep. Lying Down. If it's going to be that hard, I'll just stay awake for another three years.

OP, I'd like to change my answer. If you can't stick to one thing, get stuck in an airport with your laptop, and only the story you're working on, then have your plane delayed by several hours.

Granted, this can be hard to set up in advance, but if you check your local weather charts, aim for the foggiest day of the year, and you're all set.

Completely reliable method. Works every time.
 
Wow, I didn't expect so many responses when I checked back. I'm really glad I'm not the only one lol. I've been reading your guys' different opinions and advice on the subject. Thanks for all the responses. It's really insightful to see how everyone deals with it in their own way. :D

electricblue66 said:
I seem to be fortunate and/or disciplined. I write no more than one big piece at a time, and allow myself one side project, and that's it. Sometimes the side project takes on a life of its own, for example my Geek Anthology thing - but that's done now, so back to the main game (until the next side project wanders by).
Click to expand...
That might be my problem. I have very little discipline. I need more "disciprine," Just like in that South Park episode. :|

RejectReality said:
If I have other ideas, and those are flowing, I jump on them. As long as I'm at least writing something, I don't feel quite so bad about longer projects going into temporary limbo.
Click to expand...
I'm glad I'm not the only one who works like that while writing. You give me hope, sir :D

rae121452 said:
this works for me, too. i always have the insistent stories trying to jump the queue. i tell myself to just add a bit to whatever i'm already working on, then start the next. usually i get so caught up in the task at hand that the problem solves itself. until i stop actively writing, again, that is.
Click to expand...
You have literally spelled out what happens to me.

Alice_Rosaleen said:
A lot of good advice on this thread already, so I'll just add one thing. I sometimes negotiate with myself- get through with this scene in the story I'm working on, then I can flit off to other projects. Often I find that once I refocus myself with a short term goal, I don't want to chase after that plot bunny anymore.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that is my problem. Those gosh darn plot bunnies always running around in my head making a mess of things when I try to write. :|

Voboy said:
If the current story is good, though, it deserves to be finished before moving on. That’s the time to cowboy up and apply yourself, with gritted teeth if necessary.

At a free site, we don’t serve the readers. We serve our stories. We owe it to them to make them as good as we can.
Click to expand...
I really like that "We serve our stories" bit. I got into writing because I've had many stories in my head and I've wanted to get them out of there for years, if only for my own interests.

JasonClearwater said:
OP, I'd like to change my answer. If you can't stick to one thing, get stuck in an airport with your laptop, and only the story you're working on, then have your plane delayed by several hours.

Granted, this can be hard to set up in advance, but if you check your local weather charts, aim for the foggiest day of the year, and you're all set.

Completely reliable method. Works every time.
Click to expand...
Well then, I'll make sure to book all my future flights with the last airline I took on a trip to Mexico. Their delays made me miss my connecting flight and got me stuck in Canada for an entire day. :|

JaxRhapsody said:
I write what I can, and then start back on another story.
Click to expand...
Sounds simple enough to follow. :D
 
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Jmanchu said:
My problem is, aside from the occasional writers block, when I focus on story for too long, my extremely A.D.D. mind starts naturally drifting to one of my other stories(when it's not drifting to the random stupid crap that occasionally runs through my weird imagination). The more I try to focus on the story I want to finish, then the more my mind starts drifting to that other story.
Click to expand...

I have a similar problem, I even made a thread about it a couple of weeks ago. I came to the conclusion that whatever I write, I want enjoy it. I don't get anything for my writing except satisfaction. So if I don't enjoy writing on a story, I just don't do it but work on whatever pushed ahead in my mind.

I want to write, not force myself to something. The readers will have to wait for my next big story until it's done. If there are ten short stories in between then so be it.
 
The same thing has happened to me. Write whatever comes to your mind, follow your ideas and you'll figure it out.
 
Kojak01 said:
I have a similar problem, I even made a thread about it a couple of weeks ago. I came to the conclusion that whatever I write, I want enjoy it. I don't get anything for my writing except satisfaction. So if I don't enjoy writing on a story, I just don't do it but work on whatever pushed ahead in my mind.

I want to write, not force myself to something. The readers will have to wait for my next big story until it's done. If there are ten short stories in between then so be it.
Click to expand...
About the only thing I like about computers is you can flick between different files and, therefore, different tasks/stories really easily. That's how I mostly work - sometimes working on two different pieces of fiction, sometimes flicking between fiction and the non-fiction writing I do (for paid work, I mean). This helps me 'concentrate' more than if I try to make myself just work on one thing until I get to the end of it.
If a story idea is really poking at me and won't leave me alone I write down the bare bones of it - I mean write it onto paper - just to get the main ideas or dialogue or whatever it is that won't get out of my head - and add it to the pile of stories waiting to be written. That sort of exorcises it for a while.
On the other hand - not sleeping .... that's worked for me on the occasions I've been burning to get a story out. Not so good if it's just the insomnia coming to get you.
Delays in airports works. So does a lot of long haul flights where there's no wifi for distraction, and you can turn your screen away from the big guy squeezed into the seat next to you
 
Sara2000Z said:
About the only thing I like about computers is you can flick between different files and, therefore, different tasks/stories really easily. That's how I mostly work - sometimes working on two different pieces of fiction, sometimes flicking between fiction and the non-fiction writing I do (for paid work, I mean). This helps me 'concentrate' more than if I try to make myself just work on one thing until I get to the end of it.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum, Sara!

That was Isaac Asimov's solution to the problem. He'd keep the stories on separate floppy disks and switch them in and out.

Before computers, he'd have four or five typewriters set up in his study, each with a different project. He had found that he was already writing one story in his head as he was typing the other one out, and when that second story had crystallized, he'd move over to another typewriter and put it on paper. He used to say that it was the only exercise he felt inclined to do.
 
I'm a victim of this in the worst way. I have several multi-chapter stories going and to me that's the way I like it, I can dabble in all. The readers on the other hand can not. There're comments and emails demanding immediate resolution for a particular story. I can't run a story to completion like that. Other stimuli intrude and I write those. They'll all be finished eventually. We're writing our stories for free. Get a grip folks.
 
Athalia said:
Welcome to the forum, Sara!

That was Isaac Asimov's solution to the problem. He'd keep the stories on separate floppy disks and switch them in and out.

Before computers, he'd have four or five typewriters set up in his study, each with a different project. He had found that he was already writing one story in his head as he was typing the other one out, and when that second story had crystallized, he'd move over to another typewriter and put it on paper. He used to say that it was the only exercise he felt inclined to do.
Click to expand...
Hey thanks, Athalia. I'm still feeling like I'm not quite qualified to be on here! And I had no idea about Asimov's approach to writing - so thanks for sharing that. I love the idea of wholly separate typewriters for each project in progress. The closest I get to that is notes on many different scraps of paper that have a tendency to scatter all over the place.
 
Sara2000Z said:
Hey thanks, Athalia. I'm still feeling like I'm not quite qualified to be on here! And I had no idea about Asimov's approach to writing - so thanks for sharing that. I love the idea of wholly separate typewriters for each project in progress. The closest I get to that is notes on many different scraps of paper that have a tendency to scatter all over the place.
Click to expand...

No one's qualified for anything, that's why we're all so noisy. You'll be fine, don't worry about that :).
 
electricblue66 said:
No one's qualified for anything, that's why we're all so noisy. You'll be fine, don't worry about that :).
Click to expand...
Oh! I wondered why that was.....
I always think noisy means really very qualified; expert; over qualified, even.
Which is why I stay quiet.
Until I don't, and then tons of words pour out of me and I can see people looking at me saying to themselves, 'well, hey, what lit her up?'
 
Sara2000Z said:
Oh! I wondered why that was.....
I always think noisy means really very qualified; expert; over qualified, even.
Which is why I stay quiet.
Until I don't, and then tons of words pour out of me and I can see people looking at me saying to themselves, 'well, hey, what lit her up?'
Click to expand...

A good lesson to learn early in life is that there's no discernible correlation between those who talk and those who know what they're talking about.

So, go ahead and talk.

Odds are good you'll know as much as the person who talked before you.
 
I probably have 100 stories started and partially completed. Some are just a start with the characters being introduced, some I stall out on the details because I don't want to to seem like a copy of another story or too formulaic. Sometimes I get a second and third followup to a story started that might be better than the original but I can't finish the first one. I leave most of them alone fora while and get back to them and try to finish when I get an idea.
 
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