I could use some help

[LukasGrey]

So I've published a few things here on Lit, and I really enjoy the process but I've hit a weird wall. Block has never really been an issue for me, but excitement does me in. I'll be working on something and be 30 or 40 or 50k words in and I'll get another good idea that I want to explore and I tell myself, "Just put this on hold for a little while and get down your thoughts and come back..."

And then I do the same thing again.

As I type this, I have fifteen different open stories that all have between 20k and 60k (One is essentially a finished novel in two parts that is sitting at 130k that I have a good ending in mind for but can't bring myself to just finish) in word count. I love to write, and I love working on new stuff but I just can't ever seem to bring myself around to finishing up stuff that I've started.

The real problem is that after so much time passes, it gets hard to match up the voice of the story and I start rewriting on something that I struggled with finishing and I just feel like it doesn't match up...

How do you all stay on track? I kind of justified to myself that it was good to bounce around with my moods as I write some happy stuff, and some really dark stuff and my moods seem to influence how well I'm able to write, but now, at this level of unfinished stuff, I just can't keep making that excuse any more.

 

[NotWise]

How do you all stay on track? I kind of justified to myself that it was good to bounce around with my moods as I write some happy stuff, and some really dark stuff and my moods seem to influence how well I'm able to write, but now, at this level of unfinished stuff, I just can't keep making that excuse any more.

You have to teach yourself.

Try setting a goal -- a complete story in 7k words (for instance). Keep it short and write to the end. Finish it. Don't drift. Don't get distracted. Repeat as needed until you understand how the process works for you.

 

[ElectricBlue]

How do you all stay on track? I kind of justified to myself that it was good to bounce around with my moods as I write some happy stuff, and some really dark stuff and my moods seem to influence how well I'm able to write, but now, at this level of unfinished stuff, I just can't keep making that excuse any more.

Discipline. (A number of people look up, wondering if they can help.) Quite simply, I don't let myself have more than one main project and one side project at a time. I can have several side projects one after the other, but never more than two projects on the go at any point in time. Granted, some of my side projects get legs and run, which can park the other one up for a month or so, but I will always get back to the main one.

I also recognise when to stop; rather, when not to continue. If something isn't working after a thousand words, it's never going to work. Many folk here in AH would put that in their pending folder; I'm more ruthless, and will delete it. I have one aged incomplete story which at some stage I will get back to, but that's it.

 

[SimonDoom]

I can sympathize. I have about ten stories that I've started, some of which I've written quite a lot of, but I'm nowhere near finishing any of them. I keep missing deadlines for finishing stories.

I'm not suffering from a block so much as a lack of focus and purpose. I've written and published two dozen stories here. I enjoy writing, but I'm not getting paid, and I don't feel any particular obligation to get anything done. I have a day job.

Step back and take stock of what you really want to get out of your writing, and then come up with a plan to fulfill your goal. Concentrate on sticking with whatever your plan is. It's probably best to follow EB's advice to limit the number of projects you are working on.

 

[Hypoxia]

Robert Heinlein's Rules of Writing, Expanded (freely given because few follow them so there's little competition):

1. You must write.
2. Finish what you write; don't rewrite unless editors tell you to.
3. Put your story on the market; keep it on the market till it sells.
4. Start writing something else.

If we don't finish what we write, nothing else matters.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I can sympathize. I have about ten stories that I've started, some of which I've written quite a lot of, but I'm nowhere near finishing any of them. I keep missing deadlines for finishing stories.

Simon Doom, The Procrastinator, coming sometime vaguely in the future to a multiplex that hasn't been built yet, but it's still in the planning stages.

"Mom, I'm really worried about Simon. He's locked himself in his room, and sometimes there's no typing at all. Should we check? Should I wear a shorter skirt?"

"I know, Janey, it's a worry. Maybe we should go back to basics."

"Dad, can we borrow the car? Mom needs to take Simon for a ride."

"Sure, honey. Look after your brother, baby."

"Oh I will Daddy, don't you worry about that."

Just then a text came through on their phones. "Hey, look at that, Mom, Simon's getting into anal!"

A glint shone in Janey's eyes, and she whirled around in her pretty dress. "Will you help me with the strap-on, Mom?"

 

[oggbashan]

If I stall on a story, I save it in a named file and move on to another.

Once a month or so I will trawl through the file of incomplete stories and see whether I can add anything (or even complete it!).

But the heap of incomplete stories is larger than my posted list of 300+ (including as jeanne_d_artois).

Some will NEVER be finished but they can provide ideas for new ones. They all stay on my hard drive and are backed up so that I do not lose them.

At any one time I am usually actively working on 5 or more stories.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Cue the Plot Bunny Waltz...

I find that I have a bunch of stories going at any one time. This morning, I opened one I haven't looked at for months and found myself adding a few more pages to it. Tomorrow, maybe another. I do get challenged from time to time to finish one in what amounts to a one long push and that works, too.

As for forgetting or losing touch with a story, I find reading it from the beginning is enough to get me back on track. YMMV.

 

[SimonDoom]

Simon Doom, The Procrastinator, coming sometime vaguely in the future to a multiplex that hasn't been built yet, but it's still in the planning stages.

"Mom, I'm really worried about Simon. He's locked himself in his room, and sometimes there's no typing at all. Should we check? Should I wear a shorter skirt?"

"I know, Janey, it's a worry. Maybe we should go back to basics."

"Dad, can we borrow the car? Mom needs to take Simon for a ride."

"Sure, honey. Look after your brother, baby."

"Oh I will Daddy, don't you worry about that."

Just then a text came through on their phones. "Hey, look at that, Mom, Simon's getting into anal!"

A glint shone in Janey's eyes, and she whirled around in her pretty dress. "Will you help me with the strap-on, Mom?"

I don't know, EB, that story sounds like it's headed straight for the incest bin. Then I'm just back in the same old rut. Dang.

That does it. I've got a three-day weekend. I swear I'm going to make some progress on my silly little hobbit sex tale.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I have "clean up periods" - I'm in one now - where I only work on stories that are about 80% or more finished and then get them posted. I try not to let too many of those get into a backlog; about three or four at the most.

Then I consider anything that is already started - perhaps twenty to fifty percent done. I may allow myself to start a new story but I keep on eye on the backlog.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't know, EB, that story sounds like it's headed straight for the incest bin. Then I'm just back in the same old rut. Dang.

That does it. I've got a three-day weekend. I swear I'm going to make some progress on my silly little hobbit sex tale.

Good man. You have my heartfelt support; we just want to see results, not this fucking about with promises .

"Mom, I'm sad."

"Why is that, darling?"

"Simon doesn't want a ride in the car. My new cheerleader skirt, it's just wasted." Janey pouted, and flounced her shiny blonde hair. "All he wants to talk about is nasty little hobbitses."

"It's just a phase. It's all part of his plan to write something in every category. This time, it's fetish, obviously." Simon's mom knew her favourite boy oh so very well.

"Hairy feet?" Janey looked down at her red toe nails, thinking, god, what a waste of effort that was. Brothers! Who needs them?

"No. Really big hairy balls. For some reason, Tolkein never mentioned it, and Peter Jackson was too interested in the homo-erotic under currents and the kinky stuff with elves."

Janey's eyes lit up. She wondered what Simon would look like in a blond Legolas wig.

It was no good. Simon only had eyes for dwarves at this point in his multi-category adventures.

Carry on, we expect results .

 

[SimonDoom]

Good man. You have my heartfelt support; we just want to see results, not this fucking about with promises .

"Mom, I'm sad."

"Why is that, darling?"

"Simon doesn't want a ride in the car. My new cheerleader skirt, it's just wasted." Janey pouted, and flounced her shiny blonde hair. "All he wants to talk about is nasty little hobbitses."

"It's just a phase. It's all part of his plan to write something in every category. This time, it's fetish, obviously." Simon's mom knew her favourite boy oh so very well.

"Hairy feet?" Janey looked down at her red toe nails, thinking, god, what a waste of effort that was. Brothers! Who needs them?

"No. Really big hairy balls. For some reason, Tolkein never mentioned it, and Peter Jackson was too interested in the homo-erotic under currents and the kinky stuff with elves."

Janey's eyes lit up. She wondered what Simon would look like in a blond Legolas wig.

It was no good. Simon only had eyes for dwarves at this point in his multi-category adventures.

Carry on, we expect results .

Damn it, EB, you've been hacking my hard drive again. Cut that the fuck out, mate.

Results you will have. Soon they will be.

Oops. Wrong fantasy universe.

 

[Voboy]

It’s called “discipline,” OP. You need to find some. Old business before new.

When I’m in your situation, I write down the new plot bunny to make sure I’ll capture it accurately. Then, I’ll savor the anticipation of writing that new story AND (here’s the bit that should help you) THAT ANTICIPATION HELPS MOTIVATE ME TO GET THE EXISTING STORY FINISHED.

Or? I decide the new story will be better than the existing one and put the existing one on hiatus. Normally, that hiatus is terminal, meaning my Graveyard of Unfinished Tales now has a new headstone.

I’ve had two stories going simultaneously. Fifteen? That’s a problem. Make yourself focus and learn discipline. If you’ve not learned that in your life so far, writing can be a good way to get there.

Good luck.

 

[KeithD]

I'm the same as Voboy, although I rarely abandon a story idea once it's set in and I don't think I've ever had more than three stories on the backburner at one time.

 

[Bramblethorn]

"Simon doesn't want a ride in the car. My new cheerleader skirt, it's just wasted." Janey pouted, and flounced her shiny blonde hair. "All he wants to talk about is nasty little hobbitses."

Does Gollum/Smeagol count as incest?

 

[Voboy]

Does Gollum/Smeagol count as incest?

Mmm.

Sméagol-Deagol gay incest. We could call it “Fingering The Ring.”

 

[Hypoxia]

I'm stalled on about 175 stories now, or 14 if I'm anywhere near honest. I eagerly await my interior voices to kick my lumpy ass into gear. Help me!

No, really. I've a stack with major chunks of texts and piles of notes. Some would conclude now-unfinished series and thus relieve my guilt. Some are totally sketched-out and require only words. None really absorb me. Yikes.

 

[KeithD]

There's a word for that. It's "dabbling."

 

[ElectricBlue]

Does Gollum/Smeagol count as incest?

Penguins in Mordor? Possibly not enough snow.

Simon will know; he's lost himself somewhere between the Gates of Mordor and Mount Doom, I think. He's promised an answer by Tuesday afternoon, if I understand American long weekends correctly .

 

[CeasarBoobage]

<deleted>

 

[SimonDoom]

Mmm.

Sméagol-Deagol gay incest. We could call it “Fingering The Ring.”

At this point in the story, Smeagol-Deagol would be necrophilia. We're not going there.

Gollum is out of the picture in this one, anyway.

 

[gordo12]

Love to help but with around 80 stories in various stages...

I'm not the best example

 

[Voboy]

At this point in the story, Smeagol-Deagol would be necrophilia. We're not going there.

Gollum is out of the picture in this one, anyway.

I was thinking historical fiction.

 

[Hypoxia]

There's a word for that. It's "dabbling."

We're only in it for the lulz.

 

[LukasGrey]

I have to admit that I was really surprised to see so many responses!

Thank you all so much!

Yes, it is a matter of discipline but I also think that I need to be okay with working on what intrigues me in the current moment and just be okay with that. I need to remember that this isn't my job, I do it for fun and I need to be okay with that.

The one thing that I do need to do is the one thing that I've always been loathe to do, which is outline. At the very least I need to steal an idea that I read about on here (sorry to not remember who) which is outline each character and their plot points at the end as I write so that it is far easier to return to a story!