Disciplined?

[Rob_Royale]

How disciplined are you at staying on a story when new or older stories are on the forefront of your mind at the moment? I've decided to just follow the muses. I want this to be fun and still manage to put out new work every three weeks or so, What works best for you?

 

[Smuttyandfun]

If I'm working on a contest, I usually try and finish the story, even if I have to push myself. Otherwise, I often write whatever pops in my head and grabs me, even if I've been working on something else.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If I say every story in the last four years has been a side project for something else, does that answer the question?

 

[StillStunned]

If I'm working on a contest, I usually try and finish the story, even if I have to push myself. Otherwise, I often write whatever pops in my head and grabs me, even if I've been working on something else.

Same here.

 

[lovecraft68]

I've been consistent with finishing what I start because if something began nagging at me to be written while in the middle of something else and I jumped to it, then the original story would then do the same thing, and nag at me. It would be the writing equivalent of seeing someone new while you're still hung up on your ex. I just stay the course.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Focusing on a story I want to finish is fine. Unfortunately the rest of my life keeps making demands.

 

[SimonDoom]

Disciplined? Me? I'm the dog in that picture. Easily distracted. I even have trouble finishing a

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

I find I am easily distracted by a new idea, inevitably leaving a string of unfinished stories... No discipline here.

On the other hand, sometimes I am unexpectedly inspired to finish one of my old, unfinished stories out of nowhere, which is always a fun place to be in.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Damn, I thought this topic was about something else entirely...

 

[orangecurious]

It depends... ongoing series stuff comes and goes.

The last two long stories were done exclusively, there was no room for anything else in my mind.

The finale to Suburban Sweetheart was also done like that, I had decided to wrap the tale up. The previous chapter (5) was written as the start, but I split it as it was getting too long. The final chapter then sprawled, but I HAD to finish it and nothing else was considered.

That series has spawned a spin-off and these come and go, much like the Developing Friends series. bits written when the inspiration touches.

I have a draft of random ideas and some mutate into a stand-alone story, others find their way into a series.

 

[Seadog777]

I work on 1 story on each day.

On Monday, I work on one story.

On Tuesday, I work on a completely different story.

You get the picture.

Before I stop work on that story, on that day; I always put what I want as the ending, last.

That way, I'm always reminded of the direction that I want the story to go.

That's just me though.

 

[TheRedChamber]

The best writing I do is when I'm fully focused on one story and cranking out a good number of words daily.

The problem comes when I get 'knocked off' a story - sometimes there's just one bit I'm struggling to write or else life gives me a few days in a row where I can't write. And then when I come back there's no guarantee that the story I'm going to be working on is the one that was in full flow. I've learned to live with it. My work rate is high - things do get finished, just not in the order I originally envisaged.

 

[KeithD]

I sometimes let the newer story idea play through. I've never not gotten the earlier one written, though. I'm not rigid on that; I go with the flow. The bottom line is that they've always all gotten written. If someday they don't, I won't slit my wrists over that.

 

[MrPixel]

I'm not the disciplined type, but when it comes to writing I seem to be single-threaded. Once I start a story ("episode" in my case), I am driven to complete it. On rare occasions I will veer off to service an idea that can't wait, but seem to limit the distraction to two or three hours. Then it's right back to the core project.

I sure wish that drive for completion applied to other areas of my life.

 

[intim8]

How disciplined are you at staying on a story when new or older stories are on the forefront of your mind at the moment? I've decided to just follow the muses. I want this to be fun and still manage to put out new work every three weeks or so, What works best for you?

I'm the opposite of disciplined on this. For one, I have at least one new idea pop into my head every day. If it seems like a really good one, I pretty much have to at least get it started. If it's a maybe, I might create a file for it with a few sentence blurb explaining the idea. Otherwise, I file it away in my head and work on the thing I'm 'supposed to' be working on.

For another, my job gets in the way. It is occasionally full time or more, and occasionally there's nothing to do for days or weeks, and everything in between. And sometimes I can suddenly be pulled out of whatever I'm doing to put out a fire.

I'm the kind of person that works best with long blocks of protected time. If I'm worried about an interruption, I have trouble getting that deep focus. Same if I know I only have an hour or two before I have to go do something either for work or personal.

Then there's the fact that what drives me is getting the story out, getting the characters to live, that kind of thing. Once I have a solid draft, I see the editing and prepping a story to post as something of a chore that I tend to procrastinate on.

It's kind of amazing that I get anything decent done at all.

 

[Voboy]

I used to be a LOT more disciplined than I am, but then I used to get more ideas than I do now and I felt a greater urgency to keep pumping 'em out. That went away after awhile.

I still believe in finishing up old business before starting new business, but it increasingly takes longer to crack my own whip and get that old business done.

 

[Zootonius]

My mind! I read the title and thought you were talking about this kind

 

[StillStunned]

My mind! I read the title and thought you were talking about this kind

If only someone could photoshop a keyboard on the desk by the redhead's hands...

 

[Britva415]

I just write one story at a time, and I don't write another story while I'm working on the one.

This could change. There's no sort of discipline behind this.

 

[Priscilla_June]

I think 75% of the time I finish a story that I begin (if we are to assume that 25% I won’t eventually finish, which I prob will). That means during any given story I have a few others pop up and intrude on the process. Sometimes i’ll just take notes on those ideas, others I'll actually begin and flip flop between. Some call to me so much I just abandon the other.

In the grand scheme of writing on Lit, for me it does not matter. I mostly write one-offs, and being pulled off of a novel isn't really a concern at this stage.

 

[bestkeptsecret678]

I force myself to finish what I start, even when I’ve lost enthusiasm or have new, other ideas brewing. It makes the next story sort of a reward for finishing the last.

I’m still as slow as the DMV getting to the end… but only one coming off the keyboard at a time.

 

[GlennJenko]

manage to put out new work every three weeks or so

First, is it possible to learn this power?

The current story (and its sequel) I've been working on have taken me almost two years now. Though I guess experience and story length could factor in there.

As for your question, I can remain fairly disciplined. I managed to get through the first story without starting anything else major. Then once I was done but before I edited it I switched focus to the sequel and I then switched between that and editing whenever I got bored of the other.

That said, I have gotten and expanded a few other ideas at varying points, both of stories in the same "universe" as the first two and completely separate ones. But I've deliberately not started any of them.

 

[MyBareTorso]

I always actively *write* just one story, but I usually have about five swirling very intensely through my head. I stitch together story elements (my stories don't have a lot of actual plot, so to speak) while I'm out on public transport, working out, tanning myself, walking etc. I've been submitting for a lot of challenges and contests, so deadlines come into play a bit. It's all great fun. Love the Lit!

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I can stick to a single story, it's not about discipline, it's about the process, if I can carry a story to the end, I will, but writing is often something that ebbs and flows. I can only write a story as far as I can take it, which is to the end, but it's the conception that's the thing, it can be spotty. One could probably say that writing is the trip, not the destination.

 

[nice90sguy]

Damn, I thought this topic was about something else entirely...

Yeah, can you remind me of the Statute of Limitations on thread trampling pls