muse working on wrong story.

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sassandgroove

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Ok so my one novel (A) was going no where and I didn't know what to do with it so I let it breathe.

I finally started writing a second novel (B) that is completely different, YAY, and now when I lay in bed at night I am getting a whole flood of ideas for the first one.

So do I go back to writing A or keep going on B? Do I make notes on A and keep working on B or do I go back on forth on them? ACK! I only get 20 minutes a day if that and some weekends I can write but some weekends I have family things and stuff, you know.

What do you do?
 

Darzian

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I'd suggest writing both simultaneously or working on them every other week if time is an issue. Or, if you get sudden inspiration on one of the novels, concentrate on that.
 

kaitie

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I vote that you make sure you have a really good set of notes for story B and go back to story A. If you can manage to work on both simultaneously that's great, especially if you've successfully finished work before. It seems from what I've seen that a lot of people have a hard time finishing a product once started. In any case, if you've got the ideas definitely put them on paper! Just make sure you don't forget what's going on with the second story in the process. :)
 

Red-Green

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Follow the one that's keeping you up at night. My agent would be happy if I'd finish this YA urban fantasy I've been hacking away at for almost a year, but what did I do in September? Wrote a 120K word literary novel in three weeks. Well crap...that's not getting me any closer to having a second UF book for my agent to pitch alongside the other one I've got on sub. But the book I finished in record time--that thing was keeping me up nights. I *had* to write it. So, I follow whatever story has a leash around my neck.
 

Sean D. Schaffer

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Ok so my one novel (A) was going no where and I didn't know what to do with it so I let it breathe.

I finally started writing a second novel (B) that is completely different, YAY, and now when I lay in bed at night I am getting a whole flood of ideas for the first one.

So do I go back to writing A or keep going on B? Do I make notes on A and keep working on B or do I go back on forth on them? ACK! I only get 20 minutes a day if that and some weekends I can write but some weekends I have family things and stuff, you know.

What do you do?



This is going to sound pretty elementary, but what do you feel like you should do?

If it was me, I'd be all over that first novel, and taking a break from Novel B. You can always come back to Novel B, so it's not a huge problem, it doesn't sound like to me, if you work on Novel A.

Best wishes to you, whatever your decision. Blessed Be. :)
 

sommemi

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Hmmm. Tricky. Might just be me... but it sounds like forcing yourself to work on this second one is giving you great ideas for the first one. Maybe wait it out a week or two and leave a notebook next to the bed... work on B for a while, and keep notes about your ideas for A. Maybe you'll end up with so many ideas for A that in 2 weeks you'll be able to complete the whole story for A! Who knows?

Then again... I'm having a similar problem. I'm no help. Let me know what you decide to do! I'm curious...
 

sassandgroove

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I'm thinking notes. And maybe writing thoughts down for A will job ideas for B and I can toggle back and forth.

Thanks for your input. It helps. Keep it comin'!
 

Rarri

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I'm in a similar situation: two main projects on the go and not a lot of time to write. I try to keep my focus on one WIP, but if i get really get going with an idea for the other WIP, then i go with that one. I tend to have lots of notebooks around, so that even if i can't put in actual prose writing time, i still have the ideas there and ready for when i can dedicate a few minutes to getting it all down.
 

icerose

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My muse is always cheating on my WIP. I write down everything she hands me and when she gets tired, I go back to the story I'm working on. I've had as many as 6 WIP's at one time (would not recommend!) with my muse constantly throwing new ideas at me. What I try to do is have one main, the one I have to get at least 1 page a day on every single day, after that, my muse can cheat as much as she wants, because I got my page in and that means that WIP will be done that year.
 

sommemi

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Good for you! ;)
 
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