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Sticking to one story...

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liesversusjournals

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I have an issue (and I'm not sure if this is the right place for my post): I'm having trouble with sticking to writing and finishing one story at a time. It's like, I'll get an idea for a story (usually along with a title), and I'll start it...but when I get a first few pages written, I don't know...I just get distracted by a different story idea and lose inspiration for it. And that's when I'll start a new story with the intent to finish that one, and the same thing happens. As of right now, I have close to 40 documents in my Story Drafts folder, over 100 ideas for stories and story titles and I haven't finished a story since June. If anyone has any tips on staying focused on just one story until it's finished, I'd appreciate it immensely.
 

RWrites

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My advice depends on what genre you write in, but I suggest really delving into the story. Make a Pinterest board for it, set goals for word counts, plan out every detail. Getting into the book can really help with wanting to write. This is what worked for me, personally. Another thing is that maybe you haven't "found" a book you want to write. A book you want to see in stores, one you're so excited to write that you can't stop thinking about it. I'm still finding mine!
 

GeekGirl

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I have the same problem!!

With my last novel I started one of the things that I found helped was to cast my book. I went to a writing conference and one of the authors there mentioned how he would pretend his book was a movie and he would cast actors for the parts of his characters. I am a visual person, I think of my story in movie format in my head. This helped out a lot. I also found music that inspired me to write my story. I actually created a playlist to go along with writing my book and turn it on when I write. Like RWrites said really get into the details, get into the genre. Look to other things that in the same vein as your story and check them out for inspiration.
 

Allaboutwords13

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I know exactly how you feel. I've started a good twenty to thirty different stories. I've maybe finished three? I've never gotten them polished to how I want them. I don't really have any advice other than to offer my sympathies.
Sigh.
I'm also going through a stage where I can't focus enough to write, and when I try to take a break, my brain won't let me do anything else. I just want to write. But I can't.
Oh god whyyyy.
lol Anyway. Good luck. *facepalm*
 

Fruitbat

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It might help to pick one story that you focus on and have an easy rule for, such as that you must work on it for an hour per day or 100 words per day, whichever comes first. After that, you can write whatever you want but you must do that first until the chosen story is finished and polished.

Or, try writing flash fiction for a while, stories that are so short you don't have time to wander off before getting to the end. :)
 

WriterInTheDark

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I have found it very helpful that once you think you get past the original idea (this can be title, first 2k words or so, depending on what kind of work you're doing), to try and work through (and dare I say) possibly outline where you see the story going until the very end - possible plot-twists, etc. The ending... Also bouncing your idea off of several ears go keep it alive past the pen.

- WITD
 

talktidy

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Do you outline or are you a seat of the pants writer?

Outlining is not for everyone, but, I find if I know what happens next, I am far less likely to lose focus. Even moreso when I have an ending (a satisfying one hopefully) in mind for my project. I want to pay off the clues I have dropped and reveal my villain. If you don't already outline, it may work for you.

You may find as you write more and become more practiced that your writing will evolve and you will become less susceptible to distractions.

On occasion a very intriguing idea will pop into my head and offer a serious interruption. When this happens I create a new document and commit my ideas to the electronic page. For some reason, this stops the tumult of thoughts from buzzing around in my head.

Someone upthread mentioned discipline, getting your backside in that chair for a certain period of time and for a certain word count every day, whether one is inspired or not. I think if one accepts that inspiration doesn't last long and that writing can be something of a thankless slog, then that might dissuade you from looking for the next shiny thing.
 

sideshowdarb

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Hi liesversusjournals, it's good you have so many ideas. Inevitably you get stuck and you can go to another story when you do. The only real advice I can give in terms of finishing a story is it requires discipline and persistence. Somedays I just have to put my head down and get through not feeling it, not feeling well, or a million other distractions. Once you develop a rhythm and a routine, this will become easier for you. Best of luck!
 

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Ahh! I've had this same problem for years and years! I call it plotline ADD.

Recently, I've conquered it by full on submersion in the setting/theme. I agree with some fellow writers on here, too; I keep a pinterest to fuel my interest, and I avoid other stories and media not relating to my genre. If I'm writing historical? I make sure to keep my netflix on that specific period. Haha.

I might be alone in this, but scrolling MC clothing weirdly motivates me? It gives me ideas for scenes and setting and progression.
 

Anna Iguana

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I have so many open projects that I've stopped counting them. Here's what I say to myself, with some success:

Decide that finishing one thing, any one thing, is more important than writing the right, perfect thing and more important than enjoying yourself in every moment of writing.
 

Curlz

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As of right now, I have close to 40 documents in my Story Drafts folder, over 100 ideas for stories and story titles and I haven't finished a story since June. If anyone has any tips on staying focused on just one story until it's finished, I'd appreciate it immensely.
It's good to have story ideas, you can keep them for later :Thumbs:If you enjoy starting a story, then what's wrong with doing that again and again? You are having fun. If you NEED to finish a story (because you promised Uncle Joe to give him one for his birthday) then you just sit down and put an effort in it. Writing is a job like any other - if you have to do it, then you make an effort and do it, even if it's not fun. If you can't continue a story because you got writer's block, then you go read about writer's block and how to deal with it. If you can't finish the story because you ran out of plot, then you go and read books or articles about how to plot better. Identify what's stopping you from continuing with the story and deal with that particular issue.
 

DanielSTJ

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Great suggestions put out here-- better than I could have said.

Finishing anything is better than finishing nothing though, right? Anna Iguana really described that well.
 

Layla Nahar

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They call these 'plot bunnies'. Cute, right?

I look at this as 1) you have a rich and productive creative mind and 2) it finds the current task in the current story frustrating, so it's saying 'you want ideas? hey, how about this? or this?

When this happens my response is to thank my creative mind, and tell it I will get to that after I solve the current problem*. My approach is to let it sink back down into my subconscious to 'cook' some more. If it's really a workable idea, it will come back. If I like the idea a lot, I'll find a catchy title. If I can't remember that title, who will?

If you are having trouble finishing things, I suggest finishing even if it's a hack job. Just let your mind know that it has finished, and therefore can finish things. Once you are in the finishing comfort zone (I said they have to be finished - I didn't say they had to be good ;) ) you might want to do what I do. I work on 5+ projects at a time. I finish slowly, but I finish - and I finish a lot. Serially, not linearly.

*ETA: Lists are a great way to deal with story wtf-is-going-on-here-and-how-do-I-get-out-of-this moments. Lists of questions, lists of answers, etc. The critical/analytical part of your mind will set itself to the nice clear task and your creative part can get a little recoup.
 
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Richard White

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One summer a couple of years ago, I had several things I wanted to work on, so I decided to see if I could divide my time and still make progress. I worked on Story 1 on M-T, Story 2 on W-Th, and Story 3 on F-Sa. While I didn't finish any of them that summer, I had almost 50,000 words done on three novels. All three of them are close to the finish line, but they were put on hold while I was doing my graduate work. Now that I've got time again, as soon as I finish the current project, I'm going to pick them up and focus on getting all three of them to completed first drafts.

It helped that each one was in a completely different genre, so story ideas and such didn't cross-proliferate. And honestly, I think I got more done by getting three to 50K than I would have if I had concentrated on finishing one of them because it helped me avoid burnout.

Now, do I recommend this to everyone? Oh, heck no. But, it was a fun summer experiment.
 

hereticdoll

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You might be the kind of writer who outlines just simply don't work (some writers are steam locomotives, some are meteor showers).
Look at ALL of your stories, and pick the characters you love the most. The ones that make you feel the most as a writer. Then crack open their story, and assess what drives them. It may be love, it may be revenge, it may be a goal of some sort. Once you have established that, empathize with them, cater to their wants and needs, or hurt them. Give them justice, or injustice. Before you know it, you will have this character that is living and breathing and things will just begin to fall organically in the world around them. You will be inspired by the actions of your own character and you will start to think "What happens when I introduce variable (or character) A or B." If you develop a relationship with the character (or characters) I think it will help you to stay fixed on them and see their story through.
 

AielloJ1

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I was like that a long time ago. I'd say finding a story or characters that you are excited about to see it through is key. Also, just keeping in mind if you don't focus onto something, you're never going to finish anything, and that is the goal.
 

dirtsider

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I have two WIP currently going. This way if I stall on one, I have the second to fall back on to continue to write. Haven't finished anything in all my years of work on this WIP. But I've realized that I will only distract myself if I stay at home and try to write there. So I pack myself up and go to a local coffee shop. While I still distract myself there on the internet, I do get some work done. And I've changed the day I go. Used to go Thursday evenings after work but the shop changed their hours and now closes too early for me to get much done. So I now go on Sundays when I have several hours to both write and distract myself.
 

audibob1

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I have had this problem for so long and I finally identified why I wasn't getting past 2k words with each story. Like you, I thought I was losing inspiration, but I was really just losing interest. Usually, my plot ideas come to me in the form of a climax, and the climax only. So I would set out to write a novel with that singular climax, and by 2k words, I realized just how loooong it was taking to get to the climax, so I stopped. I finally got frustrated after churning out a whole bunch of half-written documents and wondered why I was able to finish my first draft of Hotel 13. I realized that Hotel 13 wasn't just a climax. It was a series of climaxes. I had kept interest in it because there was always another climax to write, and all the climaxes led up to one giant climax. So if you get your story ideas in the form of a single climax like me, try to flesh out the story a bit, and don't just focus on that one idea you've got. Combine ideas and add to your story until you've got several climaxes--you don't necessarily have to outline each climax, but if it helps, go for it.

I hope this helps, and best of luck in your future writing endeavors!
 

dot-dot-dash

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It might help to pick one story that you focus on and have an easy rule for, such as that you must work on it for an hour per day or 100 words per day, whichever comes first. After that, you can write whatever you want but you must do that first until the chosen story is finished and polished.

Or, try writing flash fiction for a while, stories that are so short you don't have time to wander off before getting to the end. :)

Sound advice. Lots of things can hamper creativity, but not finishing anything renders it completely impotent.

Perhaps one way to approach it is to write what you can finish. One complete haiku is better than a dozen unfinished novels.
 

gumandsoda

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This describes my writing life to a T. :(

I have an issue (and I'm not sure if this is the right place for my post): I'm having trouble with sticking to writing and finishing one story at a time. It's like, I'll get an idea for a story (usually along with a title), and I'll start it...but when I get a first few pages written, I don't know...I just get distracted by a different story idea and lose inspiration for it. And that's when I'll start a new story with the intent to finish that one, and the same thing happens. As of right now, I have close to 40 documents in my Story Drafts folder, over 100 ideas for stories and story titles and I haven't finished a story since June. If anyone has any tips on staying focused on just one story until it's finished, I'd appreciate it immensely.
 

StaircaseInTheDark

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I also have a problem with getting distracted by different story ideas. One of my problems was that I think I was scared of forgetting an idea which seemed really good if I didn't start on it immediately. So what I do is keep a notebook for jotting down ideas for new stories as they come to me, so I know I'll be able to come back to it later.

I also find it helps me if I force myself not to start writing immediately. Some ideas seem brilliant and exciting because they're new, but sometimes after a bit I realise they're actually not as good as what I'm working on. But if I do still want to do them, then giving myself some time to stew on them means I usually end up with a clearer idea of where I'm going if I do decide to go for it.

One other thing I've found useful is to set myself rules and challenges. Like 'this month I'm going to get this much of this story done', or 'I need to get this story finished before I start this one'. But I am the sort of person who works best with set rules in general, so that might not be good for everyone.

But those are the things that help me with this problem.
 

Caffrey

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If you're jumping around a lot it could be your mind's way of telling you something isn't right with the plot. I often find I have good ideas, but instead of starting writing I spend a few weeks or more trying to work out where they'll go. If I hit a dead end I know that the story isn't right.

On the positive side, writing anything regularly will see you improve. Not enough people write as practice. Think of sports people. They train without competing, all to improve so when they have to compete they're ready. Treat each dead end as a bit of a training session, and wait for that story that has longevity!
 

novicewriter

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On the positive side, writing anything regularly will see you improve...Think of sports people. They train without competing, all to improve so when they have to compete they're ready. Treat each dead end as a bit of a training session, and wait for that story that has longevity!

This is good advice. When I first realized a story that I thought was finished had problems, I sort of felt as though writing it had been a waste of time, but after I learned what I'd probably done wrong and knew how to fix it, writing that "bad" story didn't seem like a waste, anymore, because I'd learned from my mistake and knew how to write it a little better this time.

Now, I look at it as a good, learning experience.
 
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Spaceranger82

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Lately, I find that whenever I have something plotted and outlined, then I stand a better chance of finishing it than if I'm writing it off the cuff. Even then, I find that this isn't a 100% guarantee of success. However, dedicating myself to fewer works at a time does help.
 

ancon

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i just finished a novel, i guess (hope) it is pretty much done, which i'd been thinking about for years, took many stabs at over the years to get it going and on the road, etc. seemed like i'd have my packed bags in the trunk, a thermos of coffee, no good map but an idea of where i wanted/needed to go, but not long after i pulled out of my driveway the car would run out of gas. but then one day when trying to get it down on paper again, the tank is full. i try to read the map but it is dark and i just decide to toss the damn thing out the window and keep driving all night. i'm heading in the right direction. i can feel it. i think sometimes stories just need time to percolate.
 
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