There is a really, really good article on this very website about that, located right here: https://www.writingforums.org/articles/where-do-ideas-come-from-ill-tell-you/
So, I was getting along fine, halfway through my novel. Then, one evening I started thinking about another idea, and started sketching an outline. Now, I'm struggling to concentrate on my current novel. This always seems to happen, and I've abandoned several novels at the halfway stage. The thing is, I was enjoying writing the novel. I was looking forward each day to my writing time. Now, I'm not sure what to do. I'll never get things finished if this keeps happening. Any advice would be very welcome?
The middle of a novel is the hardest part to write. The shine of a new idea is gone, and you're not yet at the epic climax. There's no real remedy beyond recognising the pattern and breaking it by pushing through.
Ah, the loneliness of the long distance writer. @NiallRoach has it right, you just have to persevere and push through the wall.
It happens - I have literally 100s of ideas jotted down, but the way I handle this is to just note down whatever occurs to me then put it to one side until I've finished my current project (or until I need it if I'm taking a break to say write a contest entry)
Have you ever tried incorporating your new idea into your current novel? It might be work, but it also might create something novel (pun) and interesting.
Well, the good news is, you're not the sort who is ever going to run out of ideas or require story prompts to get started! This will only be a problem if you never finish anything. I'd recommend @big soft moose 's solution, simply scratch down your new idea AND STOP THINKING ABOUT IT NOW. Keep on with your current story. Of course some people work on two or three stories at once, which isn't a bad idea if you can pull it off. Follow your newest idea and work on that for a while. Then when it palls (which it probably will), go back to your original, and keep alternating until one or both are finished. This is fine as a working method, but not if you never finish anything. You COULD abandon your old story for good and work on the new one. But again, you'll need to stick with it and get it finished, whether or not you ever do return to the original. Just make sure you finish something. Don't let 'the grass is greener over there' derail your writing career.
I've had the same problem before and I'll bet that almost everyone here will know exactly what you're talking about. Jot down the ideas and save them for another day. if you abandon your current project in favor of this new idea, what will happen when you have another new idea half way through that one? Stay the course and so on. On a side note: Someone once told me to incorporate any new ideas I have into the story I'm currently working on. This can work out for some, but cramming every idea you have into one story is a good way to make it a convoluted, confusing mess.
Writing a book in many ways is comparable to running a marathon. Just like runners, we hit a wall. To finish a marathon, you must push through that wall with whatever strength you can muster. I have run across this problem many times. My best advice would be to focus on the novel you are currently writing and tuck your other ideas away for now... unless you are feeling more passion and drive to continue with this new idea. I wish you the best of luck!
My advice is to revisit your earlier outline for your original idea. Persevering through a novel is hard if you lack the motivation. If necessary, just stop a few days from actually writing the novel. Instead, spend some time revisiting your original ideas to find the inspirations that got you start initially. Rekindle what started you off on your original idea. The worst thing I find in life is to have regrets as you look back at the novels you got halfway but never finished. Maybe even use the potential of these regrets to propel you to finish. Good luck!
oddly enough I've currently stalled at 80k words - ie about 4/5 of the way in ... I think this could be more to do with life though as I know whats going to happen next I just lack the arsed to do it
1) What kind of person are you? I'm the kind of person who Loves showing off how clever and creative I am Feels very strongly that there are things people in the world today are wrong about in terms of how the world should work, and that their wrongness is damaging other peoples' lives Loves the story ideas that I come up with so much that I wish other writers had written them first so that I could be reading them already If I didn't write my stories No one would ever be dazzled by my brilliance for having come up with them People would continue to get away with being wrong because I have not shown what the harm looks like that their wrongness causes No one will ever feel the same joy at experiencing my stories that I feel about them 2) Are there any half-baked ideas you could combine into a new one (even if just bits and pieces of each) that you might be able to finish more easily? I spent a year working on a fantasy world that I couldn't come up with any stories for, and I spent months working on a bank robbery scene that I couldn't expand into an entire story. Realizing that my bank robbery scene took place in my fantasy world gave me a novel that I am now 40,000 words into
Not when I'm writing, no. I can't allow myself to be, or else I'd never write anything Modesty comes back into the picture when I see how bad my first draft sucks
I'm no expert, but I have been at solid work for several months on my novel, yet I have only gotten up to two chapters. I have never been driven to do something like this before. My deal is that I have made a world I'm so personally attached to that I will not let myself stop until I do it justice. Obviously its not easy to do something like this if you are not a very imaginative or creative person, but I'm pretty sure you are otherwise why would you be writing? I'd say detail is key, the more involved you are at constructing the world you are writing or the event you are re-telling the more determination to do it justice will come. My advice is to have key features such as characters or events be more reflective of your own emotions or based off of things close to you, to give that drive. I'm only giving advice so don't hold me to any of it as you may work completely differently to me so it may come to no effect, yet at least I could suggest a potential alternative.
My solution- I did an image search for Plot Diagrams, found one I liked, downloaded it, printed a pile. Now when I have that idea I want to save, or won't leave me alone, I can plot it out in 15 or so minutes. I have found that if I put some energy into it and work it out, I can forget about it & it is still there for later. I have no idea how you write. A tip that might help. Try working on different parts if you can. I find that I tend to write the beginning, then near the end, then fill in spots in no order other than what I am thinking. I also found that since I stopped trudging from point A to point B, I get less nagging ideas for other stuff, and more for other parts of what I am writing which I put down the page somewhere.
This is what I'm working on right now. My three novel ideas--Coriolis Effect, Tulips and Butter, and Shuteye--are slowly merging in my head. None of them were quite enough alone; the merged novel is just enough too much to keep me interested.
