Okay, today I woke up and I had this flash of divine inspiration. Suddenly I had this brilliant idea for a novel full of twists and whatnot. I don't recall, but it might have been from a dream. So I'm in the shower thinking of how amazing it will be to write it. Now here I am, and I can't remember anything of it. Not even a vague outline. Man, that's depressing.
I don't know... I mean, I rarely dream and it's rarely anything good. But this was something that created an idea that seemed so vivid at the time. Man, it woulda been a best seller too.
I guess I do because I'm currently working on an autobiography and when all the focus is on me I tend to get lost in that moment as if I were reliving my life experience's which were not so pleasant to begin with.
I get so caught in my stories, but I never stop. Sorry that that happened to ya LP, I keep a notebook by my bed just in case that happens to me.
Yeah from that experiance it might be a good idea to keep a notepad with you at all times! Maybe if your lucky enough it might be a reocurring dream. I do get caught up sometimes and my body reminds me of this by me dashing to the toilet!
Hah, that happens to me constantly, it seems. I bought a voice recorder, with mixed results. I sounded crazy in a couple...
I was about to suggest you carry a notebook with at all times but you lost it in the shower, and I do the same thing.. notebooks aren't apropriate but maybe pick up some soap crayons, you can jot down notes whilst in the shower or bath.
That happens to me all of the time. All of the time. The notebook works, if you use it. I always convince myself that I'll remember it, but I never do.
I've started writing this book, you see, but my problem is, I already started thinking of writing another book! So now, my inspiration is crushed on my other book, any way I can get out of this problem? So basically, I'm asking if any one else has suffered this problem, and knows of any tips on how to get out of it. :redface:
If this helps: I have been muscling through with my novel for the past 18 months (for whatever reasons it's taking more time than I planned...anyway). I've had other story ideas come into my head that are not appropriate for this present work. I jot down these ideas from time to time, so I can pick them up down the road when time permits (or i'm so inspired). My tendency is to focus on a single project at a time, but plenty of people can multi-task. If you can then good for you. It seems a book would require serious attentiveness however.
I think all writers experience this problem. Especially when writing novels. I, myself have never fully completed a novel, the farthest I've ever gotten was a 12 page short story. So.. I'm kind of in the same boat. But I do symphathize for you. How deep are your characters? I've been finding that, when I know my character better, more opportunities are opened, and the more engaged I am with the story as a whole. --- Oh, and lay low on the smilies there cheif.
What i try to do is focus on writing one and developing several others at the same time. I suffer from a similar problem and have come to the conclusion to split it up, trying to focus on one being written and then jotting down ideas for others. If i actually complete a draft then i'll work on revising this one while writing one and brainstorming another. Just sometime you have to throw away the occasional idea and perhaps incorporate parts of other ideas into the one you have now?
Sometimes if I have another good idea for a novel, I work the second idea into the first for a MEGA-IDEA.
All the time I have this issue. While working on my current story, I'm always thinking about grand ideas for the next in the series. How do I solve it? I tell myself that I'll never get ANYTHING done, including the next great idea, if I don't finish the current one first. You need to learn discipline. Nobody can magically grant it to you. Writing isn't about starting a bunch of things and flitting to the next when one idea grows too dull. Writing is hard work. You need to face that. Do you want to be somebody who writes stories, or somebody who starts stories and never finishes them...? Ideas seem great only until you realize you're never going to do them justice and FINISH THEM. If your inspiration is so easily crushed, perhaps you're not that inspired to write after all? My inspiration never gets "crushed" when a new idea comes along; if anything, it just grows. You'll really have to learn to keep your inspiration flowing better than that if you're serious about writing. Plus, I kind of like that I get new ideas while working on the current story. It gives me plenty of time to mull over how the next story will go before actually starting to write it, so I have a good general idea of how it will go once I finally start it and I don't stall out partway through. I don't even have to outline. Maybe you just haven't mulled over your CURRENT story ideas well enough so you stall out early and get distracted? Whatever the case is, you need to learn discipline, and just finish things, if you want anything finished. There's no magical solution other than that.
I'm 100% in agreement with this. Develop and run with the ideas you've got (unless, as can occasionally happen, you really do decide you're flogging a dead horse). If you have some major ideas for the next book(s), write them down in a book or file, save them for later, and get on with the current project.
I do the same as Arrow mentioned, keep a note book handy, or the back of the one im currently using and just jot the new ideas down. Then i can come back to them in the future if i still fancy the idea. i find nearly every day a new idea pops in my head, which 90% of the time isnt relevant to what im currently working on, so i just store it for later.
I totally feel your pain. It takes determination to stick to a story when you have other ideas in your head. I write down my new idea, and than continue with writing my story. That way once I am done, I can come back to that idea and expand. But really, I only finish my stories and novels by sheer will power. Near the end I am sick of it...but when I finish I am happy that I stuck with it.
I DIVIDE BY ZERO, CREATE AND DESTROY ENERGY, FOUND THE LAST DIGIT OF PIE, FIND BIGGER NUMBERS THAN INFINITY, KILLED MY PAST SELF, DRAW ROUND SQUARES, AM A MARRIED BACHELOR AND DRAW FIVE SIDED TRIANGLES!-LOL...I like that! Sorry, off topic but I also am having the same problem so I wrote out a rough draft of what I think would be a good short story and I am going to save it for later but yea... I like to stay focused on the main story I am working on now. I am a one thing at a time person too.
I think that it is ok wo write what you have. Sometimes you may want to work on one story and not the other. Nothing wrong with that. I would rather work towards completing another work when I have lost inspiration on one then just sit around and do nothing. I hope that makes sense. Plus I am sure that would keep your stories on your mind.
