Recently, I've finished one of my larger stories and I want to write other things since I've been stuck on this one book for a long time. Now that I feel that I have the freedom to write other stories, I'm kind of drawing a few blanks. I already have a few pages here and there going, but part if me says, "Yes, write more!" and the other half wants a break. So I'm curious, once you complete a book or something, do you automatically move to the next idea and continue to work at it as you did the last work or do you take a long break before diving back into it?
I think the big question for me would be what would I do in the break? I recently paused my flamenco guitar playing (I've hardly missed a day in 4 years) and focussed on writing. Now I've picked up my guitar again and if anything it has advanced and not suffered. But I'm not sure I'd have paused for long without replacing it with something. Hope you get my drift. But must feel good to have finished a substantial piece of work. Hope I can say that one day ps did you celebrate with champagne or whatever?
Before I can finish one long work, I have to come up with a good idea and basic outline for the next. Don't ask me why because I don't know. I get within 10,000 or 20,000 words of The End and am stuck there until I start the next project. It's just the way my brain works.
I'm sure guitar is fun =) I haven't learned string instruments. My husband loves the guitar, though, and finds a lot of joy in that. I celebrated by paying for the copyright lol xD usually when I get close to finishing, we never have the money so this time I went ahead and did it. I've also been writing a little bit here and there for different stories. I haven't chased other ideas for a while since I was trying to finish the last thing I started so it's a bit of a reward in itself sometimes but then I get to it and don't write as much as I intend to before I'm like, "Nope, not writing right now. Not doing it." I guess I beat myself up sometimes because I have small kids so the only times I get to sit down and actually write are if they're napping, when they go to bed, or if they're watching a movie with dad or something.
That doesn't sound all that strange. It makes sense. Looking forward to writing another book can be exciting. I remember writing about 20 pages and then jumping to the next story and then the next. Thinking maybe a book of short stories would be a fun thing for me. Writing a full-length story is awfully challenging for me. I already have ideas for the next 2 or 3 books I wanna write. It's a lot of fun planning for what's next. It offers a bit of a break.
It's not so much that as it is to avoid having to wrestle with the question of, "What in the heck do I do now?" Planning the basics for a new book before finishing the WIP is akin to tossing flagstones onto a muddy plaza before I'm ready to go across.
I doubt there is any rhyme or reason to this that would hold true for everyone all of the time. I believe if a story wants us to write it, it will let us know. At the same time, if someone aspires to be like R.L.Stine that option is there too. It might require a certain kind of mind. It might require brain surgery. But it's possible.
I certainly move to the next idea immediately, because I have so many of them. In fact, I'm quite capable of spending some time on the next project even before I have finished the previous one.
I'm currently writing a larger story while also writing short stories once in a while as practice for my main work. Once I am satisfied and finished with my first book, I will hop on to the next one in the series.
Allow me to restate: I blunder through both at the same time. I'm not so much a pantser as a blundificator.
I've caught myself doing this a bit more. It's nice to take a break and pursue other ideas for a while
I currently have over 200 WIPs. Some have been abandoned, some I work on actively, others I get to when I get to them. And I keep plotting out new stories. Yeah, I don't finish many.
